The weather outside was frightful, but inside the coolest little venue in Ahuriri, things were anything but, as the soulful Bitta Batta were making their debut on the Te-Matau-A-Maui stage!

Such ventures require a supportive hand in their genesis, and tonight that fell to the amorphous collective that is Willsy and Friends. Willsy, aka Wills Van Der Meent, is an alumnus of local legends Suzy Blue, from whose ranks Arahi also emerged. In this current iteration he shares the stage with a fluid mix of players, all coming together to set up a cool and very funky groove indeed! Wills and drummer Aaron Sankey provide the underpinnings of the structure, overlaid with Ben Lilley’s guitar, Anton Wuts’ keys and Shane Poole’s percussion. At the top end come in the trumpet of Matt Meer and sax from Ella Polczyk, and cutting through this mix are Willsy’s vocals. All these diverse elements come together to create a truly eclectic sound that blends elements of jazz, rock, funk and much more-one that leads to a game of “What’s that tune?”, as you’re wondering where you know these songs from! Not in any way to imply any lack of originality, far more a reflection of the deep roots of the music, and the skills of the players. Definitely a crew worth keeping an eye out for!

And on to the headliners, Bitta Batta. This ensemble is the conduit for Cam Burns, one of Hawkes Bay’s most diverse musicians, popping up everywhere as he does! The strength of this performance belied the fact that it was the band’s debut-there was a level of unity in the expression that some vastly more experienced outfits would be envious of. Given the incestuous nature of the local scene, with (musical) interbreeding occurring to an extent that might suggest the sound of banjos would be more prevalent, it’s almost inevitable that there would be some degree of sharing of personnel between the two acts. And such was the case, with Ella and Anton from Willsy’s crew doing double duty. The rest of the band consists of Chris Beernink (another musically promiscuous one!) on bass, Pauly Lowe drumming, James Lowe doing the brass thing, Virginia Saccomanno on backing vocals, and Cam himself on vocals and lead guitar. Collectively they create a sinuously soulful and classy sound, the ideal vehicle for Cam’s original songs. There are some clear influences at play here, among them Seal, Terence Trent D’Arby, a bit of Little Bushman, but there’s nothing wrong with antecedents such as that. There’s an enviable confidence about the presentation, born not out of any kind of arrogance but rather a belief in the vision and their ability to achieve it. These are class players, and they know it!

There’s only one criticism that I’d make, and that is that the faster and more energetic material was left until the latter half of the set-this could have done with being more scattered throughout, in an ebb-and-flow fashion, in my humble opinion! But this was the first gig, after all, and to come out of the box in such a manner as they did was truly impressive – the minor stuff like sequencing will fall in to place, I’m sure. And on the strength of this gig, I hope there’s going to be many more indeed!

• 1
  Head Like A Hole
• 2
  Horror Story
• 3
  Fraser Ross
• 4
  Fur Patrol
• 5
  Michelle Rounds
• 6
  L.A.B.
• 7
  Devilskin
• 8
  Coridian
• 9
  The Boondocks
• 10
  Late to Chelsea

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  The Phoenix Foundation @ Meow Nui, Wellington - 14/12/2024

• 1
  APT.
  ROSÉ And Bruno Mars
• 2
  DIE WITH A SMILE
  Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars
• 3
  BIRDS OF A FEATHER
  Billie Eilish
• 4
  TASTE
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 5
  I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
  Gracie Abrams
• 6
  ESPRESSO
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 7
  SAILOR SONG
  Gigi Perez
• 8
  LOSE CONTROL
  Teddy Swims
• 9
  A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
  Shaboozey
• 10
  GOOD LUCK, BABE!
  Chappell Roan

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