America & Sharon Corr – Vector Arena

Two years after their previous visit to New Zealand and 45 years after they started, soft-rockers America took a stroll down memory lane with a couple thousand fans.

The Vector Arena had been chopped down to a more manageable size for the classic rockers, turning it into a more intimate venue.

First up was Sharon Corr, eldest sister of the Irish sibling band, The Corrs. The group disbanded about a decade ago and Sharon has released two solo albums since then. She and her three-piece band played a short, somewhat innocuous set.  The singer/violinist mentioned that she was a bit jet lagged, and that came across during the first half of her set, but she got more energized as she went along. She certainly is a likeable performer, but her solo songs struggle to make a lasting impression. Standouts were her cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams and The Corrs’ hit, So Young.

With their instrumental Miniature, played as a fanfare, and a montage of the band’s golden years projected on the screen behind them, America took the stage at 8:45. They opened with Tin Man, the mega-hit from 1974 that naturally followed Miniature on their Holiday album.

America consists of the duo of Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell. Third original member Dan Peek left in 1977 and passed away in 2011.

Although the group had just performed in New Zealand two years ago, they arrived this time with a new band backing them with long-time drummer Willie Leacox and guitarist Michael Woods since retired. In their places were a couple of young guns…former Reel Big Fish drummer Ryland Steen and Bill Worrell on guitar, banjo and keyboards. Bassist Richard Campbell has been with the group since 2003.

The new blood seemed to add a bit more life to the act and there were times when they sounded more like The Buffalo Springfield, with Stills and Young duelling it out on electric guitars, than the folk-rockers they are known as.

Of course all of the hits were played. In fact, the set list was very similar to the one from two years ago…no surprises there…except they played two new tunes from the just-released album, Lost & Found.

The first of these was titled Drivin’ and was an upbeat melodic rocker sung by Beckley. The other, called Dream Come True, came during the encore and is a blues-rocker sung by Bunnell.

Of the two vocalists, Bunnell’s voice has stood the test of time better than Beckley’s. Gerry had some problems in the higher register, but the two of them sounded like the old days when they harmonized.

In addition to hits like Ventura Highway, Sister Golden Hair and Daisy Jane, the band covered a few other tunes including The Mamas & Papas’ California Dreamin’ The Gin Blossoms’ Til I Hear It From You and Joni Mitchell’s Woodstock.

The Woodstock nation was recalled during Sandman, for me the high point of the show both musically and visually. That’s when the band really caught on fire and the screen behind them was filled with evocative iconic photos of 1960s political and social unrest.

There were times when the group dipped into the catalogue to play tunes that were somewhat obscure…Green Monkey from Hat Trick, Cornwall Blank from Homecoming…and one got the feeling that this was how they kept themselves fresh after trotting out A Horse With No Name for 45 years.

It was, of course, the closing tune…audience and band both leaving the venue satisfied.

“These are not oldies, they’re classic rock”, insisted Beckley.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Michael Flynn:

America set list:

1. Tim Man
2. You Can Do Magic
3. Don’t Cross The River
4. Daisy Jane
5. Riverside
6. I Need You
7. Here
8. Ventura Highway
9. Drivin’
10. Chasing The Rainbow
11. Woodstock
12. Cornwall Blank/Hollywood
13. Til I Hear It From You
14. The Border
15. Green Monkey
16. Woman Tonight
17. Only In Your Heart
18. California Dreamin’
19. Lonely People
20. Sandman
21. Sister Golden Hair
22. Dream Come True
23. A Horse With No Name