Amble – Hollywood Avondale: February 22, 2026 (13th Floor Concert Review)
Amble, the Irish folk trio whose three‑part harmonies and acoustic intimacy have quietly swept venues around the world in recent months, arrived back in Auckland tonight as part of their Reverie Tour, supporting their debut album Reverie (2025), which debuted at #1 in Ireland and has garnered them immediate massive global support.
Born in 2022 from pub‑session folk roots, Robbie Cunningham, Oisín McCaffrey and Ross McNerney left behind day jobs in Western Ireland to follow the unexpected momentum of songs like Mariner Boy and Judys Heels whose unvarnished simplicity and emotional directness have become their calling card. Their debut album Reverie continued in that vein recorded live‑in‑room, warm, unfiltered, and full of story‑soaked melodies.
Jordy Maxwell
Australia singer songwriter, Jordy Maxwell eased the room into the night with the kind of warm, quietly disarming presence he has honed across Australia. Touring as the official support act for the entire Australasian run, Maxwell brought a blend of coastal‑folk storytelling, reflective lyricism and a truckload of humour.
His set had the intimacy of a late‑afternoon living‑room performance with soft‑edged vocals, gentle acoustic phrasing, and an esky full of anecdotes . By the time he stepped offstage, the room had settled into the exact emotional register Amble operate in- attentive, warm, and ready to listen.
Maxwell seems a genuine and good guy. To be honest, and parochial, it would have been great to have show-cased any one of our deep pool of stunning local singer songwriters and/or some talent out of our battling folk scene.
Amble
In February 2025 they played to a full Tuning Fork and were astounded that the local audience already knew their lyrics and turned the evening into one big sing-along. Their 2025 Live in Dublin LP captures the spirit of that night. Amble has quickly tapped into rich vein of modern Irish diaspora. Over the past year they have relentlessly toured through a dozen or so countries. An té a bhíonn siúlach, bíonn scéalach, (a person who travels have stories to tell).
Amble’s appeal lies in storytelling, in feeling and in cianalas, that bittersweet nostalgic yearning for a lost time, place or person Their songs operate like shared memories: landscapes, heartbreaks, childhood corners, coastal imagery, sung with a directness that feels both familiar and quietly devastating. Tracks like Schoolyard Days, Lonely Island, and Mariner Boy carry narrative clarity that hits hardest when delivered in a theatre like Hollywood Avondale — a room built for warmth and reflection. Tonight they were supported again by the talented musicians Seainie Berminham, Liam Watts and Andrew Smyth, all of who tossed in their day jobs to join the journey.
At the first chords of Shallow River Run and the full house audience raised a huge cheer and from there the level of interaction lifted song by song. Little White Chapel, Hand Me Downs and Marlay Park led us into the fan favourite singalongs of Marys’ Pub and Schoolyard Days.
The newer Socrates Smiled linked us into the latest single release The Rarest Hour followed by One Mans Love and Like the Piper, before the instrumental cover The Sailors Bonnet took us toward the end of the set which featured two of their strongest songs with Of Land and Sea and Tonnta. The encores were naturally what everyone had been looking for Mariner Boy and Lonely Island. Is there any greater audience engagement than that of and Irish band on the road?
A year ago I caught Amble at the Tuning Fork with my daughter, a nod to her recent time studying in Dublin and our shared love of Irish traditional. Following that gig they went on both our high rotate lists and when a new show was announced we signed up immediately.
Over the past year Amble have been extremely active, touring extensively with some 130 shows and are now filling large venues around the globe. Tonight, they delivered a great energetic set although as part of their evolution there was no room unfortunately for the likes of Judys Heels, The Commons or Swan Song all quality standards in their early repertoire.
From early 2025 through to their current tour, Amble’s live performances have undergone an evolution, marked by increased confidence, tighter musicianship, and a far more ambitious visual identity. In early 2025, their shows were defined by raw, intimate connection, lean arrangements, no staging, and a strong focus on the songs. The band today has more layered instrumentation and more intentional audience engagement, signalling a shift toward a fuller, more immersive concert experience. Amble in 2026 has developed their stagecraft, enhanced lighting design, thematic visuals, and reimagined versions of older tracks. This evolution not only reflects creative growth but also notably expands their appeal as a live act capable of delivering both technical excellence and a deeply compelling performance.
Still at their heart, Amble aren’t performing at their audience rather performing with them. This Auckland stop was a night where stories land gently, harmonies lift the ceiling a little, and three Irish voices make an old theatre feel like a fireside seisiun on a late summer Sunday night.
Safraigh go maith agus feicfidh mé tú ar ais anseo go luath. See you again soon lads.
John Hastings
Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Branwen Hastings
