Concert Review - Julia Deans - Napier - 19th June 2026
Presented by Under The Radar
Julia Deans - Photo Credit Amanda Billing
Review By: Rob HarbersArtist/Band: Julia Deans with special guest Mon Shelford Venue/City: Paisley Stage, Napier, New ZealandDate of Event: Friday 19th June 2026Julia Deans, in the final throes of putting her new album together, paid a visit to Te-Matau-a-Māui on June 19, primarily to share her phenomenal talent with the next generation by providing a songwriting workshop. But the ancillary benefit, for those of us who don’t have such aspirations, is that she also played a one-off show at Ahuriri’s coolest (not-so-)little venue, the relocated and expanded Paisley Stage. And this is where our story begins…
Performing her increasingly familiar role of handmaid to the stars, the amazing Mon Shelford provided the opening set. The unfortunate consequence of the busy life of a reviewer is that I missed most of this, catching only the final trio of songs. Such is life, I guess. Just as well I’ll likely see her again soon around the traps. Living in such a relatively small area does have its benefits, it must be said.
Having performed her job admirably, Mon passed the stage on to the star of the show, who kicked things off with So Holy, her pushback against the oppression of the trappings of excessive religiosity, complete with false ending to confuse the less familiar. Excusing herself in advance, having not played for a while and potentially being ‘a bit shit’, she proceeded to introduce a novel touch to the concept of the setlist. All of the songs she was ready to play were put into a hat, which was passed around the audience, the song being pulled out being the next one to be played. This approach was not without its pitfalls, but more on that anon...
First to be pulled out was the full-of-(delayed)-teenage-angst Not Your Girl, written a lifetime ago, but conveying a somewhat different vibe now that she’s on the other side of the age of its protagonist. And with a strong melodic resemblance to Steely Dan’s Do It Again (to my ears, at least). After Silences and Distances, JR’s borrowed Strat was broken out for Beautiful, completing a hat-trick of Fur Patrol songs. But the ensuing change back to acoustic brought to light one of the unexpected difficulties of the randomised approach: the need for frequent equipment swaps – especially given the lack of a guitar tech in the touring party!
The subsequent Modern Fables evinced another of the drawbacks of the sorting hat, in that Julia described it as one she would normally play towards the end of a set. Its upended position induced in her a misplaced feeling of being near the end of the set. But she managed to push through such dilations of time and expectation, being the trooper that she is. After traversing lyrical territory covering the need for human connection (We Light Fires), bitter breakups (A Fine Lie), and the exhaustions of motherhood (2 Days) came some of Julia’s most open and contemplative songs, as yet unreleased (but coming very soon on the imminent album). These songs (Goliath – also the title track of the album, and Six-String Heart) confront the complex emotions inherent in diagnosis and treatment of cancer, a journey unwillingly embarked on some ten years ago (and now well in the past, thankfully!) The element of chance in the song choice having created a more somber period of the set, the mood was then considerably altered by the somewhat more raucous Counting Upside Down, a louder and noisier throwback to Fur Patrol days, before changing back again for Freak Show, one of Julia’s oldest songs – a collision of a 19-year-old’s imagination, a Nick Cave listening habit, and road-trip reading material dealing with the shadier side of the circus industry.
But there’s one young lady who haunts any set of Julia’s, the usurper seductress that goes by the name of Lydia. And her inevitable appearance, on an understandably far more scheduled basis than any other song, marked both the end of the regular set and the opportunity for an audience sing-along, as befits such a pivotal character! Thankfully it was not the last hurrah, though, with Mon invited back onstage for a rendition of that most low-key and contemplative Kiwi classic, a little ditty they call Bliss! And blissful it truly was, two powerful voices uniting in song to see out the show with the gusto it deserves. A beautiful demonstration of the power of music to uplift and renew, and who couldn’t use some of that right now?
Setlist
So Holy
Not Your Girl
Silences and Distances
Beautiful
Modern Fables
We Light Fires
A Fine Lie
2 Days
Before you Leave
Goliath
Six-String Heart
Counting Upside Down
Freak Show
Lydia
Bliss (Th’ Dudes cover)
Julia Deans - Paisley Stage PR