Reviewed on Wednesday March 29 (photo by Ashley Mar)
It’s been a few years since Auckland folk-pop hopefuls Avalanche City were last playing shows in Australia. The brainchild of singer-songwriter Dave Baxter, it’s a project that trades in bright, hopeful and inherently charming songs of love, life and adventure. Admittedly, there’s nothing particularly revolutionary about what Baxter and co. do. Still, it’s served them well for the past eight years and two studio albums, the most recent of which was 2015’s We Are For The Wild Places.
Tonight’s set is a mix of both LPs, with Baxter stripping his usual full-band arrangements back to a trio that go between a stomp box, a zither and keyboards. It works well, bringing a small degree of intimacy to what is unquestionably the biggest audience Baxter has performed for. While his songs are routinely ignored by the usual one-show-a-year crowd who are solely there for the name on the ticket, Baxter is pleased to see a few among the early arrivals that know his music and dance along with it in the front few rows. He even befriends a bridal party out on their hen’s night along the way – such is the charm of this lovable Kiwi.
The Dixie Chicks have lived and died by their live show, from humble barroom beginnings to arenas such as these. They’re immaculate players and exceptional singers, backed by a strong live band and performing a broad, entertaining show for a surprisingly diverse audience, ranging from little kids to grandparents. The Chicks are back out on the road for the first time in years, but there’s no rust to be seen. The harmonies come through in pristine clarity, the hits coming thick and fast – ‘Long Time Gone’ kicks up dirt, ‘Goodbye Earl’ is still seeking revenge after all these years and their chart-topping cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Landslide’ still hits home in all the right places.
Strangely, they end the show not on their own song, but a cover of Ben Harper’s ‘Better Way’. The message is nice, but it’s odd for what is otherwise a classic country barnstormer. ‘Wide Open Spaces’, which closes the main set and scores the biggest sing-along of the night, would have worked far better in its place.
Nonetheless, it’s a solitary con that comes in the wake of countless pros. There’s just too much fun to be had when the Chicks are in town.
