Fine variety in rock concert

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33065, 4 November 1972, Page 16

Fine variety in rock concert

Four vastly different styles of music were combined in the E.M.I. Rock Concert in the James Hay Theatre last evening. Sounds varied from the quiet, piano-accompanied songs of Desna Sisarich to the stylised rock of Lutha in the first half of the programme, and from the polished professionalism of Quincy Conserve to the fun and games of Blerta in the second. Quincy Conserve must be one of the best New Zealand groups today. Its music is certainly better than some of the overseas groups who receive attention here. With the theme from “Shaft,” “Roundhouse,” a Chicago number and many’ other pieces, Quincy Conserve showed a perfect blend of brass, electric instruments and the human voice, with a balance that never faltered. Malcolm Hayman, the group’s leader and vocalist, has a voice that fits in with the over-all sound and all of the instrumentalists — organ, guitars, bass, sax, trumpet, trombone and drums — displayed a precision and musical knowledge that can only have come from years of experience in entertainment. Blerta defies a category. Its bracket combined a diversity of sounds, but whatever it did was completely original. Even if the song was one made familiar by

other groups, the Blerta version was such a departure from the original that it was almost a new composition. The treatment of Steven Still’s “Love the One You’re With” was a case in point. Its key was involvement, and this was undoubtedly achieved, especially in the muchrappreciate'd efforts of a typical space hero (faecally funny) and his cunning fight against the evils of “Tricky Dickie” — an entr’acte comic satire. Lutha would do well to follow Blerta’s originality. Although it did two numbers composed by group members to “show that they could be original,” nothing startlingly new appeared. “Andriana’s Gone,” one such song, was a nice harmless ballad with good feeling for tonal structure, but it was marred by feeble lyrics. Desna Sisarich, on the other hand, was a thorough individualist. Her songs, all of which she wrote herself, varied from the light satirical and comic to reflective and romantic, and as her bracket progressed, she became more sure of . herself and her voice strengthened to reveal strong tonal control. Although obviously influenced by Carol King, Miss Sisarich has enough originality to have a style of her own. Her piano accompaniment alone is enough to recommend her to any audience.