Concert Review - Jenny Mitchell - Tikokino - 4th September 2025

Presented By the Small Hall Sessions

Review By: Rob Harbers

Artist/Band: Jenny Mitchell

Venue/City: Tikokino Community Hall, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

Date of Event: Thursday, 4th September 2025

Fresh from the Gympie Music Muster, country powerhouse Jenny Mitchell is performing a three-night run of Small Hall Sessions. The first of these occurred in Tikokino, where a select audience were transported from the mundanity of daily existence by songs of pure beauty.

Such is the generous nature of Jenny and her family, though, that she is often to be found performing with one or more of her siblings, making it a case of two (or more) for the price of one! This is the case on this run, with sister Nicola filling the role of support artist. With a set drawing on all original material, Nicola provided a perfect introduction to proceedings. Heartfelt songs without a second of wasted time showed a confidence and wisdom way beyond her tender years. Mind of Mine appealed to me particularly, as a fellow overthinker. But it was all great stuff, including a couple of very new songs, one of which doesn’t even have a (settled) name yet. Topped off with a sampler of Nicola’s alter-ego, Nicolo Piccolo, children’s entertainer, the set provided an extremely fitting appetiser for the treats to follow.

With appetites suitably whetted, big sister Jenny then came on, with Nicola in tow for extra accompaniment. Pretty much the exact opposite of the cliché whereby big sibling has to drag annoying little sibling everywhere they go, this made for a sublime pairing. The power of familial harmonising is a thing of rare beauty indeed, and so it was here. Leading in with the ode to devotion that is If You Were a Bird, from minute one the audience were enraptured. Little Less Lonely, the first track off the most recent album, Forest House, delivered a series of examples of ways we get through this thing called life, demonstrating the power of connection.

Family is woven through Jenny’s material, as demonstrated by Ends Of The Earth, the tale of her grandparents’ journey from Ireland to Aotearoa – one of her first songs ever written, and an early indicator of the empathetic and personal style she now makes her own. Such is this empathy that it has led her to have to explain the stance of the lyrics to the next song, Wives Who Wait, to an attendee at a previous show, pointing out that they’re a repetition, not an endorsement, of the bullshit that can get thrown around in situations of domestic abuse.

Earlier in the year, Jenny had the honour of supporting an idol of hers, Kasey Chambers, on 32 dates around Australia, and this informed a cover of perhaps Kasey’s best-known song, Not Pretty Enough. This was a cover that stripped back the pace and the instrumentation to focus on the insecurities at its heart. It was obvious to all that the experience of the tour provided Jenny with a life highlight that she’ll take a long time to come down from, if ever! Or at least until the next big name comes knocking...

Where The Water Runs Cold, a tale of the downside of life in a small town, is one that could almost have seen her run out of her hometown, such was the stony reception when it was performed there. But we won’t tell, will we? Heart Like a House, co-written with Tami Neilson, could be seen as a companion piece to their earlier collaboration Trouble Finds a Girl, building on that song’s awareness of danger and threat with a promise to provide a safe space.

A cover of Tom Waits’ Come On Up To The House saw the sisters taking alternate verses, coming together on the exquisitely harmonised chorus, in a way that led in perfectly to the set closer, Sister. This song was written together, and is a tribute to the many roles played in the sororal relationship. While it was billed as the set closer, they weren’t going to be allowed to get away with that. They were enthusiastically called back for an encore of Snakes In The Grass, Jenny’s warning song to her sisters as they embarked on adult life. But that was to be our lot, the finale to a performance of truly special dimension, heartfelt lyrics delivered in heavenly harmony!

Hawke’s Bay locals, you have two more chances to experience this for yourself – Friday at Asher Hall in Napier, and Saturday at Haumoana Hall.

Check it out on www.smallhallsessions.co.nz

SETLISTS
Nicola
Postcard
Wā
Reasons
Same Book, Different Page
Mind Of Mine
Ngā Korimako

Jenny
If You Were a Bird
Little Less Lonely
Ends of The Earth
Wives Who Wait
Dirt
Not Pretty Enough (Kasey Chambers cover)
Where The Water Runs Cold
One Day
The Boxer (Simon and Garfunkel cover)
Heart Like a House
Come On Up To The House (Tom Waits cover)
Sister
Snakes In The Grass

Jenny Mitchell 2025 PR

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