HERBS live on their No Nukes tour of NZ

Tu Tangata, Issue 24, 1 June 1985, Page 28

HERBS live on their No Nukes tour of NZ

I caught their act at the Terminus hotel in Wellington and was really knocked back by their music and stage presence. It was a response evidently shared by the crowded bar patrons, most of whom had not seen HERBS before.

HERBS were featured in the cover story of Tu Tangata February/March 1982 and a little while later covered again when they were preparing for their first tour of the islands. Looking back now over those stories, the hard luck tales of cancelled gigs, withdrawn sponsorship and mis-management seem incredible. If there ever was a band plagued by troubles, this was it. The shame of it all was the HERBS music was about the only genuine Polynesian response in the length and breadth of the country.

From their formation in 1980, HERBS have retained this identity and moulded it with some political comment into a tour de force of talent.

That talent was evident at the Terminus and looks to be getting stronger.

Only two originals remain, Dilworth Karaka on guitar and vocals, and Fred Faleauto on drums and vocals.

Willie Hona on lead guitar and vocals has perhaps made the biggest difference as I feel he more than adequately has filled the vacuum left by former lead vocalist, Samoan Tony Fonoti.

Hona is a frontman as Fonoti was, the big difference being that Hona can play, sing and deal with the audience.

That’s not to under-rate other band members, Jack Allen on bass, Tama Lunden, keyboards, Morrie Watini, saxaphone and sole pakeha Carl Perkins on percussion.

The night I saw them was perhaps an uncharacteristic one for the Terminus. Maoris and Polynesians were in the majority that night, a fact a friend at the bar pointed out to me. He said he’d heard them play in Auckland and invited them to do a benefit concert for his marae. This they did and he and the boys had been friends since.

Enough to bring him to Wellington especially to see them, I ventured. No he said, that was just coincidence. And

then to dispel the doubting tone in my voice, he called on his mate Dilworth to have a beer with us. And HERBS guitarist Dilworth Karaka obliged my friend. The last I saw of him was just before the band started up. He told me HERBS were the best bloody band in the country but I could judge for myself.

That’s the sort of devotion HERBS drum up, and it’s an experience I feel many New Zealanders need to have.

From tracks off their latest album ‘Long ago’, to the soul classic, ‘Louie’, HERBS couldn’t put a note wrong.

Even playing from a woefully congested stage to an equally congested audience couldn’t stop the flow of energy. The earlier, ‘Dragons and Demons’ and ‘Azania’ were given a much more powerful treatment, indeed most of the numbers I had come to associate with HERBS were much better second and third time round.

So compulsive was the musicianship or perhaps so shy were the audience, that dancing didn’t start until after an hour into the two and a half hour show. At a time when door charges seem more like a mortgage downpayment, HERBS value for money can’t be beat.

Anti-nuclear sentiment underlined much of the music fare with French Letter perhaps the highlight of the evening. Vocal harmonies really distinguish HERBS from other groups and I for one am happy they’ve returned to more reggae/blues feel for their music.

The day after I saw them, HERBS were opening for Neil Young at Athletic Park. This is just one more measure of their music standing, they’ve shared the bill with Stevie Wonder, Black Slate and ÜB4O.

However success in the form of acknowledgement of their top standing has so far been denied them. It is up to music fans to search out their music

and bone up on HERBS for the contemporary music experience that points to life after ANZUS.

Herbs P.S.

Just recieved the studio album that Herbs took their new material from. It’s called Long Ago.

Not only have Herbs improved enormously as a live act, they’ve also come to grips with the studio sound.

Long Ago stands up well as a complete album. Even so I have my favourites, ‘Tahu’s Song,’ co-written by Emory Tahu and Dilworth Karaka and

the two ballads, ‘On My Mind’ and ‘ln The Ghetto’.

While Herbs are mostly known for their reggae tunes, both ballads surprised me, in that the mellow feelings well suited Herbs. Keyboard player, Tama Lundon has a lovely feel for the slower song and a different sounding voice from the others in the band.

As for the album lyrics ‘Jah Reggae’ “cause if you broadcast hate I say... you’ll never be a dread that way,” through ‘Repatriation’ “a stranger among strangers., where is the sense of history,” to ‘Long Ago’ “realise the downfall of that time has made you wise, long ago was so long ago.”

The picture painted is bleak, from the title song’s plea to build on the past but live for today. From the ‘Lonely Faces’ who, “call for help it’s just too late... sounds of laughter lost forever,”.

To the single from the album, ‘Nuclear Waste’ “it’s coming down on you, you better watch out now.” A strong song with a great hook-line, let’s hope it pulls in those politicians and people who wholeheartedly sanction nuclear power at any cost.

However it’s Tahu’s Song that sums up this bittersweet shot of love from Herbs, “a’int it sad we don’t pull together, a’int it sad we don’t trust one another.” pw