Gig Review: Princess Chelsea @ Neck Of The Woods, Auckland – 19/10/2023

Princess Chelsea began her international Everything Is Going To Be Alright tour, at Neck of the Woods in Auckland with a full house on Thursday 19 October. Bringing her 2022 album of the same title in its entirety to the stage, with her band Jasmine Balmer, Joshua Worthington-Church, David Harris, Joe Kaptein, Kate Tindall, and Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent. Support came from Louisa Nicklin.

Louisa Nicklin shared new songs as she prepared for release of her second album. The sampling of organ like droning was dark and matched by her disconcerting lullaby-like lyrics. I found myself thinking where was the centre of gravity in her music. By this I mean it is unsettling in its composition. She created a cinematic-like uneasiness, albeit in a vulnerable and personal way. She expressed a complexity of difficult feelings with influences of dirge-like hymns.

Dressed, in black with a delicate sheer embroidered cape and slicked backed hair, Princess Chelsea emerged through a crowd of musicians, on a tightly packed stage. She was like something from a gothic fairytale. Princess Chelsea called Everything Is Going To Be Alright her ‘nervous breakdown album’, Imogen Heap sang ‘there’s beauty in the breakdown’, and tonight was an evening of award-winning music. There was boldness, catharsis and freedom in the story, of this, her fifth album.

Highlights for me were real life percussion, gargantuan guitar solos and at one point a trumpet holding centre stage. If it was a painting it’d be a Fiona Rae. Princess Chelsea had said that it took her years to translate her vision of complex arrangements into live collaborative content. She makes every instrument work for its place in the song. Delicate percussion was given its moment, alongside brass instruments, and invariably with a drumbeat so exceptionally played, it just made me, and the audience, dance and applaud wildly. There was also a shower of petals and banter with the audience. The appreciation could not be contained in applause.

The crescendos of her album were rollercoaster like. It was crowd-pleasing for sure but up close the music was tightly played and fiercely delivered. When you hear something really good, you can’t help but lose yourself in it. My favourite was the defiant The Forest. I would liken it to a musical version of a firework display. “I run through the forest, I run through the hills” repeats, the drum beats like an indie classic, then the guitar shreds through a solo, nodding towards post rock influences.

I also loved the clock chiming inspired Time. Hearing this song live helps you understand the art of Princess Chelsea. It has the simplicity of a 60’s pop song and storytelling that makes this album not just about the breakdown but surefootedly about the new creations built from the ruins. Princess Chelsea continues her tour in North America and is back on home soil in January 2024 with performances taking place around the country.

Photo Credit: Jack Mensah
Louisa Nicklin Gallery
Princess Chelsea Gallery