RIMBACH REVIEW 2008 Musikalisches Zuhause zwischen Rock und Blues Konzert:

Ronny Taheny taucht ihr Rimbacher Publikum in ein Wechselbad der Gefühle RIMBACH. „As you can guess, my Deutsch is very schlecht“ – doch allen sprachlichen Barrieren zum Trotz überzeugte die Australierin Ronnie Taheny die Besucher des Rimbacher Kunstpalastes nicht nur in musikalischer Hinsicht, sondern auch als Entertainerin. „Ich bin nicht schwarz, ich bin nicht blind, aber das bedeutet nicht, dass ich nicht den Blues habe.“, lautet die freie Übersetzung des Refrains von „Black and Blind“, stilistisch ist ihre Musik jedoch schwer einzuordnen. Als sie an anderer Stelle ihre Gitarre stimmte, kommentierte sie das Ergebnis mit den Worten: „Gut genug für Rock'n'Roll“. Ein wenig Rock und Pop ist eben auch dabei. Auch in ihrem äußeren Erscheinungsbild spielt sie mit verschiedenen Klischees. Als mögliches Ergebnis einer Kreuzung von Pippi Langstrumpf und Patti Smith wird sie auf ihrer Homepage bezeichnet. Das edle „kleine Schwarze“ machte sich ganz gut zur E-Gitarre und auf dem Kopf wippten dazu blondierte Dreadlocks. Es sei das erste Mal, dass sie in diese „massive city“, Rimbach käme. Im australischen Adelaide, von wo aus sie drei Tage zuvor nach Deutschland aufgebrochen war, hätte bei 40 Grad alles vibriert vor Hitze. Etwas von diesen Sonnenstrahlen hat sie mit ihrem einnehmenden Lächeln auch ins Weschnitztal gebracht. Diese Fröhlichkeit zeigte aber durchaus auch eine morbide Nuance, die sich in einigen Texten spiegelte. Etwa wenn sie Worte des Trostes für ein unter Liebeskummer leidendes Mädchen findet: „Ein Mädchen muss haben, was ein Mädchen wirklich will“. Um dann am Ende des Liedes mit sanfter Stimme den sprichwörtlichen Vogel abzuschießen: „Du kannst ihm immer folgen und ihn dann abknallen.“ Aber auch ernsten Themen widmet sich die Sängerin. So berichtete sie vom sogenannten „Fairy Boat“, das täglich 14 irische Mädchen besteigen müssen, um in England eine legale Abtreibung vornehmen zu lassen. Ein wenig Humor bewahrte sie sich jedoch auch bei diesem Thema: Einen einzigen Kondomautomaten habe sie während ihres fünfjährigen Aufenthalts in Irland entdeckt – vor einem Kloster. Zu dem Lied „Irish girls wake“ spielte sie den Flügel mit dramatischem Anschlag. Ronnie Taheny sang mit sanftem Schmelz und ging am Ende des Stücks in Pfeifen über, das um einen melancholischen Echo-Effekt bereichert aus den Lautsprechern hallte. Krasse Kontraste scheinen ein Markenzeichen der Sängerin zu sein. Noch mehrmals an diesem Abend entlockte sie dem Instrument wahre Sturmgewitter die unvermittelt in sanfte Melodien umschwangen. „New York, London, Paris, oft haben diese Orte nicht ein so gutes Piano wie hier“, lobte sie den Konzertflügel, um dann wieder an die zwölfseitige Westerngitarre zu wechseln. „Cinderella“, hieß einer der nächsten Songs in dem sie forderte: „Tritt aus dem Dunkel heraus und lasse die Welt sehen, wie schön du bist.“ Danach wurde es mit „This Lifetime“ wieder etwas rockiger. Zackige Akkorde begleiteten die Botschaft „Was du fürchtest, wirst du werden“. Mit einen typisch australischen „stubby holder“ hatte Ronnie Taheny sogar noch etwas zu verschenken. Dabei handelte es sich um eine Neoprenhülle die Bier länger kühl halten soll. Die ging an ihren „favourite Applauser“ im Publikum. Mit Nachdruck und schmetternd gespielten Stahlsaiten gab sie später den Song „You can tell your story walking“, zum Besten. Schließlich hatte sie noch ein Experiment vorbereitet. Scheppernd warf sie verschiedene Percussion-Instrumente ins Publikum. Nun waren die Zuhörer gefragt, die Künstlerin bei einem Song zu begleiten. Besonders gut gefiel ihr die Begleitung eines Gastes, der kurzerhand zum Glas gegriffen hatte um einige Akzente zu setzen. „Ich hoffe ich erkenne dich , wenn ich dich sehe“, lautete schließlich eine Zeile in einem der letzten Titel. Den Abschied gab es dann wieder in Deutsch: „Genießen Sie den Rest ihres Frühlings, ich bin Ronnie Taheny aus Australien. Tschü-hüs.“

