Reviews
Kiwi Bic Runga charms in intimate venue
Original content copyright 2002 to North Shore News, British Columbia
Original article is at: North Shore News, British Columbia
Date: 8 November, 2002
By: Elaine Corden
Bic Runga, The Green Room, Oct. 15.
Never let it be said that Bic Runga does not possess ambition.
The 26-year-old New Zealand native has been all over television, newsprint and radio - any media that will have her - announcing her intentions to crack North America.
Some may remember the diminutive singer-songwriter from her 1997 single Sway, a melancholy lovesong that stirred North American charts briefly thanks to its placement on the American Pie soundtrack, but for the most part Runga has yet to find the holy grail that is success in America. A far contrast from her homeland, where her self-produced debut, drive, was the highest- selling record by a New Zealand artist in the country's history.
The album also won Runga three Tui awards (the New Zealand equivalent of a Grammy) along with a sizable fan club.
Still, across the Pacific, there is much work to be done if Runga wants to take her homeland success worldwide. Setting up homebase in both Vancouver and L.A., Runga has been relentlessly wooing the media and adventurous clubgoers with small, intimate performances in tiny venues up and down the West Coast.
In the first of three Vancouver dates, Runga wowed a packed Green Room with the songs from her latest release, Beautiful Collision. The music itself seems a tad Lilith Fair-y at first, but closer inspection reveals dark, sometimes wry lyrics, and a genuine knack for stick-in-your-head hooks.
Though Runga herself may be small and cute, the music is anything but. Songs like Election Night and Get Some Sleep show Runga to be a gifted songwriter at the top of her form. The fact that she produced her first effort, and had little help with her second only underscores that she's a serious talent.
With Runga's ambitions clearly set on cracking America, it seems only a matter of time before she outgrows venues like The Green Room.
Original content copyright 2002 to North Shore News, British Columbia
