Ziggy Alberts plays his distinctive style of Coastal Folk to rapturous responses from the large young crowd.
Alberts is a young Queenslander who plays melodic Folk Pop, often with a lyrical bent towards issues of the environment and to the quests and journeys of the heart and spirit.
He has an all-embracing nature on stage. His Rewind world tour is coming into the home stretch with about 80 shows under his belt so far. From New Zealand he finishes some dates back home in Australia.
Comfortable with the noisy banter, it does not take long to establish a rapport with the large amphitheatre, which he is told is close to a thousand-plus tonight.
He started busking after his parents bought him a guitar. An acoustic, I would imagine. An idyllic life of sorts, travelling to catch the waves over the large Aussie coastline. Sleeping in vans with mates. Busking to make those people connections and pull in some cash.
The story is the same one that the Beach Boys built to mythic and epic proportions. The only one of the Wilson brothers who was a blonde, blue-eyed, shaggy ocean bunny was Dennis Wilson. Host to Charles Manson and the Family prior to the Helter Skelter murders, he eventually died by drowning in the Pacific.
That description of Alberts belies a big work ethic that has seen six albums in twelve years. He has been in New Zealand half a dozen times, the last being in Mt Maunganui in 2020.
We all know the madness that erupted straight after. Over that period four albums were released, culminating in Made of Water just a few weeks ago.
From which you hear a short verse to commence his set. Why the ocean is so important/ It is the only place where it is better to hold your breath, than to breathe.
The Sun and the Sea opens the show with bright Folk Pop.
Gone (The Pocahontas Song) has a jangle rhythm guitar and reminds me of Paul Simon in the early Seventies. It is also a Then He Kissed Me song, drenched in sunshine and without the apocalyptic Spectorian drama.
Days in the Sun has a two-step rhythm which originates from Southern USA and New Orleans, but almost certainly has much deeper Celtic Irish roots.
There are many songs in his repertoire of similar fashion. It is uplifting and dance- orientated Folk, with a large salty lick of ocean waves and surf.
Hence the description of Coastal Surf. It would also be suited to Dub Reggae makeovers.
Getting Low and he uses his acoustic guitar as a percussion instrument to sound like a bodhran.
Heartbeat has a bouncing, light-stepping rhythm with a mantra When it feels like love. He gets to reach the high vaulted ceiling with a dramatic high tone.
Don’t Get Caught Up has a tougher social message. After a little Latin guitar intro, you hear Letting the news tear each other apart/ Fear’s been making money but doing nothing for us/ The truth it isn’t easy/ The truth has a cost/ The truth is being censored.
Traditional Folk music was an important news broadsheet for centuries. Players would learn the general gist of the song and spread it wide, with malleable lyrics to reflect evolving situations.
Woody Guthrie tagged his guitar with This Machine Kills Fascists.
Bob Dylan’s early masterpiece was the polemical Freewheelin’ album. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall was a response to the feeling of apocalypse following the Cuban missile crisis and the cold war.
Present times are bringing the same pressures to bear, and fear is politicised and serves an agenda.
Alberts may be serving the same role as Phil Ochs from the Sixties Folk protest movement. In similar fashion to his All the News That’s Fit to Sing album from 1964.
Amy Little Green Nelson comes on to help with Runaway, and she has a powerful soaring voice.
I missed most of her set, as she was on much earlier than many were led to believe. The crowd was small as I got to see the tail end of it. I will have to wait another time to see this Australian Folk artist perform.
Nathan Ball from England was the other support act. A Folk singer who also plays Electronica. He is solo with an electric guitar and gadgets.
He has a quiet tenor which can elevate towards falsetto. Unfortunately, tonight the noise from the rapidly building crowd is no match for his set tonight. The sound desk is distinctly underpowered as well.
It was hard to find any sweet spot. Up close to the stage or in the middle. Eventually I settled for next the mixing desks. Still hearing too much muffling echo.
A highlight was his version of Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy. A high tenor vocal with passion and energy.
My Answer was also able to rise above the noisy chatter. Its’ surge and fade dynamics built in intensity as the song progressed.
Ball also duetted with Alberts on Letting Go. The sound is much bigger now, and Ball adds nice harmony for Albert’s passionate singing. A feelgood song with the older Celtic Folk traditions being drawn from. Dancing and socialism.
Ziggy Alberts closes the show with Love Me Now and he turns it into an anthemic Folk shouter. The audience join in with the Could you love me now mantra. Like all of us, this Ziggy has plenty of stardust.
Rev Orange Peel
Photography by Chris Zwaagdyk
Ziggy Alberts
Amy Little Green Nelson & Nathan Ball
