Concert Review - Jolie Holland - Hawke's Bay - 14th March 2026
Presented by The Small Hall Sessions
Review By: Rob Harbers
Event: Jolie Holland
Venue/City: Meeanee Memorial Hall, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand
Date of Event: Saturday 14th March 2026It has been observed previously that the Small Hall Sessions hold an esteemed position in the Aotearoa music scene, and that position can be confirmed by the calibre of the artists they attract. At the start of a sequence of guests which serve to demonstrate that point in spades, American singer-songwriter Jolie Holland tonight enraptured a select audience at Meeanee Hall. This was the first of a brace of Sessions in which she will appear, and judging by this showing, those who have booked a seat for the next are in for a rare treat indeed!
Jolie has been active in the industry for a quarter century and change, and in that time has amassed a wide range of experiences and collaborations, travelling far and wide, right down to having spent creative time in the idyll of Eketahuna (more on that anon). Sessions-meister Jamie has been a fan for all of that time, and as such, when he was offered the opportunity to play host for a couple of nights he was almost in danger of snapping off the hand making the offer. As he observed, this is an artist who could be playing in any number of venues across the planet. Jolie’s wry take: ‘We could be busking in front of any Circle K’ But she chose to be here, for probably (possibly?) the one and only time, in the Meeanee Hall. And it was our privilege to enjoy it.
With her partner in rhyme, Ben Boye, enjoying time on Jamie’s venerable Yamaha CP70 electric piano (you at the back there, we’ll have no jokes about Jamie’s ancient organ, thank you very much!), Jolie wove a web of songs and tales that cumulatively created an ensorcellment powerful enough to draw in the diverse audience, including a number of first-time travellers on the Sessions experience – a coterie from which I’m sure at least some will evolve to become frequent flyers, based on this introduction.
Drawing on a spirit of improvisation inculcated from an early age by the jazz-heads who raised her, the setlist was free-flowing, representing a selection from a pre-determined list, with any song on that list potentially being performed, but in no particular order. A delight to an audience, but a minor curse to a writer attempting to describe it. So let’s just say that these are songs not about buildings and food, but drawn from the diversity of life experiences, expressed with honesty. Wondering about the right point in a budding relationship at which to talk about the moon? There’s a song about that! Collaboration with Aotearoa’s own Theia? Check. Collaborations and covers with and from Buck Meek of Big Thief? Check. A ‘not-depressing song’ performed with a PSA, given that Jolie doesn’t generally like singing sad love songs? You got it! An entrancing cover of a song by the sadly departed Michael Hurley? Of course! And a song finished to the backdrop of chewing rats while on a writing weekend (I think I heard that right, it might have been ratting) in Eketahuna! Mixed in with the tale of cruising down Highway 72, a song from sessions in Nantucket (I said quiet at the back, there), a ‘cursed love song’ inspired by some magical thinking in NYC, and a diversion into Samuel L Jackson territory with a partial etymology of the term ‘motherfucker’! What’s not to love in there?
The song that touched me the most, though, discussed the juxtaposition of beauty and horror so often encountered in these times. Drawing inspiration from news reports about the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant being shelled, with the potential to dwarf the effects of Chernobyl, while at the same time the air around her in LA was filled with the scent of orange blossom (in spite of how things might appear in the here and now, not everything orange in the US is toxic). A powerful meditation on the point that things are rarely universally either bad or good – there’s usually some gold alongside the shit, and vice versa!
But as usual, these words can only serve as a mere taster of the delights experienced. To get the most, you really need to be there. At the time of writing, I think there are still a few tickets left for tonight’s performance in Haumoana – check it out at www.smallhallsessions.co.nz and go if you can.
Jolie Holland Small Hall Session NZ Tour PR 2026