NZ gigs 09/96-present
Note that I didn’t keep a good record from this point on, for a few years, so there will be missing gigs… we are living back in Aotearoa New Zealand now.
1996
09/06/96 Cinematic (Subterranean, Timaru).
09/13/96 The Chills and Diddley Squat (Subterranean, Timaru).
12/31/96 Shihad, The Mutton Birds, Superette (Dux de Lux, Christchurch). New Year’s Eve gig outside, with Chrissie.
1997
01/03/97 Hunters & Collectors, Cinematic, The Puffins (Hagley Park, Christchurch).
01/09/97 Peter Jeffries, Bruce Russell, Roy Montgomery (Dux de Lux, Christchurch).
03/97 Ben Elton (Christchurch Town Hall). With Chrissie.
06/27/97 Greg Johnson with Martin Phillipps (The Edge, Christchurch). A lovely gig, although I didn’t know much of his material. Chatting with friends while Martin Phillipps played meant that I didn’t hear much of him unfortunately. With Pete McFarlane, Paul Nicol, Myles Richardson, Inez Grim, Bill Bakkum and Neil Maw.
06/28/97 Mad Professor (Ministry, Christchurch). Fantastic gig, one had to dance. Mostly new mixes of Lee Scratch Perry material, as announced by another black guy who was toasting next to Mad Professor – who said nothing through the gig but looked happy. With Barrie Thompson, Colin Bower and Ross Ellen.
07/02/97 Fugazi (Caledonian Hall, Christchurch). Great to see Fugazi again, and I learned it was their third time in Christchurch, awesome! Some assholes at the front were shouting through the gig until the band finally got them to shut up; in one song Ian Mackaye gaffer-taped the mic to his forehead, with the roll hanging down.
07/25/97 Victoria Wood (Christchurch Town Hall). With Chrissie.
08/07/97 Melvins with Gluefist (UCSA Ballroom, Christchurch). Loud, chunky heavy metal, a bit punk-ish… The singer/guitarist was a big guy and his hair looked like he had stuck his finger in a wall socket; the bass player was short with a huge felt cowboy hat; the drummer was tall and gangly with long blonde hair and played in his undies. For the last song the singer ranted over a slow drumbeat played by a guest while the drummer played guitar in his sweat-soaked (red) undies, eventually lying on his back.
08/16/97 Paul Kelly (The Edge, Christchurch). Opening song was “Can’t Help Falling in Love with You” in honour of the 20th anniversary of the death of Elvis. Good gig; “Before Too Long” was faithfully rendered but most of the rest of the set was new treatments (e.g. “To Her Door”); he did a great version of “It Started with a Kiss”. (Kieran saw this gig in Auckland, didn’t like it, thought the music was killed by an over-the-top backing band, but I didn’t feel that.)
10/28/97 Urban Paradise circus show (Caledonian Hall, Christchurch).
11/07/97 Bike (Dux de Lux, Christchurch).
12/??/97 Headless Chickens (Dux de Lux, Christchurch).
1998
01/25/98 Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals with Cinematic (Christchurch Town Hall). Very cool guy, great band.
02/12/98 Stereolab with The Bats (Lumiere, Christchurch). Sweaty and hot gig, but fantastic – love Stereolab, and The Bats of course.
03/05/98 Yo La Tengo and Dirty Three (UCSA Ballroom, Christchurch). So excited to be seeing YLT but it wasn’t a successful gig, with a low turnout. I knew most of what they played, lots from new album “I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One” but not “Moby Octopad”… Annoyingly, there was too much talking over the music (which can be quite mellow at times), and you could see the band not happy about it. When the Dirty Three came on it was obvious the crowd was there mainly to see them – I didn’t know their material but enjoyed it.
03/07 98 Tanya Donelly with She’s Insane (The Edge, Christchurch).
03/07/98 The Mutton Birds, Headless Chickens, The Bats, Stereobus, The Puffins (Summertimes free gig, North Hagley Park, Christchurch).
04/11/98 Portishead (Christchurch Town Hall). Phenomenal gig, one of the best. Opened by a DJ with the band, playing kind-of cocktail music, which was cool, until after about 30 minutes the lights dimmed and he was scratching over hip hop beats while a movie played, filmed around the streets of Bristol and leading eventually to Portishead the place, very clever; with the visual build-up Chic’s “Good Times” was amongst the tunes. The band arrived and got full-on into it – brilliant from the start, excellent sound (yay Christchurch Town Hall!) and lighting, with the odd minimal movie-type things going on. Both old and new songs all sounded great, even those from “Dummy”, which I had heard too much of. Most of it was live, not much from tapes, with all the band jumping from keyboards to guitars and back again, the bass player switching between guitar and big double-bass. Beth Gibbons was very cool, fantastic voice; she didn’t say much but apologised at the end for not being drunk (“more fun for me!”). With Tania and Pete, Jeff, Inez and Myles, and Chrissie. Afterwards, we all went to Mainstreet and raved about the gig.
06/25/98 Neil Finn “Try Whistling This” Tour, with Stereobus (Theatre Royal, Christchurch).
09/21/98 Chris Knox (Dux de Lux, Christchurch).
09/22/98 Salmonella Dub (Dux de Lux, Christchurch).
11/21/98 Tall Dwarfs (Dux de Lux, Christchurch).
12/04/98 CHARGE concert with She’s Insane and HLAH (Cathedral Square, Christchurch).
1999
01/16/99 Fatboy Slim (Ministry, Christchurch).
02/11/99 Bic Runga with David Kilgour (James Hay Theatre, Christchurch Town Hall). With Rodney and Chrissie.
06/25/99 Fur Patrol (Dux de Lux, Christchurch).
07/15/99 Rockers Hi Fi with The Nomad (Ministry, Christchurch).
2000
02/04/00 Mark de Clive Lowe (Base, Christchurch).
06/03/00 Tom Jones with Fiona McDonald (Westpac Trust Centre, Christchurch) Not a huge Tom Jones fan, but this was fun; Fiona McDonald was wrong as support, too kind-of melancholy with piano ballads. With Chrissie, and other friends.
09/08/00 Pitch Black with Shapeshifter (Civic, Christchurch).
2001
06/29/01 Dimmer (Wunderbar, Lyttelton).
