Gig Review: Jazmine Mary @ Meow, Wellington – 31/07/2025

Multi-talented Jazmine Mary band member Babe Martin did double duty at Meow Nui on the last night of July, providing solo opening for the full band to follow. Seated, wearing a red sheath dress that matched her keyboard, she showcased a multi-octave vocal range that cast a spell over early audience members. Her first song was Calendar, followed by Sun Dog – a cut from what will be her very welcome second EP Not a Bee, But a Wasp. Her explainer of sun reflecting off ice crystals in the air creating the titular sun dog was easy to envisage, given the chilly conditions, even inside under the lights. April in the City reeled off some super-cinematic city views, as it wandered through its narrative. 

She had played Only Good on a single octave Casiotone at Radio Active earlier, but we got the full breadth, with the keys piano tuned. Far From You was besotted and jaunty, drawn from her first EP, Versoix, which Jazmine Mary produced. She expressed the joy of a full circle that lead her from that production relationship to where she now sat, playing her own music in support of Jazmine Mary. She also played the title track, leaning into a nostalgia for clearly pivotal coming of age teen years spent in Switzerland. It’s a beautiful track (recorded), and this stripped-back version is equally transporting, perhaps even more intimate. 

Although it’s the first time she’s played in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, mention of her song When They Look At Me being drawn from the 2023 Tautoko Gaza fundraiser album elicited the kind of supportive pro-Palestine cheer typical of a Meow audience, telling her she is among her people (and especially) here. You can still buy that album, support the cause, and hear that track here.

A change of clothes for Babe Martin – into a stylish baggy suit that matches the refined appearances of bandmates Louisa Nicklin and Arahi – and it’s time for the headliner. Jazmine Mary obviously didn’t get the same wardrobe memo as their band, who clearly serve to support them like the deep-buttoned chaise lounge – spaciously economical and seriously stylish – they deserve to recline on. They have come to lay down their world weary tunes, so the humour that enters the room is quite unexpected. They are wearing a spectacular “internet shopping” purchase (a metallic sheened, hot crimson body suit with flared sleeves, frilled legs, laced bodice) and – “I forgot my bra” – no bra. Given most present would be familiar with the album cover of I Want To Rock and Roll, I don’t think anyone’s gonna bat an eyelid if any “just a warning” wardrobe malfunction does occur. 

“This isn’t really real clothes but it is real music,” they point out and assure us.

Given they were hugging – although not instrumentally exclusive to – a beautiful Riviera Blue Gretsch Streamliner hollow body guitar for much of the set, the chest area remained largely protected. It strikes me as typical that an omnipresent suggestion of sexuality is coursing beneath the air this truly charismatic creature breathes. 

They play the title track of the new album – their third – I Want To Rock and Roll solo first. That baritone voice – one of many pitches at Jazmine Mary’s command – is like being dropped into a well you don’t want to climb out of, dark and intoxicating. Among preoccupations about a bird being inadvertently run over – although it sounded a little like an avian suicide – the band join in for Memphis, lifting the tempo. Every track from the album is covered, and – replete with subtle samples – the performances are remarkably faithful to the source material. 

Narcotics Anonymous is a high point four songs in, and Jazmine Mary starts to loosen up, allowing theatricality to lift their limbs. Pentagrams on their palms are visible when they raise their palms, preacher style, skyward, pulling emotions from the ether, from the crowd, from the past. There is more melancholy, and another highlight, when they swap guitar for flute, entwining with Nicklin’s mournful saxophone on June. A tin whistle will also join the party later. 

Outside of the album this tour celebrates, Dancer (from first album The Licking of a Tangerine), and Wet Mouth (from second album Dog), are included. The former has me focussed on Arahi’s tender drumming. He’s a master of soft mallets, brushes, and edgy rim shots, and does a fine line in backing vocals too. I’m constantly amazed by this man’s multi-instrumental capabilities, and it was pure pleasure to observe him in such an intimate setting, having last seen him play with Troy Kingi and the Cactus Handshake in the totally different environs of Homegrown. 

Jazmine Mary’s latest single is a cover of Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side, and its outing goes down well tonight, giving Nicklin some space to really blow. My Brilliance is the final song, with some talk about how our band’s leader has decided they don’t want to do another one in the planned setlist. They’ve said too much though, because – upon leaving the stage – the crowd ain’t shifting, knowing there’s an ounce of possibly the most flammable gas still left in the tank. The band return, Jazmine Mary now sporting an enormous leopard print coat, and give us I Want To Rock and Roll album opener My Brilliance. The audience have been warned, this is really all the band have, so we let its escalating rhythms propel us back out into the cold night. I’m warmed by memories of this organically intuitive band, and their intoxicating velvet ambience. 

Photo Credit: Tim Gruar for Muzic.NZ
Jazmine Mary Photo Gallery
Babe Martin Photo Gallery