Gig Review: Avalanche City @ The Powerstation 03/06/16

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Dave Baxter and ilk have become a rather large part of the quilt of Kiwi music – encompassing all of the personality traits that Kiwis seem to love in their icons, modest about his skill, understated in the news, seemingly soft spoken and dedicated to his practice.

Avalanche City itself is a bit of a pop wonder – the roots in folk and country that set the band a part from other pop acts should (at least, to Kiwi audiences) be the proverbial bullet in the heart, and yet at every point they defy the odds.

The show at Auckland’s Powerstation as part of the Little Fire tour had a decent turnout (especially for quite an early start).

The band was great, obviously seasoned musicians who played off each other well. The vocals were solid but sat too middling in the live mix – between that, the acoustic guitar and the trumpet, it was hard to get clarity on any of the three as none of those particular aspects seemed to ebb and flow in level as needed.

Crowd favourites were played, with raucous audience backing vocals to Love Love Love going down a treat and the bulk of the newer material holding good stead.

It was interesting to see how such slickly recorded and produced tunes came together in a live setting, to see if a song like Inside Out that feel so personal and intimate when recorded can maintain that feeling in front of a crowd.