2004
10/25/04 John Peel dies
2005
The Phoenix Foundation, SJD, Flip Grater (Repertory Theatre, Christchurch). I think I went to this gig some time in 2005, when I was still working at Strategy, with loads of people from there. It was my first time seeing any of these musicians live. Flip Grater’s performance I really liked, made me think of PJ Harvey. SJD was more electronic than I had expected but he was cool. And I absolutely loved TPF, they had just released Pegasus, and this started a long-lasting love affair with their music.
2006
02/07/06 Into the Void (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū). Not sure of the exact date for this, but it was a surprise to hear about live music in the art gallery, and a heavy rock band like ITV at that… but it was really great. With people from Strategy (I was still working there then).
Into the Void – Motorbike live
2008
09/06/0 Robert Fisk (Limes Room, Christchurch Town Hall). So cool to see/hear the man speak. With Jonny King.
2009
02/01/09 Split Enz supported by The Phoenix Foundation (Westpac Arena, Christchurch). Chrissie and I got invited to join Tara and Gerard in the corporate box they had hired for them and their families for this gig, which was very generous of them, and it was a great night. As I love TPF I was stoked to see them of course, and then seeing Split Enz was fantastic too, although my memory of the details isn’t so good now. With Chrissie, Tara, Gerard, Barretts and Blanks.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/325659/Split-Enz-spill-the-beans
03/11/09 Nick Harte (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū).
04/15/09 The Blind Boys of Alabama (Christchurch Town Hall). Great opportunity to see them, great gig. With Chrissie, Janine and Jonny, Bridgit and Jeremy
08/06/09 The Bats (Dux de Lux, Christchurch).
11/12/09 Buzzcocks, The Veils, The Bats and An Emerald City (The Bedford, Christchurch). I think this gig happened about this time – definitely pre-earthquakes as this was in the original Bedford, a brick building that was gone afterwards. An Emerald City were okay, reminded me of 80s indie/electronica bands; always love The Bats live; The Veils are really popular and they were good, but I find their music a bit “angsty”. First time seeing Buzzcocks live and it was fantastic, super loud and clear sound, all the loved songs sounding exactly as they should. "For the very first time, we will be playing our first two albums – Another Music In A Different Kitchen and Love Bites – in their entirety + other hits!" Shelley and Diggle were on top form, and I spent some time at the front with Jonny, very cool. With Jonny King and Alec Bathgate.
2010
05/06/10 The Phoenix Foundation (The Bedford, Christchurch).
07/25/10 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Transistors (Al’s Bar, Christchurch). Transistors were on when I got there, a cool Christchurch punk band with great attitude. BMRC were even better than I expected, really enjoyed their indie Americana rock style – “Shuffle Your Feet” was what I most wanted to hear, and I spent a bit of time at the front. With Donna and Trevor.
08/03/10 Pixies (Westpac Arena, Christchurch). This was cool, a typical good Pixies gig; Francis didn’t speak a word. With Lizzie, Tara and Gerard.
11/19/10 Robin Williams (CBS Canterbury Arena, Christchurch). With Chrissie.
12/13/10 The Fall with Street Chant (Powerstation, Auckland). Just had to see The Fall again, and the trip to Auckland was worth it – pretty standard stuff from the newest version of the band, and featuring MES’s French keyboardist wife Elena Poulou. Setlist: “Change”, “Sparta”, “YFOC”, “Cowboy”, “Bury”, “Chino”, “Strychnine”, “Greenway”, “Muzorewi’s”, “Hot Cake”, “What About Us”, “ Duped”, “Psykick”, “Weather”, “Reformation”. With Pete and Tania, Mike O’Connell, Alistair Cain, Rodney, Wayne Brown.
2011
02/22/11 Tricky (Powerstation, Auckland). Never made it to this gig because of the Christchurch earthquakes.
02/24/11 Gang of Four (Powerstation, Auckland). Never made it to this gig because of the Christchurch earthquakes, but Pete went and said it was great, he bought me a Go4 t-shirt :)
05/05/11 UNKLE live (Powerstation, Auckland). Fantastic gig, opened with all band members lined up at the front of the stage singing “The Answer” together (hairs on the back of the neck standing up), and included video of the songs with Ian Brown and Nick Cave; I think Josh Homme was there. With Pete.
06/11/11 Into the Void playing at Paul Nicol’s 50th, very cool (Wunderbar, Lyttelton). (I think this is right.)
08/27/11 We Can Create design conference (Mercury Theatre, Auckland). Featuring Jonathan Barnbrook (David Bowie, Adbusters, he was cool – I spoke to him).
09/28/11 World Press Photo (Smith & Caughey’s, Auckland).
2012
03/02/12 Roots Manuva (The Bedford on Moorhouse Ave, Christchurch). Couldn’t believe Rodney Smith would be performing in Christchurch – right up until the last minute I was expecting this to be not real. It was real. He is soo cool. Setlist: Here We Go Again, Go Champ, Busit, First Growth, Much Too Plush, Skid Valley, Who Goes There?, Get the Get, Beyond This World, Watch Me Dance, Crow Bars, Revelation, Banana Skank / Encore:, Let the Spirit, Witness, Dreamy Days, Too Cold, Again & Again, Jah Warrior, Snake Bite. With Lizzie Parker.
03/31/12 Delaney Davidson and The Unfaithful Ways (Wunderbar, Lyttelton).
04/02/12 Wooden Shjips (Bodega, Wellington). I was so excited to be seeing them, and I did enjoy the gig, but not really love it/them. Very cool, but as Bish said, not really enjoying himself, “the songs all sound the same” – and then the next song started and he yelled “arrrrgh, there it goes again…”. He was right actually. Still glad I went though. With Bish.
05/12/12 The Features, Fetus Productions, ICU (Dux Live, Christchurch). Not as many people here as I was expecting, but worth being here for it. Jed Town performing as all his previous incarnations from Features, through the fantastic and classic Fetus back catalogue, then finishing as ICU (with a warning from him: “this is a techno set”) – it was really great. We all loved the gig. Barrie got me the poster. With Barrie, Jeff, others.
10/01/12 Bill Bailey: Qualmpeddler (CBS Canterbury Arena, Christchurch). With Chrissie.