Ronnie Taheny
“It’s All About Me” DVD Launch. Sat Feb 2, 2008.
Governor Hindmarsh Hotel. Adelaide, South Australia.
Accomplished singer-songwriter Ronnie Taheny launched her DVD, ‘It’s All About Me’, at The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel in front of an audience of around 400 expectant fans. Taking the stage alone, armed with just voice and guitar, Taheny immediately demonstrated why she is a favourite amongst local music aficionados. ‘This Lifetime’, from 2001’s ‘Dodgy Vita’ CD, kicked off what was to be an impressive performance. Effortlessly switching between a selection of instruments and performing with a range of on-stage partners through the evening, Taheny delivered her songs to an increasingly spellbound audience with an energy and verve rarely seen around town.

After moving from guitar to keyboard for a version of ‘Cinderella’, Taheny greeted the big crowd and immediately showed that, for all the worldliness that years of traveling and touring overseas brings, she’s a down-to-earth Edithburgh girl at heart. Taheny joked with the audience, establishing a level of comfort and intimacy that would last the evening.

Taheny was joined on stage by her fellow members of the fabulous Outhouse Orchestra, Amanda Goodfellow on cello and Marie Suzanne de Lint on flute (and occasional harmonica); occasional drummer Jarrad Payne also took part in the fun. Taheny continued to provide excellent examples of her incisive lyrics, wit and great music through songs like ‘Irish Girls Wake’, ‘The Only Girl on the Island’ and the wonderfully busy ‘Would I Know If My Arse Was On Fire?’ which closed the set. Members of the audience were given a few minutes to reflect on the first half of their evening while viewing excerpts from the new DVD on the big screen.

The second part of the show opened with Taheny playing keyboards and, with Jarrad Payne on drums, vocals and bass simultaneously, she gave the crowd a great rendition of ‘Wasting Away’. Taheny swapped between guitar, keyboard and grand piano, further demonstrating her versatility. The songs were lifted further by the thoughtful accompaniments provided by Michael Bahlij on keyboards/vocals and, again Jarrad Payne on drums/bass/vocals. The set list included great numbers like ‘That’s Jesus’ and “Turn Those Heroes to Stone” and the fabulous ‘Gold, Frankincense and Murder’ from the ‘Decalogue’ CD, which closed the set.

Called back for an encore, we were treated to more of Ronnie’s wit with the recitation of a poem, ‘A Darcy Before I Die’, before “Good Day” and “Guardian Angel” closed the show, sending punters home happy and, no doubt, impressed. There’s no pigeon-holing Taheny. She moves from the tender to the raucous without missing a beat. She gives everything and it’s easy to see how she has taken her music to increasingly bigger stages over the years. It’s all about passion.

David Robinson
“Rip It Up” Magazine
Adelaide, South Australia

Ronnie Taheny Decalogue (Independent)

Favourite Adelaide singer/songwriter Ronnie Taheny has deposited another smart musical souvenir before heading off to Europe for her annual six-month touring schedule. Indeed, this - her sixth album - finds Taheny in especially strong voice, articulating some especially sharp social observations from her incessant traveling, especially regarding escalating religious tensions between cultures in such striking songs as Fault Line, Gold Frankincense and Murder, and the biting That's Jesus. This is a tricky area for a lyricist, but Taheny is a canny wordsmith who creates crisp, astute phrases to match her neat, arresting melodies.

Her musical partnership with German producer Dom Stahlschmidt is also bearing richer fruit, with fulsome production adding sparkle to Simon Says, Midsummer's Night and Blindman's Stick, but still employing measured restraint on the beautiful piano ballad Just Thinking of You.

In all, it's Taheny's finest offering - pop music with purpose, poise and the odd knockout punch. 

David Sly, "Independent Weekly", South Australia.

Ronnie Taheny
The Govenor Hindmarsh Hotel
Saturday 3 Feburary

On a night that was flanked by two days that exceeded forty two degrees celsius, The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel was set to be a bit of a hot box for this, Ronnie Taheny’s 10th annual return visit to her home city of Adelaide since successfully relocating to Europe in 1995.

Since this event was a fully seated affair with plenty of room for others to stand at the back, the capacity crowd appeared to be comfortable throughout her amusing two hour marathon performance that featured many old favourites, recent material off her later albums, ‘Decalogue’ and ‘Happathy’, and a few newly written tracks that, in true Taheny fashion, were preceded by lengthy, humorous monologues in order to explain their origin.

