Orville Peck
12th January 2020
The Tuning Fork, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Chris Zwaagdyk.
Canadian artist Orville Peck rode into town last night on the back of one of the most exciting album releases of 2019, his performance one that left a sold-out venue full of ‘peckheads’ deeply satisfied.
With full band in tow, this promised to be a show to remember, Peck’s debut Pony offering up a collection of songs that have been steeped in honesty and life experience; cracking himself open and sifting through the contents, his compositions explore past lovers, his own anxieties and his affection and respect for the art of drag which he refers to – quite correctly – as the last subversive art form.
Dressed in a striking black and white nudie suit, his fringed mask and cowboy hat – a look that he has become synonymous for – along with his Gretsch white falcon guitar firmly in place, he took a moment to allow his fans to audibly celebrate his arrival before leaning forward and declaring “I’m Orville Peck” in a baritone so deep it deliciously permeated all the way through to the very marrow of the bone; opening track ‘Big Sky’ following suit.
Peck is a country artist that many of the very same genre either neglect or refuse to recognise; despite being long listed for a Polaris Music Prize last year, his mask is seen by some as a gimmick, the fact that he is an openly queer artist flying in the face of the commonly adopted persona of straight white men in cowboy hats touting conventional family values.
What they fail to recognise is that this isn’t an act nor a publicity stunt, Peck (who has a photo of himself at the age of eight playing the part of a cowboy) has a country heart, his adoration for artists such as Cash, Nelson, Cline, Parton, and Merle Haggard evident in both his music and aesthetic. Growing up as a self-confessed “freaky gay kid” with few friends thanks to moving countries on a regular basis, Peck always felt like an outsider. This feeling only continued to grow in later years as he lived his life on the road as a musician. Yes, Orville Peck has been around the block once or twice before – those who look hard enough soon able to associate him with his previous acts; a swirling ball of talent, trained in dance, able to play guitar, piano and drums proficiently he has also spent time treading the boards of the theatre.
No, Orville Peck may not be his real name, but it’s who he is now. His transformation into the person standing on stage before the enraptured Auckland crowd allowing him the strength to not only write and perform the very genre of music he has loved since childhood but the ability to be vulnerable, to embrace his insecurities and confessional emotional shortcomings and incorporate them into his storytelling.
‘Winds Change’ and ‘Queen of the Rodeo’ which followed his outstanding opener of ‘Big Sky’ only reaffirmed this, an ever so slight shift into the territory of pop music shadowing ‘Turn to Hate’ before a wonderful overtly theatrical performance of ‘Kansas (Remembers Me Now)’ saw the audience positively entranced, his mannerisms reminiscent of artists such as Kirin J Callinan and Alex Cameron. Peck is country, but he lovingly and cleverly incorporates in elements of shoegaze, post-punk and soul, his lyrics interlaced with wisps of southern gothic which are lifted to new heights live by his outstanding band made up of three members of the Canadian indie rock band FRIGS (Kris Bowering on drums, Duncan Hay Jennings on lead guitar and the gorgeous Bria Salmena on guitar and backing vocals) alongside bassist Kyle Connolly of Wish, The Seams and Milk Lines.
With only his debut to his name, Peck threw in a couple of covers last night that brought the room to it’s knees in true “rootin’ tootin'” style, ‘Something to Brag About’ by George Jones and Tammy Wynette and Graham Parsons ‘Ooh Las Vegas’ seeing Peck perform a sublime duet with Salmena both times and the room explode in a flurry of dancing feet as joyful (and non-satirical) exclamations of ‘Yeehaw! permeated the air.
Single ‘Dead of Night’, the first song Peck ever penned, had the room sway to its stirring chorus, the words weighted with longing, regret and a hint of eroticism in perfect proportions; Peck’s vocals as haunting live as they are on record. It seemed apt then that ‘No Glory (In the West)’ followed straight after, Peck informing all that it was his latest song which carried with it confirmation that Orville Peck plans to carry on as he began.
Set closer ‘Take You Back (The Iron Hoof Cattle Call)’ once again brought a momentum to the room, the audience enthusiastically clapping along to the beat as Peck amusingly worked in a whistling contest between himself, Salmena and Jennings – later imparting on them the tongue-in-cheek wisdom that “Winning is fun but losing is too”. Despite it being a Sunday evening Auckland weren’t quite ready to leave, a hotly demanded encore seeing the band return with a cover of Bobbie Gentry’s ‘Fancy’, Peck unapologetically dialling both his vocals and theatrics back up to an eleven; the only slight disappointment of the entire evening being that for unknown reasons ‘Hope to Die’ was not performed despite being featured on the set list.
And then just like that they were gone, Orville Peck once again as he has all his life hitting the road for his next destination, guitar slung across his back. Here’s hoping he chases that setting sun back to New Zealand soon.
Were you there at The Tuning Fork for this magnificent Alt-Country icon? Or have you seen Orville Peck perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Big Sky
- Winds Change
- Queen Of The Rodeo
- Roses Are Falling
- Turn To Hate
- Kansas (Remembers Me Now)
- Something To Brag About [George Jones & Tammy Wynette cover]
- Buffalo Run
- Nothing Fades Like The Light
- Ooh Las Vegas [Gram Parsons cover]
- Dead Of Night
- No Glory (In The West)
- Take You Back (The Iron Hoof Cattle Call)
- Hope To Die [encore – on setlist but not performed]
- Fancy [Bobbie Gentry cover] [encore]
If you enjoyed this content, please consider donating towards the running of Ambient Light, covering expenses and allowing us to expand the coverage you love by visiting our PressPatron page.