10/16/12 Billy Bragg (Aurora Centre, Burnside, Christchurch). Really great mix of old and newer material, with a good dose of politics as well (including local – John Key was PM at the time, and he copped it). With Chrissie, and Chris and Ray Bragg.
11/02/12 An Evening with Michael Palin (Christ’s College, Christchurch). Book tour, cool person. With Chrissie.
11/09/12 Delaney Davidson and Marlon Williams (Wunderbar, Lyttelton). Early days of discovering/enjoying both of them. With Mike OC.
12/08/12 David Kilgour plays live at Stephen McCarthy’s 40th, my first time seeing DK live – solo in a corner of a very small space, awesome (thanks Stephen) (Lyttelton). With Alec.
2013
03/21/13 Paul Kelly (The Bedford at CPSA, Christchurch). Two sets: the first was all material from a new album, played with his son – he said ‘don’t worry, we’ll be playing the hits in the second set’; and he did, which was fantastic. I remember loving hearing “Leaps and Bounds”. With Chrissie.
04/30/13 Buzzcocks (Dux Live, Christchurch). Just had to see Buzzcocks again, after the awesome gig last time in 2009 – it was pretty much as good again. With Barrie, Jeff, Ross, others...
09/14/13 Calexico (Speigeltent, Christchurch Arts Festival). Absolutely loved this. Sat with Adela (ex-Pask) with her new partner (now husband).
09/15/13 Calexico (Speigeltent, Christchurch Arts Festival). Yes, they played two nights and I went both nights.
09/25/13 Harry Potter Museum (North of London, UK). Fantastic, loved it. After enjoying all the books and movies, it was very cool to visit and see so many things from the movies, it was a really great experience. With Chrissie and Nellie.
09/26/13 Matilda (Covent Garden, London, UK). It was a great show but I was a bit sleepy. With Chrissie and Nellie, and Janice, James and Sophie Tucker.
09/26-27/13 AGI-Open (Barbican, London, UK). Awesome timing to be able to go to this design conference while we were in London – Eye magazine said: 'graphic design World Cup?’ With Mick Robinson some of the time.
10/18/13 Wicked (Broadway show in Manhattan, New York City). It was a great show but I was a bit sleepy again… the others thought that was funny. With Chrissie and Nellie, and Nancy Clayton and Catherine Champion.
10/19/13 Blue Man Group (Off-Broadway show in Manhattan, New York City). Down in a basement-type venue, it suited the rock-driven show with actually cool music and audience-involved shenanigans with paint. Fun. With Chrissie and Nellie, and Nancy Clayton and Catherine Champion.
2014
02/07/14 Into the Void (Wunderbar, Lyttelton).
02/27/14 Gold Panda (Dux Live, Christchurch). Thought this would be a cool gig, and so I dragged Mike along. It was actually pretty boring, we sat out side most of the time and ended up leaving well before it would have finished. With Mike OC.
04/25/14 Wolf Party LP release gig (Wunderbar, Lyttelton). Really great gig of raw rockabilly-type sounds, with loads of people performing, including Delaney, Bad Evil, and Marlon I think. I bought the LP. With Mike OC.
05/28/14 The English Beat (Dux Live, Christchurch). A real ‘blast from the past’, this gig was superb, and actually a party. With Barrie, Jeff, Ross Ellen, Brendan Williams and loads of others.
06/06/14 The Phoenix Foundation EP Release Tour (The Bedford at CPSA, Christchurch). Not sure who I went with, maybe Jeff, or Mike.
08/13/14 World Press Photo (UC Library, Christchurch).
09/13/14 Trinity Roots (Ferry Ale House, Christchurch). Great to see them live, a night of gentle, dubby sounds. With Jeff and Pete Bakkuum and Kim.
10/23/14 Justin Townes Earl with Marlon Williams (The Bedford at CPSA, Christchurch). Marlon was (obviously) the perfect support for this gig. Great to see Justin Townes Earl, now sadly gone. With Mark Revington.
11/15/14 Delaney Davidson – Swim Down Low Tour (Wunderbar, Lyttelton). Probably with Mike OC.
12/07/14 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Civic Theatre, Auckland). I was sat way up “in the Gods” but that didn’t diminish a fantastic gig, with a top-form Bad Seeds. Everything you wanted to hear, played with real passion (except “Stagger Lee” – Nick said, after the shouts, “everybody wants to hear Stagger Lee”, but he carried on and ignored them). The new songs from “Push The Sky Away” were stunning live. Setlist: Real cool, Weeping song, Red right hand, Nobody's baby, Higgs boson blues, Down to the water / down to the sea, Ship song, From her to eternity, God is in the house, Into my arms, Up jumped the devil, More news from nowhere, Today she took a train to the west, Lay me low, Mercy seat, Jubilee street / Will/thrill/chill of love, Breathless over you, Watching Alice, Babe you turn me on, I got a woman, Push the sky away. With Pete and Alex McFarlane.
2015
02/18/15 Foo Fighters (AMI Stadium, Christchurch). Support was called Rise Against (I think), and they were awful. Dave Grohl is a real showman, and so he did indeed put on a great show. With Andrew Hendry.
02/25/15 Peter Hook and The Light (Churchills, Christchurch). Even with Hooky at the helm this was really a covers band, but it was so good! His son was part of the band. First set was Joy Division, and the second set New Order – all played with perfection, just like listening to the real thing, especially the JD songs as his singing voice is just like Ian Curtis’ (and Hooky did sing some of the early JD songs anyway). Hearing “Shadowplay” and “Isolation” made the hairs on the back of the neck stand up. Really loved it, so worth going. Setlist: JD: NO LOVE LOST, LEADERS OF MEN, PASSOVER, SOMETHING MUST BREAK, ISOLATION, DRAWBACK, SHE'S LOST CONTROL, SHADOWPLAY / NO: PARADISE, WEIRDO, AS IT IS WHEN IT WAS, BROKEN PROMISE, WAY OF LIFE, BIZARRE LOVE TRIANGLE, ALL DAY LONG, ANGEL DUST, EVERY LITTLE COUNTS / LOVE VIGILANTES, THE PERFECT KISS, THIS TIME OF NIGHT, SUNRISE, ELEGIA, SOONER THAN YOU THINK, SUBCULTURE, FACE UP / THIEVES LIKE US, TRUE FAITH, TEMPTATION. With Jeff and Simon Leslie.
