John Butler Trio

  • Tuesday 15 April 2014

The Powerstation was buzzing last night as a sold out crowd waited for the John Butler Trio’s only New Zealand performance on his current tour.

They didn’t have to wait long. After a set by Auckland’s Tom Rodwell, Butler and his bandmates (Byron Luiters-bass & keyboards, Grant Grathy-drums) took the stage at 9:10 and played a riveting two-hour set.

Things started with a couple of older numbers…Revolution, from 2010’s April Uprisingand Used To Get High from 2007’s Grand National album. Then Luiters switched from bass to keyboards and Butler got out his slide for Cold Wind, the first of seven numbers to be performed from the new album, Flesh & Blood.

The new songs went over very well, with the crowd clapping along to Spring To Come and bopping in the places to Only One.

Butler brought out his banjo and Luiters his stand-up bass for Better Than, after a brief Hoe Down to set the mood.

From there the band took the opportunity to show off their chops as they jammed during Blame It On Me.

New guy Grant Grathy took the spotlight during Pickapart, but the real highlight was Butler’s solo turn on Ocean, a song that dates back to his 1998 debut album. The extended instrumental was a musical tour de force, with Butler proving to be a truly incredible guitarist. He claimed to have played the song at every gig he’s done since he recorded it. If so, it sounded like he was still finding new ways to make the song exciting.

The rest of the band returned for the funky Don’t Wanna See Your Face, then another highlight…Devil Woman… (not the Cliff Richard tune, but an excellent, swampy rocker that really raised the temperature of the room.

After that, Butler took the opportunity to launch into an anti-fracking rap, before playing How Do You Sleep At Night, a song inspired by a chance meeting with an Australian politician in an airport.

“Y’all feel like singing”? he asked the crowd. After a resounding yes, he led the audience through Zebra, his 2004 hit.

For the encore we were presented with Living In The City, another new song that featured a monster of a guitar riff and a bluesy sound that reminded me of The Black Keys.

After thanking his bandmates and entire touring crew, Butler closed out the night with Funky Tonight, urging the crowd to “set your bottoms free”. They did, clapping and singing along until the end.

Marty Duda

Only One - John Butler Trio - Official Video

OCEAN - John Butler - 2012 Studio Version

Tom Rodwell HD - "Don't Know Where I'm Going" - live aboard the Mighty Otonui

Tom Rodwell - 'Adam' (Traditional cover song)