French For Rabbits
5th December 2020
Haumoana Pavilion, Hastings, New Zealand.
Review by Rob Harbers, photography by Olivia Robertson.
At the busiest time of one of modern times’ shittiest years, the Sitting Room Sessions have bookended the week with two shows of rare beauty, providing a brief respite from the daily grind. Last Sunday night it was Finn Andrews, and on this Saturday evening it was the sublime French for Rabbits (or 60% of them, at least!).
Locally-raised songstress Danica Bryant provided an opening set of beautifully-crafted original material, with lyrics displaying a mature cynicism beyond her years, and commendably not afraid to use “motherfucker” in a song in spite of the presence of her father in the audience! We’ll hear more from this talent in future I’m sure – she has a bright future ahead of her.
Emerging from the depths of the Pavilion’s generous Green Room, the core of French for Rabbits then took to the substantial stage. This core consisted of Brooke Singer ( vocals, acoustic guitar and keyboards), Ben Lemi (bass and BVs) and John Fitzgerald (guitar), their drummer being on a well-earned break and fifth member being left behind due to space considerations. (We were promised a return visit by the full band at a later date though – presumably when a larger vehicle is available).
First song “Goat” set the scene for what was to follow, with its delicately-delivered lyrics accompanied by swathes of subtle electric guitar. Brooke also shared a tale of how this song brought up a family connection to this area, too detailed to repeat here – you had to be there.
Newly released song “The Dark Arts” (released just the day before) is an interesting lyrical counterpoint to Amanda Palmer’s “The Thing About Things”, this one being about the sad state of being unable to let go of possessions. This led in to “Overflow”, introduced as a song about anxiety, described elsewhere as the happiest song about anxiety ever, and it was true to this description – simultaneously describing the condition while offering a way out of the depths.
A tale about cultural reference introduced “The Money or The Bag”, with Brooke telling of how the song was written in America, but it rapidly becoming apparent that its central conceit only makes sense to Kiwi audiences, perhaps of a certain age. Quite fitting in these times though, when travel outside of these boundaries is unwise at best!
A brand new song, so fresh it doesn’t yet have a name, was played solo by Brooke and while introduced as a potential trainwreck due to its freshness and unfinished state was carried off with aplomb.
“The Other Side” was a rarity among the set, in that it was led by the electric guitar, which otherwise provided more in the way of texture and shade. This was the closer of the main set, before a two-song encore.
Both of these numbers continued with the higher-profile guitar, “The Weight of Melted Snow” having an intro almost bordering on flamenco, while “Two’s Company” even featured a guitar solo (in an understated, non-flashy style, though). No preening cocksure strummer this one!
All too soon the experience came to an end, with the audience having to descend from the higher plane to which we’d been all-too-briefly transported, and go back to life at this level while still carrying enough memory of the journey to sustain a good few days worth of the daily fuckery. Another worthy Session, and the penultimate one for this shitstorm of a year.
Were you there at the Haumoana Pavilion for this beautiful alternative gig? Or have you seen French For Rabbits perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Set List:
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