04/30/15 Yum Zouma and Doprah (Wunderbar, Lyttelton). With Mike.
05/01/15 Martin Phillipps, Minisnap, Swan Sisters (CCC Peterborough Street Library, Christchurch). Launch of NZ Music Month, an intimate gig in front of a small crowd: Swan Sisters (Amiria Grenell and Amy Grace) were modern-folk-ish; then my first time seeing Minisnap live (as a big Bats fan), they were great; and Martin Phillipps played a solo set of his wonderful and much-loved songs. With Mike and Pia (they went off to darkroom after this to see Princess Chelsea and I should have gone too).
05/12/15 Nick Davies: Hack Attack (Charles Luney Auditorium, St Margaret’s, Christchurch). Guardian journalist touring his book about the phone hacks that brought down Murdoch’s News of the World; great. With Chrissie.
05/22/15 Mick Harvey and the Intoxicated Men (The Gallery @ darkroom, Christchurch). Apparently Mick made a late decision to visit and expected to get an available venue no problem, but this tiny space was all he could get – great for us but not so much for him I suppose. I didn’t know any of the music but it didn’t matter – such a tight band playing cool songs, some of them with a tex-mex, twangy theme, loved it. With Paul and Mike.
06/20/15 Sexy Animals (Club Tavern, Christchurch). Excellent and fun live band made up of Dave Mulcahy (ex-JPSE), Dave Imlay (Into the Void and Galaxy Records), sometimes Marc Whyte (also Into the Void), and Mark Banfield (flamboyant singer and famous butcher, RIP).
08/02/15 Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (Allen St Rock Club, Christchurch). This was a cool gig, such a good sound for a three-piece with no actual bass guitar... With Mike.
09/24/15 The Phoenix Foundation – GUYD Tour (Allen St Rock Club, Christchurch). Another solid TPF show, but sounding just a wee bit different with the new GUYD material – Barrie loved it, Paul didn’t. With Jeff, Barrie, Paul, Mike, others from Timaru.
10/02/15 David Bowie Is (ACMI – Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne). Fantastic V&A touring exhibition, so glad to have been able to see it – we all loved it. Wandering around with headphones on, the spaces were so well-designed for the different periods of Bowie’s life and creative career, you felt a part of each and the only thing missing was the man himself. Amazing costumes, videos and art. With Chrissie and Nellie.
10/17/15 The Fall with Avoid! Avoid! (Powerstation, Auckland). With Pete. My ‘review’ to Al Cain, also a huge fan, who decided not to go: Well Al, it really was a great gig. Tight band, good sound, although MES is probably in his most un-singing singing mode these days (and looking like Mr Bean on stage). Some dicks were throwing drinks, and the band left the stage 2 or 3 times, but played about 1.5 hours. Later tracks were Cowboy George, Sparta FC, White Lightning, and finished with Mr Pharmacist. By 'one dimensional' I guess you mean they could be any good indie band, and I get that – it's the presence and 'singing' of MES that still makes them The Fall, but maybe time is nearly up... Support Avoid! Avoid! were cool too.
11/06/15 Brian Jonestown Massacre (The Foundry, Christchurch). This gig started really early, due to noise restrictions, and BJM were already on when I arrived. But I fell in love with the gig instantly – that warm sound of 60s-ish indie Americana played so well, and not too derivative. I bought the “Thingy Wingy” CD there. So glad to have finally seen them live. With Mike and Paul.
11/19/15 The Ruts (Dux Live, Christchurch). They are getting, and looking, old now but they can still play loud, hard and fast. Singing along with faves like “Staring at the Rudeboys” and “Babylon’s Burning”, we all loved this. With Jeff, Barrie, Chris and Ray Bragg, Grant Walker, others.
12/12/15 Ed Sheeran with Passenger (Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland). We took Nellie and Hannah to this – he is great at what he does. With Chrissie, Nellie and Hannah McCarthy.
12/02/15 Shellac (Dux Live, Christchurch). Couldn’t pass up the chance to see Steve Albini again, and this was a hard rocking gig but very cool. He was out in his overalls before they came on, tweaking things... On my own but saw Henry Nicol there (not Paul’s thing but he told me Henry was going).
12/15/15 Unknown Mortal Orchestra with Fazerdaze (The Foundry, Christchurch). Fazerdaze (live band) were great, she is such a good songwriter. UMO are a hyped band, and I had the new album, was looking forward to the gig – the atmosphere was all there too. But I didn’t enjoy them at all, I found their music is “not me”, too ‘George Benson’ (on purpose I’m sure). They are awesome musicians but I just couldn’t get into the music at all.
2016
01/10/16 David Bowie dies.
01/23/16 Aldous Harding and Delaney Davidson (Wunderbar, Lyttelton). With Mike. We went to Mike’s friend Michael’s Lyttelton house first, where Aldous (Hannah) and Delaney were hanging out with friends before the gig. Aldous was covering Toto’s “Africa” at the time – that might make it cool but I’ve never liked the song (or the band!).
02/26/16 Grant Hart Conspiracy (darkroom, Christchurch). Wanted to go along to support Grant Hart in this wee venue, and the gig was okay, but not the greatest. He was quite flamboyantly dressed and behaved a bit queen-ish; didn’t know any of the music, except for a version “Terms of Psychic Warfare”. And then he was dead the next year…
03/04/16 Doprah (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū). I went to see Doprah a few times over this period, really enjoyed their music. Tracks: Machinery, San Pedro, Black Lodge.
03/15/16 Dawn French (Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch). With Chrissie.
03/18/16 Lawrence Arabia solo (Wunderbar, Lyttelton). With Paul and Mike probably.
04/15/16 The Stranglers (Horncastle Arena, Christchurch). Awesome gig, even with a new singer replacing Hugh Cornwell, he was just as good actually. They came on stage to “Waltz in Black”, and played everything you would have wanted to hear, even some surprises like “Toiler on the Sea”. With Chrissie, Jeff, Chris and Ray, Grant Walker, plus Barrie and Colin were there from Timaru with others; spoke to Peter and Lorraine Howey there as well (Pete’s birthday present).
