In support of his first solo album Last of the Lonely Gods, Jon Toogood visited what is almost his home-away-from-home, Ahuriri’s coolest little venue, Paisley Stage.

An unfortunate cock-up on the communication front meant that I completely missed support act Jazmine Mary-apologies Jazmine! The talk around was that it was great though.

So all I saw was the man himself, sporting a mane that’s heading towards Gandalf territory. Fortunately, we were allowed to pass through the portal to the inner sanctum, wherein he proceeded to take the (mostly) attentive audience on a journey through songs old and new.

Starting with the title track of the album, Jon shared the story of the mate who inspired it, and his adventures through life, the overall message being that "every day is a chance to redeem yourself". Following on was Love is Forever, a reflective musing on the cycle of life, his inspiration for it calling to mind the message of 1989’s all-too ubiquitous The Living Years (but less mawkishly, thankfully!).

It’s an inevitable temptation, when an artist so integral to a band steps out on their own, to look out for the differences and similarities in the songs they present. While these first two pieces came across as requiring the quieter setting, the next, Gravity could easily be imagined being performed by the full band. Jon described his feelings toward the song as "I fuckin’ love it", and this enjoyment was palpable in its delivery. Its lyrics deal with a re-evaluation of life, and the determination to make it worthwhile, in short, "Live like you mean it!"

Us Against The World, inspired by the vertiginous feelings brought on by the death of one’s parents, and the realisation that with the state of orphanhood comes promotion to the front line of life’s battle, was a return to more subdued expression. Lost in my Hometown recalled the feeling of returning to what should be familiar territory, in Jon’s case Island Bay and environs, but still managing to lose his way around!

Shouldn’t Leave It Like That described by Jon as his favourite song on the album, was definitely one which would not have suited the band setting, a quiet reminder not to leave things unsaid with loved ones, as one never knows what might happen to prevent them from being expressed.

But this performance, to borrow a sports cliche, was definitely one of two halves! At this point, Jon announced "It’s bogan time" (business socks definitely not involved). Requesting audience participation, i.e. singing along, he performed a song by a little-known band called Pacifier, Run. For being such a relatively obscure song, it seemed to gather a surprising amount of recognition, the audience joining in enthusiastically. It was on to the next song, The Exponents' Victoria, however, that the singalong took it, in Jon’s words, "from a living room to an arena". Capped off by Th' Dudes' Bliss which really got the punters going!

A perhaps ill-advised call for requests led to Home Again being called for, but Jon held off on this, for fear that once it’d been sung, half the crowd would leave! A call for a Bowie song was answered by a rendition of Ziggy Stardust, before returning to the Shihad motherlode for Pacifier. Jon requested the audience’s assistance with this one, as he said it’d been written when he was 26, and now at just over double that age he might have trouble reaching the top bits! Together we made it through though, thankfully!

Sticking with the same source, Feel The Fire, a song arising from the lockdowns that feel now like such distant memories, led in to what could’ve been a dangerous place, being followed by an impromptu Summer of ‘69(!), thankfully only a verse and chorus (TBH, I loathe this song with a passion!), Jon explaining that he played it to show how much the previous song owed to it.

This diversion was thankfully corrected though, with Heart of Gold showing, along with the earlier Bowie, the experience gained by Jon in the 'Come Together' series of shows, playing much of this material. Admitting to being unsure of what to sing next, a suggestion to play his "favourite song right now" led firstly into a snippet of Mr Tambourine Man, before descending into a bit of a free-for-all of shouted requests. Wresting back control, the much-awaited Home calmed the baying, but also formed the end of the main set.

Coming back on, the night took another unexpected turn, with a marriage proposal! (Not involving Jon though). Jennifer agreed to Brandon’s offer, the couple being anointed with a rendition of Brightest Star. Searching around for inspiration for the final number, Jon then declared that he’d "play what I want", what he wanted being a reprise of Gravity. So what if he’d already done it-it’s his party and he’ll repeat if he wants to!

And on that note, all was over, the capacity crowd departing, many of them with signed merch in their hot little hands, to relive the memories, memories that will endure. Ka Kite, Jonathan Charles!

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