Isla Noon and Jason Parker at Ponsonby Social Club - GIG REVIEW
Jason Parker and Isla Noon put on a show-stopping performance at Ponsonby Social Club
Remember these names: Jason Parker and Isla Noon — they need to be household names immediately.
I’m back at Ponsonby Social Club, which is fast becoming a regular haunt. Already the vibes are high, as I bump into friends old and new, and I get the sense that tonight’s performance is going to be really special. At this point, I should really finesse a sponsorship deal with Red Bull, as I down another can to bring my energy up to match the room. This is the first time I have felt the venue live up to its name — it actually feels like a social club. An inviting community has turned out to support these two budding pop stars, adding to the uplifting spirit that carries through the night. That’s typical of Jason Parker gigs. He has a way of cultivating a wholesome audience experience through his effervescent personality, his outward expression of queerness, and his unwavering acceptance of who he is. The Bigpop duo are perhaps the perfect example of the power of pop music to foster connection and radical acceptance of self. It’s not just about getting the vibes right, it’s also about having the talent to back it up, which Isla Noon is about to showcase to an audience that swells to fill the room.
Isla Noon is no stranger to the stage, having performed at last year’s Silver Scroll Awards, and it shows. When I say she has an incredible stage presence, I mean she commands every ounce of your attention and you are mesmerised by her ethereal voice, her loose movements, and her mysterious allure. This is an artist who genuinely enjoys her own music, and you see her come alive, embracing every moment, and most importantly sharing that life-giving aura with her band.
Noon is deftly talented at crafting captivating moments in her music, designing peaks and valleys to revel in, and for the audience to be taken on a journey. With punters tossing their hair from side to side, it’s clear that the feeling is mutual. I’m in a room of super fans, who belt out every word, and even try to sing along to unreleased tracks. At one point her voice is lost in the mix, but this does not diminish the quality of the performance, with the audience-choir filling in the gaps.
On unreleased track, Lucid Dreaming, Noon pushes her strong falsetto to glorious heights. These crafted moments of intimacy matched with a strong but graceful vocal is what makes Noon an incredible artist to behold. Noon’s voice is like gossamer, the way it dances in the light, and floats gently to where it needs to go. Then came Her, Noon’s most recent single, which is an ode to her younger self. This song personifies her journey of self-acceptance and her growth as an artist. It’s taken her years to get to this point, with successive lockdowns pushing back the development of this project, but over this time she has experienced an evolution, a reflexivity, a growth that other artists can only hope to achieve. Her is a glorious celebration, and the energy spills out into the audience in the form of zealous dancing, singing and smiles of appreciation. Noon has perfected the art of being a star, while remaining personable with her feet firmly planted on the ground.
In true Jason Parker fashion, he takes to the stage dressed completely in pink. Having broken his collarbone the week before, he wears a glittery pink sling to match his bubblegum chic aesthetic. Not many artists would be willing to perform so soon after a major injury, but Parker is completely undeterred by the bodily limitation at hand. In fact, he brings so much energy and expressiveness to his performance that you forget that he is even injured. Having seen him perform at least four times in the past, this is the best he has ever sounded, and it shows that all the hard work he has done over the years to get to this point is paying off.
Parker has an infectiously positive attitude which permeates the room from the outset. While he jokes that he broke his collarbone playing his first test for the All Blacks, songs like Happier Days and The Bright Side take on a new meaning, as Parker makes light of his situation. I just know that his upcoming EP, Fairy Bread, is going to be a banger, because each song has serious ear worm potential. Parker fills the set entirely with original songs, which shows how much he has accomplished over the years in order to present a standalone set that doesn’t rest on the familiarity and nostalgia of covers. This is a true mark of Parker’s confidence and unwavering belief in his own star power.
As an audience member, Parker has a way of drawing you into the story behind his music, and you start to paint a picture of the journey that it took to get here. We are introduced to ex lovers, dark times, and the family he loves so much, and all the while we get a sense that Parker is in control of his own destiny, and has formulated a recipe for turning heartache, passion and hope into bankable pop perfection. You Rescued Me stands out as a shining light, a moment of genuine vulnerability, and an eruption of heartfelt gratitude with every additional “woah woah”. And like any certified pop star, Parker leads the audience through moments of grief and towards a celebration of dancing and release, a cathartic representation of the journey of life.
In the final song of the night, Parker invites audience members onto the stage to sing This Is My Year with him. A completely unnamed and anonymous punter immediately face plants, but with Parker’s hand rises up to shake off the pain (and embarrassment). That’s perhaps the perfect metaphor for what we’re experiencing tonight — that even if the world outside seems to be growing darker by the day, we still have glimmers of light that we can hold onto in order to get us through.
Isla Noon and Jason Parker offer a freshness, a brightness and a star quality that is rare in the New Zealand music landscape. Parker always talks about living the pop star fantasy — but for these two, it’s no longer a fantasy. Parker and Noon are living the pop star reality! They deserve to be playing rooms ten times this size. The power of their performance is far bigger than little Ponsonby Social Club can contain. But this is perhaps exactly what we need right now, when the world is all doom and gloom — pop stars, to remind us that there’s still something to celebrate in the world, and still something to remain hopeful for.
Verdict — a win is a win (big time).