04/29/16 rdu 40th Anniversary gig “Feeding the Natives”: Nadia Reid, Lawrence Arabia, Delaney Davidson in Manos del Chango (Canterbury Museum, Christchurch). I really loved the latin tweak to Delaney’s music. With Mike O’Connell.
05/01/16 Kane Strang (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū). Went to this on Mike’s recommendation and really enjoyed the FN/Dunedin jangle-pop – good songs and fun stuff; bought the vinyl album here. NZ Music Month gig. With Mike.
05/28/16 rdu 40th Anniversary gig “Kill Your Television”: Scythes, Transistors, Salad Boys and The Bats (Canterbury Museum, Christchurch). With Mike O’Connell.
06/04/16 Brian Tamaki and the Kool Aid Kids (Canterbury Museum, Christchurch). rdu live-to-air afternoon gig, was really great, even though they are totally styled on BJM – but they do it so well. With Mike I think.
06/10/16 Into the Void and Hex Waves (Wunderbar, Lyttelton). I thought Hex Waves were very cool. With Paul and Mike probably.
06/30/16 JG Thirlwell (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū). Otherwise known as Foetus, Clint Ruin, Wiseblood, etc. Interesting enough to need to go see – it was just okay really, an electronic soundscape played to imagery of Japan if I remember rightly. With Paul and Mike.
07/30/16 rdu 40th Anniversary gig “On the Spectrum”: Pacific Heights, Shocking Pinks, Doprah, Kamandi (Canterbury Museum, Christchurch). With Paul and Jenny.
08/26/16 Shayne P Carter (Blue Smoke, Christchurch). Touring “the piano” album, with a piano but not only. He jumped onto his guitar more often, and so it was great to hear those songs live along with old favourites. (I won tix to this gig from Flying Out but when we got to the door – no names there… very embarrassing.) With Paul.
08/27/16 Roger Shepherd (Flying Nun): “In Love With These Times” book gig, with Graeme Downes (The Verlaines), Jay Clarkson (Breathing Cage, The Expendables), Bruce Russell (Dead C) and Hollie Fullbrook (Tiny Ruins) and MC Russell Brown (Christchurch Word Festival, Blue Smoke, The Tannery). With Paul and Jenny.
09/08/16 Nick Cave album launch “One More Time with Feeling” 3D movie, world-wide one-time screening (The Palms, Christchurch). With Paul Nicol.
10/29/16 Delaney Davidson – Manos del Chango New Zealand Tour (Wunderbar, Lyttelton). Really wanted/needed to see them again after enjoying them so much at the rdu Museum gig. Awesome. With Paul, probably Mike too.
2017
01/24/17 PJ Harvey (Logan Campbell Theatre, Auckland). This was fantastic – the ‘new’ PJ Harvey show with John Parish, saxophones and horns replacing guitars but still very powerful; awesome versions of “50ft Queenie” and “Mansize”. She didn’t really speak much. With Paul and Henry Nicol, Pete and Tania, and Al and Libby were there, also Alec and Tim Bathgate.
04/10/17 Cosmic Shambles Live: a night of science, comedy and music from the UK – Robin Ince, Dr Helen Czerski, Prof Lucie Green, Josie Long and Matt Parker (Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch). With Chrissie and Nellie.
07/04/17 Neil deGrasse Tyson – A Cosmic Perspective (Horncastle Arena, Christchurch). A show in three parts, decreasing in ‘seriousness’ until the third which was questions from the audience, and quite funny. With Chrissie and Nellie.
07/23/17 Tiny Ruins Winter Tour (Blue Smoke, Christchurch).
09/01/17 The Black Rider, with Delany Davidson (Free Theatre Christchurch, The Gym, The Arts Centre). Very cool. A musical carnival ride where a lover sells his soul for magic bullets, a New Zealand première of a work originally conceived by collaborators Tom Waits (music), William S. Burroughs (text) and Robert Wilson (direction), and based on the German romantic opera “Der Freischutz” by Carl Maria von Weber. With Nellie and Helen.
09/11/17 Hudson & Halls live (Court Theatre, Christchurch). Very funny and clever reenactment of the classic NZ TV show. With Chrissie, Donna and Jason.
11/10/17 The Prodigies (Wunderbar, Lyttelton). Dave Imlay got the original band together for this nostalgia gig and, having enjoyed them back in the 80s, thought it would be worth a look – but we didn’t stay to the end. With Mike, and Sue (Dave’s sister) and Bob Jackson were there.
2018
01/24/18 Mark E Smith dies.
02/08/18 Nigella Lawson (Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch). With Chrissie.
03/07/18 DOG Power (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū). First time seeing this cool band, with a sound like what no-one else is doing… they played upstairs in front of Bridget Riley’s “Cosmos”, with a few other musical performers around the gallery. Mike was around.
05/04/18 Into the Void (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū). Second time seeing ITV live here but stage in the window this time, short set but so cool; part of the Gallery’s fifteenth birthday celebrations, and also opened Us V Them: Tony de Lautour. With Mike.
05/23/18 Marlon Williams with Julia Deans (The Foundry, Christchurch). The atmosphere at this gig was just great, everybody ready for a party, Marlon touring his “Make Way For Love” album, so good. Beautiful live sound, and such a good band. With Chrissie, Jeff, Paul and Jenny; bumped into Jordan coming out of the loos, he didn’t know me.
06/02/18 MAMIL (Remounted) with Mark Hadlow (Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch). Witty but confronting presentation of a man in mid-life crisis (Middle Aged Man In Lycra – MAMIL). With Chrissie.
06/29/18 Hackedepicciotto (Space Academy, Christchurch). No way I was missing this: Alexander Hacke from Einsturzende Neubauten in Christchurch, with his partner Danielle de Picciotto (American). They were travelling around the world, living and performing like hippies I guess, even playing the gig in bare feet and very casual. Cool music, a bit EN-ish. With Paul and Jenny and Mike.
07/17/18 Kendrick Lamar (Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin). Drove Nellie and girlfriends to this, they met up with Nick and other friends in Dunedin; I went to the gig alone; freezing cold night.
08/16/18 Aretha Franklin dies.
08/27/18 David Neiwert: Alt America (The Piano, Christchurch). Part of Word.
