Aaron Carpenter & The Revelators – Tuning Fork August 4, 2017

Crossing over from Waiheke Island, Aaron Carpenter and his Revelators celebrated the release of their first long player, Pretty Lies, with a show at Auckland’s Tuning Fork.

CD copies of the new album were given away to all who entered the venue, highlighting the value placed on recorded music in the day and age.

When I arrived, Sandy Mill Music was already on stage. Sandy has made a name for herself playing and singing with a myriad of artists, most notably The Bellbirds, featuring Don McGlashan and SJD. Her own band is an all-star affair with The Bads’ Dianne Swann on guitar and vocals, Jeremy Toy (guitar), Ben King (bass) and Milan Borish on drums.

Sandy has a big soulful voice and an inclusive stage presence. She’s got a new release coming later this year, which, from what I heard here, should be worth looking forward to. Her and her band’s version of Eurythmics’ Love Is A Stranger was pretty impressive as well.

Aaron Carpenter & The Revelators are a classic bar band. This is no knock on them, in fact, they do what they do very well. Their sound is blues-based rock, with a big nod to the likes of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and the like.

Along with Carpenter who writes the tunes and fronts the band, we get guitarist Derek Solomon, who really cranks out the riffs. Then there is vocalist and occasional keyboard player Nikki Ngatai, who shares the front of the sage with Aaron. Rounding out the band is bass player Lee Catlin and drummer Miles Gillett. Both Solomon and Catlin are members of The Solomon Cole Band, whose other members could be found among the crowd.

The focus was on tunes from the new album, and things got underway with the moody Bullet In A Barrel. Then the riffs started flying with a rumbling Pretty Lies.

Aaron kept the on-stage comments brief, thanking producer Nick Abbott and introducing a few songs, but mainly he and the band concentrated on the music.

Derek Solomon clearly enjoys making a big noise, standing feet firmly planted while hammering out those bluesy power chords.

Their version of Zeppelin’s When The Levee Breaks (by way of Memphis Minnie) pretty much summarizes what the band is all about and Nikki Ngatai did a fine job of taking over the lead vocal duties for this one.

The crowd was with them from the beginning, whooping and hollering and basically having a helluva time on a Friday night…beers in hand and blues-rock on the stage.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Ivan Karczewski:

Aaron Carpenter & The Revelators set list:

1. Bullet In A Barrel
2. Pretty Lies
3. Gun Smoke Girl
4. The Highway
5. Desert Sands
6. Pony
7. When The Levee Breaks
8. Never Hungry Long
9. The Hardest Thing
10. Moon Over Mountain
11. Werewolf