Kirin J Callinan
20th July 2017
The Kings Arms, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Connor Crawford.
As the house lights go down and the stage is plunged into darkness, the crowd presses in closer, whoops and yelps rising up into the humid air as fans wait expectantly for their idol to appear on stage and the show to begin.
But not tonight.
Tonight the house lights stay down as Ken Nordine’s ‘Colors’ croons to us through the speakers. We hear the story of Olive and beige and burgeoning burgundy. Green never lets yellow in, until yellow speaks of joining with blue… A good five maybe ten minutes go past, yet no one grows restless. They all know he will arrive shortly; in the meantime they let themselves be caressed by this wonderfully soothing voice filling the room. Sure enough a cowboy hat can be seen moving side of stage, fiddling with amp heads and holding a scraggly piece of paper that he carefully considers before looking at the crowd through large yellow tinted glasses. Mahne and Tex leap across the stage, and straight through to the green room, leaving the one and very much only Kirin J Callinan alone on stage, all leather pants with detachable cod piece and jingling spurs on his black leather boots.
As the lights come up and Kirin is displayed in all his glory, handlebar moustache bristling on his carefully considerate face, the crowd collectively swoon, “I love you’s” thrown like roses at his feet. He leans forward and with his lips pressed against the microphone murmurs “I love you too”, his voice like treacle.
It may be late, it may be a school night, the weather outside is basically shithouse. But none of that, none of that matters in this exact moment. Kirin is surrounded by pedals and wires; often they threaten to derail him at any moment as they coil around his mic stand and feet. And yet as he sings his first song of the night, the disarming ‘Mary’ all flourishes of his electric guitar and wailing vocals with an almost American twang (yet distinctive Australian accent) he deftly picks his way amongst them. You may know Kirin from his work with Mercy Arms, or maybe you recognise him as the guitarist from Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders who enthralled Auckland audiences when they supported Florence & The Machine in 2015. Or maybe you know him because you too have fallen under the hypnotic spell of Kirin and his lyrical musings. Sure the cover of his new album Bravado features a picture of him pissing on himself (ice tea just wasn’t realistic enough – and if you think that is out there you should definitely check out the inside sleeve as it is the personification of bronzed glory) but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t take himself seriously.
To listen to each of Kirin’s songs – whether it is the classic ‘Come On USA’ or ‘Love Delay’ from his 2013 album Embracism; or the soul wrenching lyrics of ‘Family Home’ from his latest offering Bravado released just last month – is to gain an insight into some of the experiences and thought processes inside the head of Kirin himself. When he opened for Crowded House in 2016 at the infamous Sydney Opera House, he was booed by many in the audience. One would hope that those poor souls have now opened their minds and hearts to what Kirin has to offer.
His intensity on stage is something to behold, all meaningful glances and articulated hand movements, as if he is controlling the very sound waves in the air, stopping them short to punctuate his point. Bathed in stage smoke that winds its way around his form, caressing him slowly before lazily rolling over the first few rows, Kirin calls for his brothers – the ever suffering Mahne who sullenly, wearing a ‘Yes, they’re real’ tshirt and pink chiffon pants from New Zealand’s own Miss Crabb stomps across stage, deftly leaping behind his drum kit which sits atop a small riser. Tex follows close behind, a pommelled hat atop his head, taking up his position behind the keyboards (although we will often see him throughout the night with an accordion piano strapped to his chest instead).
“Please don’t take my jacket…or my beer…or my water” Kirin politely asks the young men in the front row shortly after disrobing and hurling the jacket to the ground. A few fans seize the opportunity during this quiet moment to yell out requests, Kirin politely advising them that he will not be taking requests tonight as he is “not a monkey”. Throughout the show Kirin will often pause to regale the crowd with a story or two, like how he killed scabies with a turmeric bath or how he had his codpiece ripped off his pants at a show in his hometown of Sydney, a few fans in the crowd laughing and applauding until Kirin notes that if it had been the other way around the fan who did it may not have found it so amusing…
The night often feels more like a piece of theatre than a gig, and while some parts of the show maybe ‘made for the stage’ none of it feels contrived. Even when the three of them let loose, and Kirin turns his head to look at Mahne, encouraging him to play harder, faster, Mahne looking back at him with utter contempt. Tex on the other hand plays the part of a new wave keyboard player rather well, often pausing in a certain pose as if frozen in the moment. By the time Kirin has stripped down to just his leather pants, hurling his sweat soaked singlet into the crowd declaring “I don’t need her anymore” the audience are completely lost inside his world, forgetting that all else exists.
Definitive highlight of the night is ‘Toddler’, which sees Kirin perform with nothing (and I mean nothing) else but a microphone; the lyrics of the song strange yet truthful, Kirin’s performance disturbingly delicious and completely engaging in every sense of the word. Kirin instructs the crowd on how the final third of the show will play out, a couple of songs, demands for an encore, maybe a second encore. Tex and Mahne now both shirtless as well rejoining him on stage for a special performance of ‘Big Enough’ which Kirin advises he has never before played live. Finishing solo with the song ‘Apology Accepted’; Kirin’s vocals taken to the absolute limit he holds his guitar up high as he bids all goodnight, before awkwardly moving to the side of the stage, grabbing a couple of beers and disappearing into the darkness.
But it’s alright, ‘cause all this time, it was all bravado.
Kirin J Callinan
Wax Chattles
Were you there at The Kings Arms for this awesome night of art-pop brilliance? Or have you seen Kirin J Callinan perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Mary
- Thighs
- My Moment
- Embracism
- Come on USA
- Family Home
- Living Each Day
- S.A.D
- Bravado
- Love Delay
- Toddler
- Landslide
- Down To Hang
- The Edge
- Big Enough
- Apology Accepted
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