08/30/18 The Phoenix Foundation with NZSO (Isaac Theatre Royal). Stunning gig, the songs worked so well with the orchestra, totally like they were a natural part of the band. With Jeff.
09/02/18 Denise Mina: Bloody Scotland (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū). Scottish writer, part of Word. With Chrissie.
09/02/18 Robin Robertson: The Long Take (The Chamber, The Piano, Christchurch). Scottish writer, part of Word. With Chrissie.
09/13/18 Bailterspace with Wax Chattels (Blue Smoke, Christchurch). Was very interested to see the new band Wax Chattels and they were great, such a good live band, but very loud in a trebley way, so hard on the ears. And then even louder for the main act, true to form and reputation. The literal wall of noise from Bailterspace contains some beautiful melodies but they have to f right hard to be heard in the live context. Worth every second though. With Paul and Jenny, Mike.
09/20/18 The Chills – Snow Bound Tour (Blue Smoke, Christchurch). Always good to support Martin Phillipps, one of NZ’s most overlooked songwriters. “He should have had it all.” A set of songs from the new album plus plenty of old faves like “Night of Chill Blue” and “Leather Jacket”. With Jeff.
10/19/18 Peter Murphy (The Club, Christchurch). Peter Murphy with friend David J (who worked on a few Bauhaus-related projects back in the day) with a couple of hot American musicians gave us a night of perfectly-rendered Bauhaus songs: “Bela”, “Dark Entries”, “Spy”, “Stigmata”, “Telegram Sam”, “Ziggy”... We had a drink to Barrie – he would have loved this. And yes, I went to this on our wedding anniversary night. With Jeff, Colin Bower, Brian Graham and others from Timaru. (Colin did not look well.)
11/07/18 Griff Rhys Jones – Where Was I? (Isaac Theatre Royal). Quite funny. With Chrissie, Jeff, Chris and Ray, and (I think) Donna and Jason).
11/15/18 David Byrne – American Utopia Tour (Horncastle Arena, Christchurch). One of the best gigs ever. Fantastic choreography (by Twyla Tharp, longtime friend of DB), with all performers dressed in suits with bare feet, and carrying their instruments (even keyboards and drums) so that they could all move freely around the stage. Visually and aurally stunning. Many Talking Heads songs included with the new and solo DB material. With Chrissie, also Neil Toole and Ross Dooley; Paul and Jenny went too.
11/22/18 Delaney Davidson presents Ship of Dreams, support by Motte (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū). A seated gig in the gallery. Motte was cool, this was around the time she lost her voice, or was recovering from that. She also played as part of Delaney’s band with SJD and Chris O’Connor from TPF. They opened with “Venus in Furs” which was phenomenal, then went on to perform plenty of Delaney’s cool material, but also another cover, “In Dreams” by The Big O. With Chrissie, Jenny and Paul.
12/01/18 Straitjacket Fits and Dimmer (The Foundry, Christchurch). Fantastic. Shayne Carter brought together most (all?) of both bands’ original members for a real treat of a night for us. Loved every second, especially “Life in One Chord” and “Crystalator”. The stage had been shifted to the west end of the room. With Jenny and Paul, Jeff, and Mike and Pia.
12/13/18 Pete Shelley dies.
2019
01/15/19 Conversations with Nick Cave: talk and music, solo with piano (Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington). No subject taboo, which was very cool of him, but resulted in some cringey moments – especially the guy that told a long story of being at a gig and loving Nick… the solo piano renditions were lovely. Special. With Paul Nicol, Bish and Katya.
01/25/19 Nigella Lawson (Isaac Theatre Royal). Again. With Chrissie.
02/27/19 Eddie Izzard – Wunderbar (Horncastle Arena, Christchurch). Expecting a clever and funny night, but this was clever and unfunny – we didn’t laugh very much, although it seemed like everyone else was… With Chrissie.
03/01/19 Paul Nicol birthday gig with Sexy Animals (Wunderbar, Lyttelton). Fun night. With Chrissie.
03/03/19 Marlon Williams, with Don McGlashan and Emily Fairlight (Christchurch Town Hall). Awesome, of course. A pretty straight-looking crowd, but that’s okay – some may have been shocked at Emily’s swearing. Hadn’t seen her before, she was cool; and so was Don, a Kiwi hero, with a short set of goodies including “The Heater”. Marlon is a new cool Kiwi hero, and loved by all, with his beautiful compositions. With Chrissie; Paul and Jenny there too.
03/15/19 One of the saddest days for Aotearoa.
04/03/19 Rob Brydon – I Am Standing Up (Christchurch Town Hall). Not as funny as we were expecting but still good. With Chrissie.
04/05/19 Mermaidens 7” Release Tour (darkroom, Christchurch). I think this was my first time at one of their gigs, was really looking forward to it, and was not disappointed: love their songs, and live the sound is beautiful, and well-played. I bought the 7” (“You Maintain the Stain”) with my ticket. With Paul and Jenny.
04/28/19 The Mousetrap (Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch). The original mystery-murder stage show from London, it was great. With Chrissie, Nellie and Nick.
05/05/19 A Bowie Celebration: The David Bowie Alumni Tour (Christchurch Town Hall). “This isn’t a Bowie covers band – we ARE the band!” Headed by Bowie’s musical director and longest serving band member Mike Garson, featuring musicians who have performed with Bowie over a period of more than 40 years including Gerry Leonard, Carmine Rojas, Bernard Fowler, Mark Plati and drummer John Lee, on more than two dozen albums spanning from Aladdin Sane to The Next Day and world tours beginning with the Ziggy Stardust tour in 1972 through David’s final Reality tour in 2003. Vocalists included Living Colour’s Corey Glover and Joe Sumner (Sting’s son), and our own Alistair Riddell, which was fitting. First song was “Bring me the Disco King”. Loved it – but it really made me miss the man himself. With Chrissie, Nellie and Nick, Chris and Catherine, Harriet and Dom.
05/25/19 Shayne Carter (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū). Interviewed by Rachel King, a talk about his book, as part of Word – great. Got the book signed: “It’s all evolution”. With Jenny and Paul.
