Icehouse, Town Hall

Press, 28 January 1988, Page 4

Icehouse, Town Hall

Icehouse, supported by Boom Crash Opera, at the Christchurch Town Hall auditorium, January 27. Running time, 8.40 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. Reviewed by Nevin Topp. Icehouse melted a few hearts with an energetic brand of pop music, which was more guitaroriented than their recordings suggest. At times the band, led by Iva Davies, would have been more associated with the likes of those brash Ocker rockers, Cold Chisel or the Angels, and it was noted that some in the audience took the precaution of putting cotton wool in their ears before the main act started. However, underneath the guitar chords the band still used synthesiser and keyboards as the base, with Paul Wheeler on drums standing out for the way that he held the music together. Iva Davies demonstrated his sleight of hand with pop songs such as Blue” and|‘

"Crazy,” both crowd pleasers, plus the earlier numbers, "We Can Get Together” and “Walls,” the latter relying heavily on guitars. Davies still managed to surprise, though, with the nice Japanese touch to "Hey, Little Girl,” with the use of a synthesiser, and a snatch of a bass reggae beat on "Can’t Help Myself.” But, the best song was "Heartbreak Kid,” with its storyline and guitar burst from Davies, who seemed to want to outdo Hendrix, followed by “No Promises,” which was equally dramatic and taut. Davies was also prepared to show off his classical side in introducing himself and Robert Kretschmer on oboes for the opening of “Man of Colours,” a surprisingly slow song for beginning an encore. But the next ended in true Ocker fashion on “Baby, You’re So Strange,” with even Andy Qunta’ trading in his keyboards for a guitar.

Icehouse played mostly high energy and entertaining music, but whether it was worth getting crushed at the front for (one girl fainted and was placed on the stage a short time before the band came on) is open to debate. Boom Crash Opera, from Melbourne, took the opening slot but the band appeared to have a bit of an identity problem in which style of music to concentrate on: a moody piece like "Axe To Grind” or the faster “City Flat.” It seems unusual that an Australian band should have been given the support slot for Icehouse when there are New Zealand bands seeking exposure. If the tour had occurred in Australia involving a headline overseas act, the Australian Musicians’ Union would have had something to say about it — as happened with an American blues guitarjfet recently.