REVIEW: Luke Combs, with support from Jordan Davis, Mitchell Tenpenny and Lane Pittman; Eden Park, Auckland, January 17
Memo to sound desk: Turn him up, please!
There were two gigs going on at Eden Park as can happen with stadium concerts.
Super fans down the front within 100 metres of the stage are directly connected with the show and can see and hear everything clearly, most importantly the stories of the songs Luke Combs and his all-mighty band deliver, as they did with great friendliness, energy and precision just shy of two hours straight, with three song encore.
If you’re more than 100m from the stage, and in the grandstands to the sides and down the back, you can’t hear Luke’s continuity banter, the tales of stories told in his songs.
It gets lost in the concrete jungle that is the stadium show.
And when the band is playing loud and rockin’ the country, it’s dominated by the heavy boom of bass and drums, and light on all the topside melody lines – the bright stuff.
You sometimes couldn’t hear the solos and instrumentation.
In quieter moments, however, the enjoyment of the pure tones of Luke’s voice shone through, and to hear the class of the music being played on the best instruments.
Encore opener, Better Together, with only him and the piano player was a moment.
Not that the muddy sound mattered, from section 318, row X seat 13. The crowd are all partying in those outlying areas, like the ones closer to the action, and their noise is louder than when Luke is talking earnestly about his life journey and its musical accompaniment.
He’s generated an enthusiastic atmosphere. Everyone’s happy.
He comes across as a pretty sincere guy blessed with a gold-plated country-style vocal and twang, and he works hard throughout sustaining perfect notes striding the stage constantly, and runways, as do the band members, making a direct connection with their many admirers.
Country has well and truly come to town, and in this case, New Zealand’s national stadium.
The best song title was Beer Never Broke My Heart – and I can’t believe Merle Haggard, George Jones or Ray Charles hadn’t used that as a song title. Classic country song name.
Luke can write a hook and memorable lyrics, though I presume without much research that he’s performing some other people’s songs, and one favourite on the night was of course Fast Car, the Tracy Chapman original from 37 years ago, for which he’s had global recognition.
He does it great, no doubt, but for this writer, Tracy’s version cannot be surpassed. And it would have been good being able to hear clearly his introduction monologue.
Other songs that stood out were Where The Wild Things Are, Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma, Somethings Last Forever After All, Beautiful Crazy, and Hurricane, and the sign of a satisfied audience is hearing them sing every song, and they pretty much did throughout.
Was a good night. To witness a grand-scale modern-era country concert, with big name superstars of that world, was quite a thang.
The outstanding light and visuals show really comes into play once it’s fully dark overhead.
Kia kaha, Luke Combs, and Jordan Davis and Mitchell Tenpenny, the opening acts who we caught and thought outstanding.
You’ve pathed the way for other country acts of your magnitude to come and play in our stadiums and bowls.
There’s a big friendly audience in New Zealand appreciative of what you do so well.
Don’t be strangers, you hear… – PJ