05/30/19 Dr Jane Goodall – Rewind the Future (Christchurch Town Hall). Fantastic person (along with David Attenborough), the whole town should have been here to listen to her wise words and great experiences. With Chrissie, maybe Donna and Jason.
07/17/19 Michael McIntyre – Big World Tour (Horncastle Arena, Christchurch). With Chrissie.
07/20/19 Hamlet – Pop-Up Globe New Zealand Tour (Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch). With Chrissie, Nellie and Nick.
08/01/19 DOG Power (Avon Room, Christchurch Town Hall). Part of Christchurch Arts Festival. They were a very cool band while they were around; this was my second time seeing them, the first being upstairs at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. Songs from the first album, plus new material; you could pick a few influences in their songs but they did have quite a unique sound, nothing like I’ve heard others doing. With Chrissie and Jeff, and Steve Burse.
08/08/19 Live Rust (James Hay Theatre, Christchurch Town Hall). To celebrate four decades since Neil Young released his seminal 1979 album Live Rust and with a great lineup of Kiwi musos, including Liam Finn, Samuel Flynn Scott and Chris O’Connor of The Phoenix Foundation, Jon Toogood, Reb Fountain, Delaney Davidson, SJD and The Bads’ Dianne Swann and Brett Adams. They started with an opening set of classics spanning Buffalo Springfield (“Expecting to Fly”) to Crazy Horse, and then a break. After that it was all the songs from the double album in order from start to finish – sounded just like the real thing, only without Neil singing. They even had the big stacks (fake) like in the movie, and some of the announcements, even the ‘road eyes’. Brett Adams had Neil’s blistering guitar sound perfectly. Fantastic; Chrissie should have been here. With Jeff; saw Brian Smith and Barbara Kelly there.
08/24/19 Blam Blam Blam (Lyttelton Arts Factory). A really great show, bringing together the three original band members (Don McGlashan, Mark Bell and Tim Mahon), they played almost everything from the back catalogue and seemed to have plenty of fun doing it (we did); I think just “The Businessmen” missing. Remembering Barrie at this gig too. With Jeff.
09/12/19 Tiny Ruins, Olympic Girls spring tour of Aotearoa (Blue Smoke, The Tannery). Great songs, and even better when performed with a great live band. With Paul and Jenny.
10/11/19 Mermaidens “Look Me in the Eye” Album Release Tour (darkroom, Christchurch). Back to see this wonderful Kiwi band again. With Paul and Jenny.
10/26/19 David Kilgour and the Heavy 8s (Blue Smoke, Christchurch). Loved the show, but the venue was only about one-third full (don’t know why) and so I think he was a bit grumpy. The set was only about an hour long, but featured “Smoke You Right Outta Here” and cool instrumental “Ngapera” from the new album, plus the final song was the sublime “Diamond Mine”. With Jenny and Paul, and Nic Robson and Paul Cabout were there.
10/28/19 Hamish Kilgour Trio (Stuart Paige and Daniel Manetto), Psychic Maps and Commodore Guitar Club (Space Academy, Christchurch). With brother DK in town the same weekend I think we were all secretly hoping for a Clean gig to materialise, but no – apparently they don’t get on, and DK said “I’ll be in Wellington by then”. It was a bit weird with HK doing VU covers (they had been listening to a tape in their van and so he decided to do play the songs live), but he did do a good version of “Point That Thing”. Violet French was in the audience and was so heckled by him that she walked out, fair enough. With Jenny and Paul, and Mike.
12/13/19 Earth Tongue (darkroom, Christchurch). Gussie Larsen from Mermaidens with her partner as a two-piece metal-ish band – big noise and great sound for a two-piece. Good to see them but as Paul said: “done it now, don’t need to see them again”. With Jenny and Paul.
12/29/19 Behrooz Boochani (Christchurch Boys High School). A very moving talk, from an amazing man, about his book – as part of Word. With Chrissie.
12/29/19 Vaughan Oliver, 4AD designer, dies. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/dec/29/vaughan-oliver-celebrated-4ad-graphic-designer-dies-aged-62
2020
01/31/20 Sven Ratzke: Where Are We Now – cabaret-style covers of Bowie songs with piano accompaniment (Bread & Circus, Speigeltent, Christchurch). This was a really great gig, the songs were so beautifully and lovingly performed; favourite was “Sweet Thing/Candidate” as it was so unexpected. With Chrissie, Nellie and Nick, Chris and Catherine France.
02/15/20 Gladys Knight (Christchurch Town Hall). A really great show, very slick; she was cool. With Chrissie.
02/18/20 Moon Duo (Hollywood Cinema, Avondale, Auckland). Couldn’t wait for this, having been a huge fan for years. The venue was cool, with a great pre-gig atmosphere. Bought their 12” of “No Fun” (Stooges) and “Jukebox Babe” (Alan Vega) covers. Ripley Johnson and partner San Yamada with excellent touring drummer John Jeffrey created a wall of psych-rock noise that you just lost yourself in, supplemented with wonderful background lighting and graphic effects, beautiful to watch. Paul said: “Probably the best psych band on the planet!”. At the gig Tim told us that Andrew Weatherall had just died. With Tania and Pete, Jenny and Paul, Tim Baird.
A similar gig from the same tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goPcSExzTbI&t=2102s
02/19/20 David Suchet – Point & More: A Retrospective (James Hay Theatre, Christchurch Town Hall). He was pretty interesting, and entertaining. With Chrissie.
07/23/20 Nick Cave: Idiot Prayer, livestream from Alexandra Palace, London (Dice, on tv).
08/14/20 Al Hunter and Adam McGrath (Cassell’s Blue Smoke, Christchurch). A nice, intimate show. With Chrissie, Rachel and Mark Richards.
10/29/20 Don McGlashan and The Others (Cassell’s Blue Smoke, Christchurch). The Don touring with a hot band (Shayne Carter, Chris O’Connor (SJD, TPF) and James Duncan (SJD, Dimmer)), playing a good selection of old and new; I remember a new song with the theme of changing Guy Fawkes Day for Parihaka Day – definitely m makes sense. With Paul and Jenny.
11/12/20 The Phoenix Foundation with The Bats (Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch). Another perfect TPF gig, having seen them a load of times now. Beautiful live experience, great to get Chrissie along. The Bats (seen them many times also) were good but they are more mellow these days, and Chrissie didn’t enjoy them; Hamish Kilgour turned up on stage and played congos with them for a couple of songs. With Chrissie and Jeff.
