Wreckless Eric
9th November 2018
The Tuning Fork, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review & Photography by Sarah Kidd.
Nestled amongst wooden tables and chairs that transformed Tuning Fork’s atmosphere into one of a quaint English Pub, Wreckless Eric performed a quintessential solo show that left all in awe. As the rain continued to fall outside, inside warm lighting bathed the stage; slowly changing into hues of blue it highlighted the paisley pattern of Will Saunders jacket.
A unique and hugely talented musician there couldn’t have been a better choice of a support act for an artist such as Wreckless Eric. With his mop of hair and endearing smile, Saunders began with an instrumental on his acoustic guitar that stirred the air and drew all eyes forward. While Saunders is well known for infiltrating every inch of available space on stage with both his body and his musical genius, tonight his acoustic guitar decided that it wanted to be as old school as his jacket and refused to be plugged in, which meant that Saunders was – as he so expressively described it – “rooted to the spot” directly behind the double mic stand. Making jokes that he would be an easy target should the audience want to hurl inanimate objects at him, his predicament in no way detracted from the quality of his performance. Instead it only intensified it.
Besides being a fascinating lyricist Saunders has a vocal range that moves flawlessly from a hiss to a roar; emotive tracks hold hands in the darkness with those a little more off kilter, each one teeming with a personality all of their own. It was therefore rather apt that Saunders performed the brilliant ‘SPD Blues’ which he dedicated to the beautiful Fred Cole of Dead Moon who sadly departed this mortal coil a year ago this month. Releasing a new album at the end of November entitled Inside Walking – a follow-up to his brilliant Hopeful Objects released last year – Saunders treated the crowd to a live version of the first single ‘Over and Over’ before following it up with a fiery cover of The Small Faces track ‘All or Nothing’.
Throwing in a second cover, fans of Saunders were thrilled to once again bear witness to his version of ‘Bloody Hammer’ by Roky Erickson of The 13th Floor Elevators; primeval it was as if Saunders grew another ten feet as he leered at the audience before him, the song paving the way nicely for the more humour infused but just as riotous ‘Worried Mind’ to round the set out.
Arriving on stage to genuinely passionate applause, Wreckless Eric purveyed the room. Giving a little crooked smile he launched into a story about how the last time he was in Auckland fans were tearing his shirt off; “I’m not surprised I didn’t come back” he told those who were present to peals of laughter. Having not toured Australasia since 1980 – stating he was busy and that nobody ever asked him to – this evening’s performance promised to be something special. But no one could have predicted just how astounding it would turn out to be.
Wreckless Eric isn’t just a musician, he is a personality.
From humorous anecdotes to tales both old and new, Eric held the audience for the entiriety of his performance. Beginning with ‘Same’ his words painted pictures across the room of private insights into the life of the man himself, his delivery of the song earnest and animated, an obvious fire still burning in the belly of the sixty-four-year-old who has seen it all. Moving into ‘Reconnez Cherie’ and Eric once again amuses the audience with the background to the song’s creation and his thoughts on the French language.
Mention the name Wreckless Eric to most people and they will immediately link it with the song ‘Whole Wide World’, a classic tune that has been covered by everyone from Green Day to Cage The Elephant – whose particular version of the track Eric quite likes. Eric is a variable cornucopia of the very art of music itself having not only produced several solo albums but performing in bands such as Captains of Industry, The Len Bright Combo, Le Beat Group Electrique and of course there are the three albums with his wife Amy Rigby just to name a few. While probably most notorious for his work as one of the original Stiff Records artists, tonight’s show was no nostalgic trip down a memory lane of greatest hits.
Declaring that he would be performing most of his latest solo album entitled Construction Time & Demolition released earlier in the year, Eric took the audience on a journey so sublime that many in the room were lost within its realms. To be fair it appeared that Eric was too, changing from acoustic to an electric guitar – the act of which produced a roar from the crowd – Eric built and destroyed walls of garage style noise and fuzz around him, the familiar twinkling’s of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (Swan Theme) dancing around it’s broken edges thanks to a tiny steel music box located on Eric’s guitar that he would periodically turn at different speeds, the effect quite unworldly. Space and time folded in on itself as the music swelled, Eric bringing it back down again to a low hum as he crouched over his pedals in intense concentration. Here is a man that knows exactly how to tame the beast while ensuring that it is given the voice it deserves. When he emerged, it was if the dawn itself was rising; many of the audience members leaping to their feet in a standing ovation of Eric who stood before them, slightly dishevelled but obviously delighted.
Of course, ‘Whole Wide World’ made a welcomed appearance, Eric throwing himself straight into before delving into ‘Semaphore Signals’. He then briefly discussed the idea of punk, ending his thoughts with the statement “this is punk rock” and smashing out ‘The Two of Us’, again from his latest solo expedition. While it seemed that Wreckless Eric could have quite easily have played on deep into the night, curtain call was hovering at the edges; his parting gift the rather aptly titled ‘Have a Great Day’.
Make no mistake, Wreckless Eric is no relic of the past; he is an artist that truly transcends the years whether they be behind or before him.
Were you there at The Tuning Fork to witness this Punk rock / New Wave gig? Or have you seen Wreckless Eric perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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