Kershaw and Punch

Press, 14 May 1985, Page 8

Kershaw and Punch

Nik Kershaw and backing band, supported by The Punch, at the Christchurch Town Hall auditorium last evening. Reviewed by Nevin Topp. It was hard to spot sft 3in Nik Kershaw on his opening song, “Roses.” You could hear his voice, but where was the little English lad? Such are the advantages of modem technology, for Kershaw was at the back of the group with a tiny headset microphone, all wired for sound.

He quickly demonstrated the use of the headset effectively. Dancing round the stage, weaving between the instruments and the members of the backing group, Kershaw showed the advantages of wearing running shoeq. The opening number, plus the next two songs, “Dane-

ing Girl” and “Shame On You,” were crisply played with an excellent sound balance, particularly for the vocals, but for some reason this exceptional start tailed off.

By using a percussionist and a drummer plus three sets of keyboards, although not necessarily all at the same time, Kershaw set up a complex sound, but for all the high energy of the frontman and the liveliness of the music it was not exciting. Perhaps the tailing off of the vocals had something to do with it. Kershaw tried a number of different music styles, even getting in a heavy metal number to make up for the cancellation of the Iron Maiden concert, which , was meant to be held at the ' same venue today. '■ At times Kershaw’s sound

was quite ponderous, as on “Wild Horses.” Also the items were not helped by a veritable Greek chorus, or “screech chorus,” of girls in the row behind, who screamed every time a song finished. But the concert got into a bouncy finish with everyone joining in on “I Won’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me.”

The Punch, from Timaru, opened the show. Although they threw out lots of hooks, none of them connected. It seems a pity that so often New Zealand bands seem to rely on lead singers doing all the vocal work, and that is what happened here. Still, for the band it gives them an advantage over the remaining four groups that will play in next week’s ’Bs “Shazam!” show 'in the Town Hall.