Afternoon delight

I did the most wonderful thing yesterday afternoon. I went to a James Reyne gig. By myself.

It was at the City Recital Hall, near Wynyard Station. The venue had no windows, so it could have been any time of the day or night.

But look at the glorious set times …

It was perfection.

I don’t understand why singers … and their audiences … get older, but the gig times stay the same. It was almost midnight when I got home from Split Enz last month and half the band members are 73 years old.

James Reyne even commented to the crowd that 4.45pm was the perfect time for a performance, as opposed to 9pm, when “everyone from 19 to 92 wants to nod off”.

The concert popped up in my Facebook feed last week. DD wasn’t keen to attend due to jetlag and only standing room tickets being available. So I thought, bugger it, I’ll go alone.

I got a fabulous spot up the front, leaning on the stage with an unobstructed view and I wasn’t jostled once. It was bliss to focus on the music and not feel the need to make conversation with a soul.

Alex Lloyd was so, so good as the support act. He stood alone on the stage with a guitar and the voice of an angel. Listening to him sing Leonard Cohen’s Halleujah was remarkable. He also sang a great cover of The Beatles’ Blackbird. His biggest hit, Amazing, didn’t grab me as much because he got the crowd to sing the chorus when I wanted to hear his voice soar.

James Reyne opened with Boys Light Up, what a cracking way to start! And a bit embarrassing for the person who arrived late and yelled for him to play it about 15 minutes into the gig …

I thought it was just going to be a Crawl Files gig, but he trawled through some of his solo hits, including Hammerhead and Reckless.

The only disappointment was that he didn’t sing Hoochie Gucci Fiorucci Mama, which is one of my all-time favourites. But the crowd went off for Errol and Beautiful People.