Tami Neison - The Piano - Christchurch 19 October 2019

The voice was back in Christchurch for another gig on this Saturday night, this time at the quite new venue, The Piano. We had been to The Piano before to see The New Zealand Trio playing some local Classical Music and like the venue a lot. It is set up a bit like a lecture hall with the seating going up with each row so all get a good view of the low but large stage at the front. We got in early enough to get center seats in the fourth row.

 The stage was set with just some guitars and small amps as this was just Tami and her brother Jay playing this night, but first up we got to see a short set from The much talented local Lady, Holly Arrowsmith. Holly had put out a record last year that I had managed to pick up on vinyl and it turned out to be one of my favourite NZ records of the year, so I was looking forward to seeing her preform. She was alone with her acoustic guitar. She sung about half a dozen songs, a couple I recognized from her record, one was a Dylan cover and for the life of me I can't remember what song it was, and the rest I don't think I knew. She has a lovely voice and plays very good guitar and I think has strong material with a good nod to Joni Mitchell, but overall I was just a little underwhelmed buy her set.

  Tami and her Brother Jay, were touring together for the first time since she first came to NZ from her native Canada. The show was about her life as a performer(This Is Tami Neilson) and so the show consisted of quite long pieces of dialog between songs as Tami told us her history growing up in Canada and going on the road with her family touring, playing music. Early on, as she was telling up a little about her family and her childhood, they played some songs that they would have been playing on those tours back in the 80s. Then they played more of her own Material as the story developed to her coming to NZ to live and play. As I said there was a lot of talk between songs but great to hear Tami singing again. They played a couple of new tracks from her upcoming record, due out in February and the last song they did was one of the new ones and it was a real belter with Tami showing us just how amazing a singer she is. 

 Overall though it was probably the show I enjoyed the least out of the four times I have now seen her play, but I will always try to get to her concerts because she is such a great performer.

Tami Neilson - Theater Royal - Christchurch - 27th July 2018

I had missed Tami last time she played here as it clashed with another concert I was attending on the same night. This time the wife and I got tickets pretty early and was able to secure downstairs seating. The new album,"Sassafrass!" had been in my possession for a couple of months and although it had not got a lot of attention, due to so many other records coming in to my possession, I hadn't really connected with it as much as I did with her previous record. Therefore I was a little apprehensive about this concert, although the Wife was enjoying the new record more than me and it is not often we find an artist we both like to go see live.

 I was excited to hear that The Miltones were the support band for this gig as I really liked their first record and had seen them play twice at Blue Smoke over the last year or so and loved them live also. It was interesting to note Tami playing the Theater Royal this time as the first time I saw her was in the tiny Wunderbar, but the last time was in the new cathedral, so the venue was another step up in size and although it was well attended, it was not sold out.

  The Miltones hit the stage at the appointed time and played a short set just a tad under 30 minutes. Unfortunately I found them a bit underdone in this venue, as I said, a short set and I thought the sound was not all that well mixed with the guitar and keys far to low in the mix that they didn't really stand out when playing their solos and both players I know are really good and should be heard more than they were. I am not sure if their holding back was from the size of the audience or the main act imposing restrictions on their support so not to be outplayed, although Tami and band should not have to worry about that as they put on a great show after and even if The Miltones had played as well and as energetically as I know they can, they would not have threatened the main act.

  After a 30 minute break for patrons to que at the bar etc, Tami's band took the stage and started in on their groove for a minute or so before Tami bounds onto the stage and rips into one of the numbers form the new album. Pretty quick any of my concerns are gone about her new songs as she belts them out with the superb voice she has and the great band she had that kicks the songs arse. Tami never fails to sing her butt off and just has the most powerful voice in the country. She plays a selection of the new and not so new songs, all from her own catalog, except her slightly altered version of James Browns "It's A Mans, Mans World" which gives me goosebumps when the groove hits. She talks a lot between numbers which is enlightening to me as I really don't pay attention to the meaning of songs and lyrics too much but it does inform me a bit more to what some of the new are about, and reveals some more to us how close to her family she is and also how much of a supporter of Women's rights she is. There is a bit of a political bent to some of her songs. The sound for their set was much better than The Miltones set with the awesome Brett Adams(From The Bads) playing some blistering stuff on lead guitar. So yet again I leave A Tami Neilson Gig completely satisfied and in awe of her vocal performance.

