As I entered the basement venue, Jan Hellriegel was amongst the audience members, chatting with each of them before the opener. Unexpected behaviour from the main act (based on my experience of going to gigs), but it was an indicator of her genuine and personable nature that we'd come to know over the next few hours.

Matthew Bannister, friend of Jan’s and member of Sneaky Feelings, was the opening act. There was no hesitation jumping straight into the music – starting off with a brief "hello" to the crowd. The set consisted of songs from Bannister's current project, a concept album about time. He performed a cover of I Go To Sleep by The Kinks, a recital of one of Emily Dickinson’s poems, and one of his tracks from his 2013 album Evolver. The audience shared some laughs at his anecdotes about growing up in Dunedin, how he first met Jan, and some of his past and present projects. The set comprised of songs played on the keyboard and on the piano, wherein he disclosed that ‘bum notes’ could occur.

My highlights from Matthew's performance include Sneaky Feelings' Husband House, and his original piece Sick of It All, but just as I was starting to get into the melody and lyrics, it came to an abrupt stop as he had “forgotten the second verse". The performance of these 2 songs were the most passionate and exciting of the setlist. Matthew seems to be inspired to create and experiment with concepts, arguably esoteric, such as the connection between trains and music, which was explored on his song History Train. I was surprised to learn of his musical past with The Mutton Birds, as he had a reserved demeanour, avoiding eye contact with the audience for most of the performance. I got the impression that the crowd lost engagement at times, noticing a handful of people scrolling through their phones and talking amongst themselves during the songs. Generally the opener is there to ‘warm up’ the audience, but I got the feeling they were getting fidgety waiting for Jan.

Jan Hellriegel's portion of the show was split into two sections: songs played on the guitar along with stories from the past, and the second half was more about the future, where Jan moved over to the piano. Some notes I made throughout her performance included charismatic, confident, funny, and authentic. Jan took the audience through various chapters of her life, visiting her tunes from the 90’s to date, and interludes with life stories including purulent school sores (provoking moans of disgust from the audience) and her adventures during her days playing in Cassandra’s Ears. Her engagement with the audience made the experience a lot more personal and intimate, even getting to some points in her songs where she stopped singing to openly talk about her cringe at her lyrics that were inspired by a lover’s quarrel when she was in her 20’s. There was not a note out of place, with her skilled, strong, and expressive vocals on every song performed - all her piano practice has paid off! The audience was excited with her sharing her current project; a musical! We were introduced to a couple of songs, getting rave reactions from one group. Towards the end said group were cheering and demanding an encore. Apparently an “If Not Now, When?” first! Jan humbly complied and finished with one more of her blasts from the past.

The overall message that I took away from the show is that Jan has had a strong sense of self since she was small, and she never really shies away from a sticky situation – even if it is mistakenly wandering into an R18+ venue on her quest to find an authentic Chinese shoulder massage (you'll have to go and see the show to find out more about this one). Whether or not you are a longtime fan or it's your first Jan Hellriegel experience, you will find it to be an interesting and unique show of musicianship & comedy.

Photo Credit: Brad Miller / Islay Imagery

Jan Hellriegel Photo Gallery
Matthew Bannister Photo Gallery

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• 1
  APT.
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• 2
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• 3
  BIRDS OF A FEATHER
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• 4
  TASTE
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• 5
  I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
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• 6
  ESPRESSO
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• 7
  SAILOR SONG
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• 8
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  A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
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  GOOD LUCK, BABE!
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