Margot Pierard & Wil Sargisson
17th December 2020
Te Awanga Hall, Hastings, New Zealand.
Review by Rob Harbers, photography by Olivia Robertson.
Ah 2020! The year that gave the lie to the conceit of “2020 vision” being perfect. If anybody still aspires to such a state, the visual would be much more of a confused mess of disease, inertia, death, cancellation, suspense, boredom, social distancing, isolation, desperation, empty streets, happy accidents, flies on foreheads, meltdowns, conflagrations, petulance, and a myriad of symptoms and outcomes of general fuckery. How better to extinguish such toxic memories than in the company of the dynamic duo of dancing digits and devoted doyenne that is Wil and Margot?
Marking the final iteration of the Sitting Room Sessions for this dystopian year, the promise was of a chance to set a funereal fire under the dumpster and push it out on the waves, Viking-style. Billed as “You Want It Darker” in a nod to the late lamented Mr Cohen, the night gave the opportunity for the performers to break out and let rip, exorcising the demons and inspiring fresh hope for a better one next year!
In an interesting juxtaposition of song title and running order, Wil kicked things off with a rendition of Gordon Jenkins’ “Goodbye”. Then from stage left entered Margot, with a delivery of “Black Coffee” from a velvet voice as smooth as latte. Quickly following this was the great Nina Simone’s “Don’t Let me Be Misunderstood”, a reflection on mental health – the common topic du jour in these crazy times.
The evening continued in similar vein, a perfect way to farewell this horrible anus (or whatever it was that Lizzie said so long ago) – both performers unafraid to turn it up to 11 when required. By comparison with their previous Session, Wil in particular took noticeably more opportunities to show his virtuosity, almost every tune featuring extended fills. Some of the songs from the previous appearance were repeated. But this was no problem, for example Margot’s offering of “Love For Sale” as fresh as ever, with a dedication to an audience member adding a soupçon of extra spice.
In keeping with the theme of the evening (and the year!) was “Good Morning Heartache” originally performed by Billie Holiday, but it was Mary Coughlan’s version that was cited as a particular inspiration. A little genre-bending arrived in the form of “Jolene”, the eponymous femme perhaps personifying, in a metaphorical way, the invidious nature of 2020.
The past year’s “keep your distance” theme has, no doubt, engendered the type of dry period described in Durwood Douche’s “Why Me God?”, its alternative title and repeated motif leading Margot to exile her children from the room while singing it’s decidedly NSFW lyrics! Some popular myth may conflate this song’s theme with the title of “I’d Rather Go Blind” which was performed shortly after – I leave that to you and your own beliefs as to whether you make such a connection, either way the latter saw a welcome opening up of the throttle by Margot, displaying the raw power that lurks underneath the honey-sweet purr.
The evening’s title came from Leonard Cohen, and he provided further inspiration in the form of “Everybody Knows” – the powerful delivery hinting at a perhaps even greater awareness of the extent to which life is predictably unpredictable than that possessed by the man himself!
A perhaps slightly incongruous note was struck by the audience-member who requested “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”, but the sheer beauty and purity of the performance was enough to forgive any mismatch.
“The Other Woman” saw the ouevre of Nina Simone further delved into, while Margot expressed a desire to one day play a full show made up of her lesser-known numbers – a tantalising prospect indeed.
The set highlight, though, was the astounding rendition of Billie Holiday’s “God Bless The Child” in which the voice was truly untethered, set free to express its full range and power – and what power it was. Truly jaw-dropping stuff, this was what we came for (Not to push the rest of the night into the shadows, it must be said)! An absolute powerhouse performance, befitting the show indeed and providing the penultimate piece of the performance.
For the final flourish, a note of hope for a better future was injected by a sing-along “You Are My Sunshine”, sending the audience out into a balmy summer night on a positive note, and wishing adieu to this toxic shit-show of a year.
Were you there at the Te Awanga Hall for this brilliant gig? Or have you seen Margot Pierard & Will Sargisson perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Note: [AD] Sitting Room Sessions 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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