1 Nov 2024
UsernamePassword

Remember Me? | Join | Recover
Click here to sign in via social networking

Tami Neilson - Gig Review: Tami Neilson @ The Opera House, Wellington - 11/10/2024

14 Oct 2024 // A review by Tom Langdale-Hunt

Well, here I am again. Almost a year after Tami Neilson and Dinah Lee teamed up for their Rock n Roll Revue tour of Aotearoa, our ‘Queen of Country’ is back for another celebration of the titans of her beloved genres, Willie Nelson. The ‘Neilson Sings Nelson’ tour is as much of a celebration of the career and works of a pivotal artist as the Rock n Roll Revue was an exhibition of the female artists that came before.

The Opera House is buzzing with anticipation for what we can only hope is an annual appearance from Tami, but with a different focus each time. A career spanning 152 albums and duets with Frank Sinatra, Norah Jones, and Dolly Parton, to Orville Peck and Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson is an artist that transcends the boundaries of genre, and as Tami would reveal, makes it incredibly difficult to formulate a setlist of his songs to cover, let alone an album.

Dressed as vibrant and elegantly as ever, Tami takes to the stage in a red, sparkling dress with horseshoe prints at the hem that meet golden boots. The tower of her hair cascades down her shoulders like rivers. Through the opening tracks of Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain and Whiskey River, she shares that she is grateful to be home and amongst friends, revealing that the only other time she performed these songs was in Luck, Texas on Willie’s ranch, and tonight, she is feeling somewhat at ease in comparison.

To accompany her iconic fashion style, her band is also dressed to impress, donning black cowboy attire and scarfs, embroidered with their names so they “wouldn’t have a choice” in wearing them. First the fringe, and then the scarves, she refers to them jokingly as the “Kens to my Barbie”.

Tami calls Willie her “northern star”, reminiscing over times in her childhood when her family would venture to record stores and line up a direct path to the ‘N’ section where Willie’s albums would be, destined to reside within a welcome proximity to her own records. Providing some background on Willie’s humble beginnings as a staff member in a studio before he would record songs of his own, basically “becoming an overnight sensation in his 40's”, something that Tami, and undoubtedly many artists take comfort in.

As expected, the performance of the song that started the Neilson-Nelson relationship comes with a brief anecdote that is impossible to summarize in a few sentences. Beyond the Stars began as a duet between Tami, her brother, and Nelson through incremental vocal recordings during the pandemic, only coming together physically in Luck after the borders opened, a performance that came with a mix of emotions and nerves. The song comprises haunting chord progressions and lyrics that entwine the grief of both Tami’s father, Ron, and Willie’s sister and bandmate, Bobbie. Tami has revealed that she cried for days after listening to the finished product, and how overwhelmed and proud her father would be to have her duet with an artist he revered so much, with Willie taking on the voice of Ron Neilson.

The performance of I Thought About You highlights the sheer power of Tami’s voice and why she is referred to as one of the greatest Aotearoa vocalists. To my ears, she has the full force of a gospel choir in her voice, so much so that I swear I could hear one anyway. I’m reminded of a quote from one of Tami and I’s favourite artists, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who was asked about her performances without a microphone for her vocals; “who needs a microphone when I’ve got a voice as big as a church and lungs as powerful as the holy spirit.”

She is unafraid to show her emotions as she pays tribute to her own brother, hospitalized and recovering, as well as the loss of Bobbie Nelson, saying that the piano on Willie’s ranch was played in one of their duets for the first time since the loss of Bobbie. “I’ll try not to cry”, she states, with an audience member replying “so will we” before the song begins.

To further the reflection of the souls both past and present, Tami pays tribute to the late Kris Kristofferson with an excellent rendition of Sunday Morning Coming Down, a track that Kris himself went to great lengths to get into the hands of the right people to kick-start his career, pulling some strings from his military background to drop the demo off to Johnny Cash via helicopter.

