Danica Bryant
24th June 2021
The Common Room, Hastings, New Zealand.
Review by Rob Harbers, Photography by Andrew Caldwell.
In celebration of the release of her new single “Heart Eyes”, local songstress Danica Bryant took to the Common Room stage for her first ever headline gig. And what a gig it was, with an infectious joy and enthusiasm that lit up the room, setting the stage for many more such gigs surely to come.
Support act for the night was in the form of The Cellars, a duo consisting of Isabella Aarons on keys/vocals and Sinead Hegarty on guitar/vocals, who purvey a dreamy indie pop vibe, a major component of which is the beautifully harmonising vocals of the two. They said this was a venue they’d always wanted to play, and on the strength of this appearance it’s one they should be getting quite familiar with in time to come. Their recent supporting experience has been in the context of the Small Hall Sessions, so tonight’s gig presents a nice juxtaposition, with them moving from supporting some of the established best in NZ music to one aspiring to be amongst that pantheon. Both situations handled with aplomb, promising a bright future-one to be watched with interest!
The star of the show then took to the stage, firstly delivering a solo set that allowed her to pay tribute to some of her influences by way of some well-chosen covers, while also playing a couple of unreleased songs of her own. Her “bad day” song Tattoo was the beneficiary of some dynamic guitar attack, while “Lucy” (name changed to protect the guilty) displayed all the venom of its previous outings. For all the apparent sweetness Danica radiates, this was definitely not sugar-coated, the lesson perhaps being: don’t piss this one off! Balancing such dishing of dirt on a one-time friend, this set also introduced Danica’s new toy, a vocal harmoniser-one she employed enthusiastically, but judiciously, to provide a nice extra degree of vocal here and there.
After this short foray into the “moody songs” (her words), Danica’s bandmates, bassist Natalie Bennett and drummer Tyler Blythe, joined her for the remainder of the set. The expanded line-up gave extra depth to the sound with “Plains Of Venus” in particular benefiting. The vocals of “Sugarbones” also shone against this more substantial backdrop. “The Cutlery”, with its theme of suffering for the art, was clearly a crowd favourite.
But what we were all here for was the newest number, “Heart Eyes”, the latest step in Danica’s path to world domination. This song discusses the contradictions inherent in the expectation for young women to develop affection for celebrities, against the reactions they receive if they follow through on this expectancy. Continuing the tendency to cynicism that is common to her best material, this one deliberately takes the crazy just a bit too far, and brings a new dimension to her sound. All achieved in the live setting despite a malfunction in the stage make-up!
The main set concluded with “Dizzy”, continuing to display the palpable enjoyment the band were clearly taking in proceedings. Encore material consisted of a cover of Taytay’s “Mr Perfectly Fine”, the band having learned to play it just the previous day, and Danica’s own “Birthday Girl”. At this point the night was over, the band having exhausted their repertoire, but not remotely disappointing their audience (apart, maybe, from the loudmouth sat behind me who clearly felt his words, rather than Danica’s, to be more worthy of being heard – but that’s a story for another day…).
For a first-ever headline gig, this had all the necessary elements to ensure that it’ll just be the first of many. So stream the single, push it up the chart, and nurture the climate for original material, and before you know it, Danica’s going to be playing near you – so you can witness this prodigious talent in its ascendancy! And then in a few years’ time we can all bask in the knowledge that we were on board at this early stage, and won’t that be worth a drink?
Were you there at The Common Room for this triumphant release gig? Or have you seen Danica Bryant perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Set list:
Note: Danica Bryant provided passes to Ambient Light to review and photograph this concert. As always, this has not influenced the review in any way and the opinions expressed are those of Ambient Light’s only.
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I’m probably considered biased but the growth and determination of Danica’s song writing and performing always leaves me a little choked up at some stage in the night. The lyrics, the passion , the amazing support she receives both from the ever growing following , including such venues as the Common room and reviews such as this from Ambient light only confirm what we all know, you will become to big to ignored. Give it heaps.