Gig Review: The Jason McIver Collective and The James @ The Kings Arms, Auckland – 22/04/2016

/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;

The Jason McIver Collective are slowly becoming an Auckland mainstay, their latest release I May No Perf finding credence with a growing local fan base.

The Collective’s live show adds another layer to the multi-faceted sound– the heady, driving bass and tight drums develop an almost ‘darker’ feel live, one that is less apparent on the album.

But this in turn could simply be due to the acoustic guitar being a little lost in the mix on the night, lending to a less folky/acoustic sound overall.

The Jester went down well live and the extra percussion and djembe added a unique undercurrent to other pieces throughout the night, but began to feel superfluous at times.

The Collective finished up a solid set , and after a quick turnaround, Enter The James (*note that none of the band members are called ‘James’).

With an easy, affable stage presence (maintained throughout the night by front man, Eddie Jensen) these musos captured the crowd’s attention and held it steadfast, for the rest of the evening. Their harmonies were slick, the rhythm section was tight and their sound was ‘big’ without encroaching on overbearing.

In trying to find an artist or band to compare, none immediately sprung to mind – I was reminded of aspects of Gogol Bordello (which seems an odd comparison, I know), but the comparison is simply one of intensity.

Promises was my pick of the band’s original material, but their cover of I’ll Be There For You by The Rembrandts (better known as ‘The Friends’ Theme Song’) went down killer with the audience.

The night wore on and when The James had all but finished up, crowd demand for an encore drew them back to the stage to blaze through a cover of The Cranberries Zombie – a stellar finish to an awesome night.