And that’s the beauty of her shows: no matter how serious her choice of topics are; be they political and sociological (That’s Jesus, Turn Those Heroes To Stone, and Gold, Frankincense And Murder), or intimate and observational (Wasting Away, Did I Tell You?, Cinderella and, the stark and beautiful piano-based, Photograph), or the occasional piece of power-chord rock (This Lifetime), one can always rely on Taheny’s well-travelled Australian wit, both between the lines of her lyrics and throughout her concerts to ensure a solid, engaging performance regardless of where the musical style might lead us.

With her beach bleached blonde dreadlocks taking on a brightly lit red and blue neon effect under the simple stage lighting, Taheny began her show with the a Capella ditty-like, Your Baby Has Gone Down The Plughole, and continued by performing the majority of the first set solo by alternating between acoustic guitar and either electric or grand piano, only to be joined towards the end by John Ahern on guitar and tin whistle on The List and Ada’s Advice. After a break, Taheny was incrementally joined by long time musical cohorts Jarrad Payne on percussion, drums and bass – which he often managed to masterfully play all at once as well as carry out backing vocals, and finally Michael Bahlij, another exceptional musician on piano and backing vocals.

In a few weeks time Taheny heads back to Europe to begin her annual four month tour, but we in Adelaide can always jot down the first Saturday in February as the day she always returns to blitz The Gov.

Steve Jones (Db Magazine, Adelaide, South Australia)

Ronnie Taheny
“Decalogue” CD Launch. Sat Feb 4, 2006.
Governor Hindmarsh Hotel. Adelaide, South Australia.

To the opening strains of Middle Eastern music and 400 hundred fans both old and new, the diminutive Ronnie Taheny graces the stage and sets the atmosphere by bridging the audience with a joke, a story, then a poem before eventually getting around to act of playing music. The launch of Taheny’s sixth solo album, Decalogue, features some well-balanced world views, documentation of her experiences in the Middle East and social observations made during the last ten years in Europe, all humorously shared with us tonight.

Though lyrically more political, musically the Decalogue tracks sit well with the older material showcasing what Ronnie does best – pop songs for thinking people. “That’s Jesus” and “Gold, Frankincense and Murder” are but two of the latest examples of the Taheny trademark: typically big on melody, variety, dynamics and black humour. Ronnie may be sassy, animated and highly entertaining but she is not one to mince words as she speaks of her social perspectives on life and living; she’s always got something to say and does so with humour, confidence and conviction. In keeping with the monotheistic theme, poignant Hebrew, Arabic and English monologues were spoken with transcripts projected onto the backdrop, an amazing touch to an already thought-provoking evening.

Taheny is a unique package and there’s no place for pouting or posturing in her performance. Ronnie’s down-to-earth Australian wit moves as quickly as she does. In between amusing comments to the audience she flows effortlessly from grand piano to guitar to keyboard to spoken word without losing momentum or intensity or warmth; seemingly it’s all the same to the ever-buoyant Taheny.

Tonight continued to expand in dimension with some exceptional backing by (as Ronnie later referred to them) “Three friends who are really great guys with even greater talent”. First up was John Ahern from Ireland showing versatility on tin whistle, guitar, harmonica and vocals especially in the haunting “Irish Girls Wake”. Then throughout the night multi-instrumentalist Jarrad Payne offered more originality and command than most of the drumming fraternity combined by holding down some tasteful grooves whilst simultaneously playing bass, percussion and some classy, wide-ranging backing vocals. Finally, the Russian, Michael Bahlij played some stunning piano solos especially on past hit “Not To Your Face”. All three supporting artists contributed even greater passion and polish to an already awe-inspiring evening of music, story, entertainment and song.

Whether solo or with backing band Taheny has a powerful impact and stage presence. Whilst showing sass and true grit, her cheeky personality still shines through. She’s clever in word and music, her amazingly dynamic and earthy voice (especially featured in ballads such as “Fault Line”) is merely an extension of herself; rock solid, strong and defiant one minute, warm and husky the next- with soul and without apology.

Witnessing a concert like tonight explains why Ronnie Taheny is one of Adelaide’s most successful and respected international and independent exports.

Catherine Blanch
“Rip It Up” Magazine
Adelaide, South Australia

"Luka Bloom meets Janis Joplin. Also seek out her Valentine's Prey CD. It's rather fine!"'

Ross Fortune, London, UK.

"Bucket loads of charisma and an almost permanent smile."

Richard Nilsson, London, UK.

"Australian singer songwriter, Ronnie Taheny's live reputation has spread through Ireland, Europe and the USA. "Briefcase" captures the rampant energy and passion of Ronnie Taheny's live show (and) is a tantilising collection from one of the finest working songsmiths around"

John O'Regan; UK.

"With that voice and those songs we should all hope she never returns to Australia."

Mike Moloney, Dublin, Ireland