Gig Review: The Jason McIver Collective @ The Wine Cellar, Auckland 26/11/2014

After numerous listens to the debut EP The Big Blue I eagerly anticipated the first live performance of The Jason McIver Collective at Auckland’s Wine Cellar. I was confident I was in for a treat as the effort and passion that had gone into making the EP and then performing it live was evident through Jason’s many Facebook posts. Starting on his own Jason debuted a new song Garden Poetry which was a  wonderful song with dazzling acoustic guitar playing and serene vocals, then his band joined him and together they filled the cosy and eclectic Wine Cellar with warm, vibrant and beautiful music. Complimenting Jason’s acoustic guitar in a variety of delightful ways, was Matt Hill on electric guitar, with stunning sustains or bluegrass picking he provided fills and thrills throughout the night, executed on a number of distinctive guitars, while also discharging an occasional lovely backing vocal to the mix.

When they performed the first song from the EP, the brilliant Look to the Stars we got to hear the band in full flight and it was a tremendous experience, very uplifting and fulfilling. Being the group’s first live performance the band was surprisingly fluid and comfortable with each song, Si Folkard was solid on bass and provided sweet harmonies too, the wonderful rhythms of the night were expertly provided by Will Bloodfarm on drums, and John Boone on percussion. Jason has truly collected an amazing collective of great musicians that enjoyed their work in helping to bring his original and creative music to life.

Jason’s music is an enriching mix of folk with a bit of country and bluegrass, all very upbeat and positive, his singing voice is clean yet strong and full of character, its expressive and always performed with energy and emotion that fitted so wonderfully with the music. I thoroughly recommend you purchase their EP and try and catch The Jason McIver Collective live. The Big Blue EP is a wonderful collection of songs and they performed it admirably, gosh I can only imagine how sweet they must be sounding after a week of gigs and TV appearances!