Gig Review: Mel Parsons @ Globe Theatre, Palmerston North – 06/09/2026

There was no fanfare to open the show, no introduction, no countdown. Mel Parsons and her band simply entered the stage, received some applause and then started playing. The Globe Theatre took a moment to register that the first song of the tour’s closing night had already begun.

The show itself ran without a support act, just two sets either side of an intermission; the same shape the tour has taken across all seven of its dates. Parsons was backed by her long-time rhythm section, Aaron Stewart on bass and her cousin Jed Parsons on drums, plus music producer Josh Logan on guitar, a trio she wouldn’t formally introduce to the room until deep into the second set, apologising for the oversight as if it were a genuine breach of etiquette.

It hardly mattered. The four of them play like they know what each other is thinking before anything is said. Parsons’ hushed delivery invites the odd comparison to artists like Gillian Welch or Lucinda Williams, but the closer you listen the harder those comparisons are to entertain. Hers is a genuinely original voice in the New Zealand indie-folk scene, one that owes more to her depth of musical history than to anyone else’s catalogue.

Parsons explained early on that she had deliberately front-loaded the set with its saddest songs, promising the room a rollercoaster from there. It was an apt metaphor. Grain by Grain set the tone: a bed of gently bowed upright bass from Stewart, softly brushed drums from Jed Parsons, Mel’s own fingerpicking unhurried on her full-bodied acoustic, the harmonies knitting together like they’re memorised within their bones.

Not Enough came next in a similar calm manner, its phrasing sounding deceptively simple until a key change helped reveal the delicate intricacy flowing underneath. Caravan turned toward pure childhood nostalgia, summers on the West Coast stretching out the way they only do when you’re young enough to think they’ll last forever, Stewart switching to a black Fender Precision bass to help the song’s emotional punch.

Brick by Brick kept the momentum going, Logan swapping back from a resonator acoustic to his trusty Fender Strat. Mel floated the idea, only half joking, that the song would make a fine jingle for a hardware store chain; on this evidence and the audience’s reaction, she isn’t wrong.

Between songs, Parsons couldn’t resist mentioning that Castle Hill currently sits at number one on the charts; joking about apologising to her friends for how insufferable she’s become about it. This wasn’t the last time her significant achievement got an airing.

Time Slows Down, brushes replacing drumsticks as the mood turned properly wistful, led perfectly into Be Here Now, with Parsons speaking candidly about her own struggle to put her phone down around her children and the discomfort of watching kids trying to make eye contact with adults who are staring at a screen all day. It framed the song as something closer to a note to self rather than a general observation, and the room leaned into it. The recorded version’s organ was nowhere to be heard, but Stewart’s bass line filled that space giving the song a warm, steady undertow.

Don’t Leave the Light On landed next, introduced with obvious care. Parsons spoke about the song’s connection to an emotionally abusive relationship, the strength of the response it has drawn from listeners since release, and her sincere hope that nobody in the room would recognise themselves in it. If they did, she added, it is never too late to get out. On stage, the song hit hardest through restraint, the bowed double bass returning beneath her own unhurried guitar work, no theatrics required to make the point.

Partway through the set, an audience member called out to ask how the album was doing. Mel feigned exasperation, and then handed off to Jed who answered with a theatrical drum roll and crash before booming out the chart position, and the room loved every second of it.

True to her own rollercoaster metaphor, The Rain brought a brief lift, warm harmonies sitting at exactly the right volume, before the mood dipped again for Clean Slate, Parsons checking her own key before letting the song settle into a slow, moody ache. She introduced Post High Slide next with a nod to its history: written and eventually debuted on a stadium run supporting Crowded House two years earlier. She milked the name drop for all it was worth, joking that this is simply what songwriters do, but the story earned its place; the song itself wrapped up the first half with plenty of drive, the whole band locking together for a finish perfectly suited to this point in the night.

A short break gave the room a chance to reset before Parsons returned in a striking black sequined dress, quipping that if Beyoncé scored another chart-topping album, this is exactly the outfit she would wear to celebrate.

Alberta Sun opened the second set, and Parsons filled in the backstory: written about a stint living in western Canada, working a tree planting gang with dreadlocks and no fixed plan beyond the next season, before eventually enrolling in music school in the early 2000’s. The song’s double time, cowboy booted strut made a lot more sense once you knew where it came from.

Offer Down, drawn from her 2024 album, Sabotage, pulled things back into something desolate and lamenting, epic in feel yet delicately exposed to the elements like a flower. Parsons noted, with a straight face, that Sabotage was itself a big record in Palmerston North, though she was quick to add that Castle Hill was still sitting at the number one spot these days.

What came after was pure bonus material. Jed Parsons, it turns out, moonlights in children’s entertainment under the alias Jeff Parsnips, with a season of his own kids’ show heading to Circa Theatre in Wellington later this year, and the band peeled off into a quick, grinning run through Tomato Tamati, one of his songs for kids, enough silliness in it to remind everyone how easily this group can swap between genres.

Back to business; 5432 arrived with Mel playing her white Ibanez Artcore and warm backing vocals locked in tight, before Circling the City slipped into another more forlorn corner of the set, closing on a lovely heartfelt vocal line.

I Got the Lonely drew the biggest reaction of the night, the band dropping into a reggae skank halfway through, much to Parsons’ visible delight. Beginning with alluring vocals and acoustic guitars, Come Over Lover stripped things back further still, Jed Parsons moving to the front of the stage to play a snare and Stewart returning to the upright bass, before Down So Long turned quietly poignant, capos placed higher up the neck to ensure the song’s tender melody really took hold.

True Story leaned harder into bluegrass: another expertly crafted guitar solo from Logan sitting right in the pocket, before handing things off to Stewart’s upright bass solo, which drew one of the loudest reactions of the set. Little Sadness carried a rockier edge; Jed Parsons back behind his lovely Ludwig kit and in complete control. It is here, more than anywhere else in the night, that Parsons’ refusal to sound like anyone else really shows itself; comparisons start to feel irrelevant.

Driving Man and Just ‘Cause You Don’t Want Me quickened the pace again, steering the night into its final stretch. Don’t Wait arrived with an utterly stunning intro and perfect delivery to match, before the more energetic Far Away, a song Parsons wrote and first performed with the Fly My Pretties collective, closed the set on a big, rock-edged high.

This was a flawless two set performance and that kind of ease doesn’t happen by accident: it’s the sound of a band that has put in long hours to make hard work sound effortless. Mel Parsons’ wonderfully measured show was helped along by a clean and balanced mix from start to finish, largely down to the steady hand of Jo Barus at the desk.

There was no encore. There didn’t need to be one; the room was already on its feet for a well-deserved standing ovation before the band had finished taking their bows. Some tours end with fireworks. This one ended exactly how it began: quietly, confidently, and entirely on its own terms.

Photo Credit: Andy Russell for Muzic.NZ
Photos are from the Wellington show on 5 September
View the full gallery here