Luke Glendining (left), Tony Kelly, Tainui Kuru, Heath Walters, Daniel Wilson and Chris Woods (kneeling) are on stage Friday and Saturday nights for Cabarnet at the Ashburton Trust Event Centre.Plato once said that music is moral law and that it gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind and flight to the imagination.

There’s nothing quite like sitting back and listening to something performed with perfection and skill, whether it be instrumental or through a voice, or indeed multiple voices.

You can’t help but feel good when you hear that perfect harmony, or a song performed so well that it makes the shivers run down the back of your spine and leave you wanting more.

And Cabarnet, which opens tonight to an almost full house at the Ashburton Trust Event Centre, offers up plenty of those moments thanks to the effort to an incredibly talented group of lads who are no strangers to the Mid Canterbury stage.

The boys asked me to come along earlier this week to pen my thoughts on how they were tracking ahead of the new-look show and while knowing each of their individual talents, I was keen to see what they would be like collectively.

I wasn’t disappointed.

The group, consisting of Daniel Wilson, Luke Glendining, Tony Kelly, Chris Woods, Tainui Kuru and Heath Walters have constructed two hours of musical heaven and will have everyone tapping their toes and wanting to stand up and sing along to some of the best individual and collective vocal performances I’ve heard on the Mid Canterbury stage.

With a blank piece of paper, an idea and a few lofty dreams, Woods and Walters, who were the masterminds behind the show, have come up with a masterpiece.

It’s not what you’d expect in a showcase type show where so much focus is on the singing.

They’ve added a bit of a storyline, some good old fashioned banter between a group of six incredibly talented mates and put it all together to come up with a show which will have people talking for a long time to come.

There are no individual highlights here apart from the harmonies which, quite simply put, are out of this world at times and will make you sit up and take notice.

Woods and Walters are two experienced performers and while they take a slightly more back seat role, their input is still notable.

The ability of Woods to harmonise with anyone and produce notes that would make any soprano proud tie together a lot of the show.

Walters’ stage presence and vocal ability shines through and his typical humour adds an extra flavour to the entertainment value.

The elder statesman of the group, Tony Kelly – no mention of zimmer frames here, TK, reminded me of just how good he is, having not heard him perform for a while and his skill on the keyboard is a big asset to the entire performance.

Daniel Wilson and Luke Glendining take on a lot of the solo work during the show and each does so with their usual amount of talent and professionalism.

Wilson’s effort on Garth Brook’s Friends In Low Places will appease every country fan in the house while Glendining’s effort with Dave Dobbyn’s Shouldn’t You Oughta Be In Love was a personal favourite.

Then there’s Tainui Kuru.

A seasoned, polished and outstanding performer, his presence on the stage seems to lift the others and that same cheeky persona that’s shone through so much over the years is clearly evident throughout the show.

Kuru has a number of solos during the night, but his effort as the self-proclaimed, Maori Buble, when performing Home by Michael Buble will leave a few feeling a little emotional, I’m picking.

Special mention too to drummer Chris Grieve who adds another dimension to an already outstanding performance.

We’re lucky to have some incredibly talented performers in this district, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but the chance to get to a performance where it’s a group of so many of them, focusing just on the vocal side of things is rare, so I can highly recommend getting along and enjoying what the boys have to offer.

You won’t be disappointed.

Cabarnet opens on Friday night at the Ashburton Trust Event Centre and the second performance will be held Saturday night.

Tickets are available at both Ticket Rocket and from the Event Centre.

Reviewed by Matt Markham © The Ashburton Guardian - 5 December 2019