THE BOY NEXT DOOR
Pacific Crystal Palace Spiegeltent, Havelock North Village Green, Havelock North
30/09/2017 - 30/09/2017
Production Details
Nick Cave. Beyond comparison, beyond genre, beyond dispute. Cave pens love eulogies that’ll sink you to your knees, performs like a revivalist, croons like a drunk, weeps like a banshee, mocks like the devil.
In celebration of his 60th birthday we bring you The Boy Next Door – one night revelling in the majesty and wonder of Nick Cave’s songwriting prowess and performance spectacle.
Reb Fountain, Dave Khan, Ben Woolley and Dylan Storey have performed alongside some of New Zealand’s greatest musical talents. Together, they channel the raucous, the brazen, the wisdom and the beauty of Nick Cave’s musical legacy.
Crystal Palace Spiegeltent, Havelock North
Saturday 30 Sept, 9.30pm
Audience: GA. Contains strong language, parental discretion advised
Admission: $37-$42
Theatre , Musical ,
1hr 30mins (no interval)
Mesmerising intensity
Review by Ema Scott 01st Oct 2017
Reb Fountain is an Auckland singer songwriter who, until recently, is best known for her work as a backing vocalist with the Lyttelton Band, The Eastern: Dylan Storey on guitar; Ben Woolley, bass; Logan Compain drums; Dave Khan on guitar, keyboards and violin.
Last night Reb took to the stage of The Pacific Crystal Palace Spiegletent as part of the 2017 Harcourts Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival front and centre of a show of her own devising, The Boy Next Door – A celebration of the songs of Nick Cave to mark his 60th Birthday.
Reb, diminutive of stature, walks on stage with The Eastern, informally dressed, and begins with a simple, “Hello.”
From that point on the set builds in intensity for the next 45 minutes, with Reb seeming to transform herself with each song into some kind of living embodiment of the song.
Musically it is a masterwork with her band working as a tight single unit around her to support her vocals, but it has an element of theatre to it that lifts it beyond a mere musical performance.
Between songs Reb is full of very informal banter, witty, charming and slightly (but never offensively) profane. But as each new song begins she delves so deeply into the character of the song that it feels as if we are hearing the very essence of it.
There is intensity to her performance that makes her mesmerising to watch.
She invites colourful local legend Fane Flaws onstage to sing with her. The audience warmly acknowledges him and he adds a very different complexion to the songs, but I do feel that it breaks from the building intensity of the evening.
Before a heartfelt standing ovation she has performed ‘Hiding All Away’ with brooding intensity that builds to a climactic repeat of the refrain ‘There Is A War Coming’. It is such a powerful moment that it even stills those dancing at the back of the tent. The encore is an acapella version of ‘Deanna’ by the full band which has a lightness and beauty to it that is like a gracious balm to end the night on.
Full credit must go to her band, each of them giving their all to create a dynamic night of music that will be remembered and talked about for quite some time to come, I am sure.
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