The Cowboy Junkies Subtly Blew My Mind One More Time; Their Slow-Burn Song-Churn Is Everything, Everything!

I used to write gig reviews a lot. And now not so much. For a time, recently, not at all. But I want to write gig reviews again. And so I am. How lucky to see Cowboy Junkies. They were sublime. Again.

Cowboy Junkies

The Opera House, Wellington

Saturday, January 28

I saw Cowboy Junkies back in 1999. I’ve been waiting to see them again since the moment they walked off that stage. I couldn’t believe my luck, back then. A band that played the set permanently on slow-burn. That was an outdoor festival, but lead singer Margo Timmins still had a table with a vase of flowers and a cup of tea. That’s what she’s always needed to battle the stage fright, That, her brothers Michael (guitars) and Peter (drums). And family friend Alan Anton (bass) and the unofficial fifth Cowboy, Jeff Bird (mandolin, harmonica, percussion).

Listening to them again, nearly 25 years on, it was instantly astounding how low-key brilliant they (still) are. How pretty much the only thing that had changed was the hair colour (theirs – and mine).