The highlight for me comes with the performance of Always On My Mind, originally recorded by Brenda Lee, but has been covered countless times, including Nelson, after it graced the world. Tami says that it was hard enough to compile an album of Willie’s songs that have held special places in her heart and have been covered the least of any of his discography, but Always On My Mind was the exception. I, and undoubtedly countless others, are grateful for the admission. Her rendition is poignant, and full of the fervour. As I look to my partner beside me, hands entwined, the lyrics send a wave of gratitude through me in their own reflective and longing way. “Little things I should have said and done, I just never took the time” serves as a path for one to take heed and cherish in the time you do have, and when you do truly realise what’s in front of you, you wonder how you ever went your whole life without it. They were always on your mind before you even met them. Tami’s voice is at its most emotive here, aching with the regret of the words, sending a gasping wave through me that sends tears to my eyes. The potential and magic of what you hold dear. It’s a feeling you can only get when you’re looking at the person you love.

After a brief intermission and wardrobe change, the band returns. The second set, while including further Nelson covers, almost feels like a different show entirely. Tami laces the second set with her own songs, Come Over, Cry Over You, Texas, and one of the first performances of Sandy Cheeks a track recorded for the recent Spongebob Squarepants spinoff that centres around the North American squirrel that ventures to the South Pacific; a story very relatable for Tami. She jokes that her band must comply with the vocal call and responses of the track, reminiscent of the opening tune we all know and love.

The last few years have been a whirlwind for Tami to say the least. With constant trips back and forth between Aotearoa and North America, health challenges, loss, and remarkable opportunities, it’s amazing that these shows have happened at all. She tells us of the privilege that she feels to have shared stages with the legends she has admired so long, as well as the reverence towards the stages themselves having just recently performed at The Grand Ole Opry, the longest standing radio show on earth (just shy of its 100th anniversary), and the birthplace of some of the most fabled careers in country music. She belts an incredible performance of Patsy Cline’s 3 Cigarettes In The Ashtray, which she advises us earned her a standing ovation at the Opry. The honour is not lost on her, but she is undeniably happy to be home and bringing with her the closing tracks of Mama’s Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys, and the essential On The Road Again. Elated applause bids her farewell, and such a worthy response for our own titan that I’m pleased to know is making waves internationally.

After the show, we were given the opportunity to come backstage and mingle. From my first Tami Neilson show, where I had to privilege to observe and convey my thoughts on the exhibition that paid tribute to the women who brought their art to the world against all odds, to sharing a hug with her and chatting away over our own love of this music, it’s not lost on me that a lot can happen in a year. Through the labyrinth of hallways behind the stage of the (possibly haunted?) Opera House, Tami and I share a laugh over the tenacity and fire of our shared idols, thinking back to Sister Rosetta rocking up on horseback to an awe-struck Manchester crowd in 1964. I asked her if making a covers album was a particularly delicate task, to which she answered that it was relatively without pressure, having been made as a gift to give to Willie Nelson on his 90th birthday that she just happened to release to the world. She referred to herself as more of a “tortoise, than a hare of an artist” in that she does not feel the rush to progress her career at the expense of her family life, while still maintaining ambition. She comments that her idea of success changes over time and that she is a “bed by 9:30 kind of gal”. My partner and I laugh with her and express our echoes of these sentiments. We’re musicians too, but we were happy to know that Tami appreciates the importance of the 9:45 bus home.

Photo Credit: Maeve O'Connell
Tami Neilson Photo Gallery

 

About Tami Neilson

With a soulful voice straight from the golden age of country and rockabilly music, Tami Neilson has been described as "A red-hot honky-tonker, somewhere between Patsy Cline and Wanda Jackson with perhaps just a little bit of Peggy Lee sophistication.” - Nick Bollinger, NZ National Radio

Winner of the New Zealand Music Awards Best Country Album 2009, 2010 and 2012

Tami Neilson was raised in Canada, by parents with a closet full of sequined stage costumes and platform shoes.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Tami Neilson

Releases

Dynamite
Year: ????
Type: Album
Red Dirt Angel
Year: ????
Type: Album
Neilson Sings Nelson
Year: 2024
Type: Album
Kingmaker
Year: 2022
Type: Album
Chickaboom!
Year: 2020
Type: Album
Sassafrass!
Year: 2018
Type: Album
Buy Online @ Mightyape
Don't Be Afraid
Year: 2015
Type: Album
Buy Online @ Mightyape
The Kitchen Table Sessions
Year: 2010
Type: Album