Tami Neilson - Crying in the Chapel - Transitional Cathedral - Christchurch 27 May 2016

Tami Neilson was back in Christchurch again after her recent gig at The Wunderbar back in February, this time for a gig as part of the local Jazz and Blues festival that was running for the week ending  on the 29th May. I was wondering what Tami was doing playing in a Jazz and Blues festival but didn't really care as I just wanted to take the opportunity to see her play again after the excellent gig in February.

 We arrived at the "Cardboard" Cathedral at around 7PM, after a lovely Korean meal in the central city. The place was still only partially full and we managed to get front row seats as nobody else seemed all that keen to be front row. The sound system wasn't all that large and I was wondering how it was all going to sound in this large room with a very high sloping ceiling and concrete floor. There were curtains at back behind the stage and along the walls so this should dampen some of the echo. By 7:30pm the place looked full and Tami and her band sauntered on stage and started the gig with a version of Howlin' Wolf's "Evil" at which point I realised that this was going to probably be some sort of Blues show to fit in with the jazz and blues festival. Tami confirmed this after the first song by giving us a little talk about what the gig was going to entail and talked about the history of contemporary music and how important the blues, and in the context of this show, Gospel music was to the evolution of modern popular music.

 We then proceeded to be presented with a fantastic show, with Tami and her band belting out fabulous versions of songs but the likes of Ray Charles, Mavis Staples, Blind Willie Johnson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Otis Rush, just to name the ones I can remember off the top of my head right now. The sound did have a bit of an echo but was overall very good and even being in the front row quite near a speaker stand, it wasn't too loud. Her band was smoking and Tami really showed her awesome talent belting out the vocals of some legendary music, one highlight was an acapella version of a Ralph Stanley song with support from the whole band, very moving. I really felt the sense of the musical history being presented and the power of the music and had goose bumps at some of Tami's singing. What a talent. What a brilliant gig. 

Tami Neilson and Her Hot Rockin' Band of Rhythm! - Wunderbar, Lyttelton, New Zealand, 20th February 2016

I got an introduction to Tami Neilson via a mate with her Dynamite album which I had a few listens too and although impressed, didn't feel the need to go out and buy the record itself. Soon after I caught a new song on the TV from her new album, "Don't be Afraid" and was blown away by the vocal Tour de Force on that song. I missed her previous live show here from her church tour late last year so was real keen to head along to see her preforming songs from this new album( which is a real killer).

With all the exposure Tami has been getting lately, I was surprised she was playing at such a small venue, but it actually wasn't quite as full as it could have been and it is nice to see the gig up close and intimate.

 The Mrs. and myself headed over to Lyttelton with a couple of friends and had a lovely Indian curry just across the road from the venue before some drinks at the Wunderbar's Bar, overlooking the Harbour and all the lights. The doors to the concert room were opened just past 9pm and the support act was soon on the stage doing their thing. A three piece of stand up acoustic bass, electric guitar and a female vocalist who also played fiddle, they were a bit different and hard to describe but really underwhelmed me and the singer was a bit shy and didn't really know how to use her mic properly. The sound mixing/quality wasn't all that impressive either and so I was a bit worried about what Tami was going to sound like also in this small venue. The support act(and I'm damned if I can remember their long winded name), played about 30 minutes.

 After the obligatory break between acts, Tami appears on stage and they took me a bit by surprise by opening the show with the "Don't Be Afraid" song(see vid below), which I feel is her strongest number. Still, it was very impressive and the sound was excellent. They followed that up with the next two tracks from the latest album, "Holy Moses" and "Lonely" and I thought she was gonna do the whole album in sequence, but then we skipped to a song from the other side of the record before going back to some material from her "Dynamite" album. Tami does a real mix if styles, with some slow mournful country ballads, to swamp blues and rockabilly and others harder to pin down. it was a great show, she has such a powerful voice and might be one of the best singers I have see live, just so impressed. Great show, great venue, great night.