David Gates at the Aotea Centre

By GRAHAM REID

Say what you will about soft-rocker David Gates - and most rock critics usually do - the man wrote and sang memorable songs for the 70s band Bread. And if writing hits was easy, then a lot more people would do it.

However Gates' songs were not only chart-busters, but they have been widely covered (and copied, a fact not often acknowledged) and have endured. A substantial chunk of his set at his poorly subscribed concert on Wednesday were 30 years old.

Yes, some of his songs are mawkish (Aubrey with its cloying "moon/June" rhyme is a prime offender), but with a 10-piece string section, a bassist and lead guitarist, his helium-filled ballads were much appreciated by the small but worshipful audience.

Things got off to a bad start, however.

Memo to promoters: it is unfair on everyone to send out the unknown support act unannounced. Worse is to put her in the spotlight under-miked and with pre-recorded backing tapes. Whoever she was, she did her best in this naked and uncomfortable setting (but Unchained Melody?).

However in the audience you felt like a judge at Kiwi Idol. My friends and I might have given her the nod for the semifinals, although we still believe yodelling is something which should only be engaged in by consenting adults in private.

Gates also ambled on unannounced and for the first few songs - unless he wanted it that way, which seems highly unlikely - played while the house lights were still up.

The night out for the paying public was like an amateur production but Gates wasn't flustered and delivered a set of familiar hits and similarly conceived songs from his solo career, punctuated it with anecdotes and humour, and generally received a warm reception from the predominantly middle-aged audience for songs such as his lexically challenged Baby I'm A-Want You, Guitar Man, Make It With You and Aubrey, plus "more recent" songs such as the melodically pretty Love is Always Seventeen.

In good voice, Gates - the former rancher wearing a stetson, cowboy boots and shiny waistcoat - was an amiable guide through his material, so it was a pleasant and undemanding evening. But we felt we had heard all we needed after the nine-minute soft-rock suite for piano and strings.

So, mostly a night of faithfully delivered classic hits from three decades ago. Nice enough.

As Noel Coward once observed, "extraordinary how potent cheap music is".