Other Reviews By Tom Langdale-Hunt

Written By Wolves - Album Review: The Lighthouse
25 Jul 2024 // by Tom Langdale-Hunt
After the success of their 2019 debut, Secrets, Written By Wolves deliver a sophomore project with teeth. Described as one of the most exciting up-and-coming rock acts in the country, The Lighthouse is a cinematic specimen of the world-class electro-rock band they are quickly becoming.
Read More...
Gig Review: Devilskin @ The Hunter Lounge, Wellington - 13/06/2024
16 Jun 2024 // by Tom Langdale-Hunt
It’s been a hot minute since my last encounter with the Hunter Lounge. Memories of O-Week, indie-pop and rap shows still linger.
Read More...
Georgia Lines - Album Review: The Rose of Jericho
06 Jun 2024 // by Tom Langdale-Hunt
It would appear that Georgia Lines has waited too long to not take the release of her hotly anticipated debut, a once in a lifetime event, by the horns. The self-titled route will not suffice, especially when the artist is turning her imperishable dedication and vulnerability into an audible mark on both Aotearoa and international music.
Read More...
Gig Review: Voom, Reb Fountain & Vera Ellen @ The Great Hall, Wellington - 1/06/2024
04 Jun 2024 // by Tom Langdale-Hunt
Audiences in Te Whanganui-A-Tara can rejoice to the sound of a new venue, one that is already so ingrained in the identity of our city and the culture within. It’s just so fitting that The Dominion Museum Building at Massey, a structure which has seen generations pass through its doors to take their place, would cradle three mammoth musical groups in its first ever ‘rock n roll show’.
Read More...
DARTZ - Album Review: Dangerous Day To Be A Cold One
14 Mar 2024 // by Tom Langdale-Hunt
From recent years and escapades, it’s fair to say that DARTZ have come a long way from writing about their disdain for scorched almonds and the habitability of a dingey Riddiford Street flat. The Band from Wellington, New Zealand have secured themselves as a shared-household name and champions for the plight of the everyday kiwi with songs like Steal from the Supermarket hammering home nationwide frustration over a duopoly ripping New Zealanders off for basic essentials in exchange for record profits, and perhaps, most memorably, the hilariously justified mockery of a certain South Auckland-based church head drilling his flock for tithings to fund his Tesla S Series in Pray for Prey.
Read More...
Gig Review: Troy Kingi & The Room Service @ San Fran, Wellington - 25/11/2023
29 Nov 2023 // by Tom Langdale-Hunt
With his seventh album unleashed upon the world, and my subsequent review following suit, it's sufficed to say that I have been thinking about Troy Kingi a lot over the past few weeks...even more so than usual.
Read More...
Troy Kingi - Album Review: Time Wasters: Soundtrack to Current Day Meanderings
16 Nov 2023 // by Tom Langdale-Hunt
Another year, another Troy Kingi album. With no strings attached, we can anticipate the next annual instalment into his episodic run of the 10/10/10 Series – 10 albums in 10 years, in 10 different genres.
Read More...
EP Review: Jeremy Redmore & Levi Patel - Migrations
10 Oct 2023 // by Tom Langdale-Hunt
Jeremy Redmore is one of the most recognizable voices in NZ music of the last decade, in part thanks to his tenure as the singer and main writer of a little local band called Midnight Youth but has since evolved into an extremely distinctive and transposed independent solo artist. Partnering with Levi Patel, one of Aotearoa’s budding composers/producers, they have crafted the Migrations EP to be a short burst of remarkably gentle and captivating exploration that will stand apart to their other works, but still demonstrate their distinctive emotional intensity.
Read More...
View All Articles By Tom Langdale-Hunt

NZ Top 10 Singles

  • APT.
    ROSÉ And Bruno Mars
  • DIE WITH A SMILE
    Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars
  • BIRDS OF A FEATHER
    Billie Eilish
  • TASTE
    Sabrina Carpenter
  • I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
    Gracie Abrams
  • ESPRESSO
    Sabrina Carpenter
  • SAILOR SONG
    Gigi Perez
  • LOSE CONTROL
    Teddy Swims
  • A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
    Shaboozey
  • GOOD LUCK, BABE!
    Chappell Roan
View the Full NZ Top 40...
muzic.net.nz Logo
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report a ProblemReport A Problem