11/26/20 Reid & Ruins (The Piano, Christchurch). Part of Word, they each played a solo acoustic set, an d then came together for a few songs at the end, one of which was a Johnny Cash cover.
12/05/20 Fly My Pretties: Barnaby Weir, A Girl Named Mo, Anna Coddington, Bailey Wiley, Hollie Smith, LA Mitchell, Lisa Tomlins, Ria Hall, Aaron Stewart, Age Pryor, Iraia Whakamoe, James Coyle, Ryan Prebble, Jarney Murphy & Nigel Patterson (The Black Seeds) (Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch). Finally got myself to a FMP gig, and it was worth the wait – great Kiwi people. With Chrissie and Jeff.
12/17/20 Nick France and Sam White (Boo Radleys, Christchurch). Support for Nick playing, with Chrissie, Nellie, friends and families.
12/30/20 NYEE (New Year’s Eve Eve) The Axemen, The Sundae Painters, Violet French and the Horrible, DJ Bruce Russell (The Loons, Lyttelton). Bruce Russell was playing cool music to set the scene, then Violet French and her new band played a nice set, reminding me at times of Siouxsie. Sundae Painters are Alec Bathgate, Paul and Kaye from The Bats, and Hamish Kilgour; they were a bit of fun, and good to see – but HK is a nuisance these days, playing his ‘eccentricity’ card until he pisses people off, as well as being drunk. Delaney was around and he played with them too. The Axemen were okay, but I didn’t stay to the end. With Jenny and Paul, Mike and Pia, Tim Baird.
2021
01/14/21 Live Rust (Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch). A repeat of the 08/08/19 gig, due to ‘popular demand’, with almost the same lineup of musicians and the same set list. Liam Finn was amazing doing “A Man Needs a Maid” solo with piano. With Chrissie this time.
01/30/21 The Die (Lyttelton Arts Factory). Joe Bennett’s play, with two characters, set in a fish’n’chip shop, very good. With Chrissie, Nellie and Nick.
02/25/21 An Evening with Marlon Williams (James Hay Theatre, Christchurch Town Hall). A more intimate gig this time, still amazing, what a national treasure. With Chrissie.
02/27/21 Jenny and Paul wedding gig – featuring Delaney Davidson (Evil Genius, Ferrymead, Christchurch). A great night of fun chatting with friends, with cool DJ work from Tim Baird, and live music from Delaney.
03/11/21 Mermaidens “Soft Energy” Tour (Cassell’s Blue Smoke, Christchurch). Another really great gig by them, with drummer Abe Hollingsworth dressed in bondage gear… The new song s sounded fantastic, just a bit different for them, and one or two reminded me of “Sabotage”-era Black Sabbath in their structure. Cool. With Paul and Jenny.
03/18/21 Bill Bailey (Christchurch Town Hall). Very funny man, and so clever – with his jokes, and playing instruments. He can do/play anything it seems. With Chrissie, Nellie and Nick, Chris and Catherine.
08/13/21 Twelfth Night by Top Dog Theatre (Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch). A bit of fun. With Chrissie, Nellie and Nick.
09/22/21 Hellzapoppin'! The Art of Flying Nun (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū). “Celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the founding of Flying Nun Records in Ōtautahi Christchurch, Hellzapoppin’! brings together original artwork and design, film, record covers, posters and photography from some of New Zealand’s favourite bands. From rare collectible records and vintage posters to original artworks and paste-up designs, this exhibition explores the art and artists behind the music. Including Scorched Earth Policy, The Chills, Tall Dwarfs, The Bats, Pin Group, the 3Ds, The Verlaines, The Dead C and many others” – curated by Peter Vangioni. This was a great exhibition, I couldn’t wait to visit, and went again on the final weekend; there was also a live event scheduled but unable to go ahead due to COVID-19 level of lockdown unfortunately. Very cool to see original artwork, concepts and paste-up for so much of the original material, and pleased to see how many of the releases I own myself :). I bought the special edition of the accompanying book, plus other bits and pieces from the shop.
11/19/21 Mick Rock dies. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/nov/19/mick-rock-music-photographer-dies-david-bowie-queen
2022
01/14/22 Come Together: Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers (Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch). Same idea and similar lineup to the Live Rust gigs (and others they have done), celebrating anniversaries of famous albums (1971 for “Sticky Fingers”, the gig postponed from last year. Such good musicians, world class as Chrissie said: Jon Toogood (Shihad), Sam Scott, Luke Buda (Phoenix Foundation), Lou'ana, Deva Mahal (daughter of Taj Mahal), Brett Adams (The Bads), Matthias Jordan, Mike Hall, (Pluto), Finn Scholes (Carnivorous Plant Society), Nick Atkinson (Supergroove), Karen Hu (on drums), and Jol Mullholland MD as musical director and also on guitar. This time they played the album from start to finish first, and ended that set with “Shine a Light”, beautifully performed by Matthias Jordan on piano. Jon Toogood was the best Mick Jagger, he put in the most effort, and did the rockingest songs like Brown Sugar; Sam Scott did a beautiful version of Moonlight Mile, and I also loved “I Got The Blues”. The second set was a collection of the most well-known songs, that went down well with everyone, but snuck in there was a great version of “Rocks Off” by Sam Scott. At one point Sam Scott said “some of the Stones’ songs are so beautiful… and some are so dirty… that’s just the way it is.” With Chrissie.
05/11/22 Nick Cave and Warren Ellis movie “This Much I Know to be True” (Lumiere Cinema, Christchurch). Another great documentary by Andrew Dominik, showing the creative process of Cave and Ellis working together – well made and a real pleasure to experience. With Jenny and Paul, Jonny King was there too.
05/20/22 The Renderers, Ben Woods (The Loons, Lyttelton). An evening of beautiful psych-country noise from the US-based band, not many chances to see them live these days so this was a must. And not a disappointment, with a great lineup for this gig: Motte on violin (which fitted in perfectly), Joe McCallum (Nadia Reid, Delaney Davidson) on drums, John Christoffels playing bass, alongside Renderers Maryrose and Brian Crook – Brian had a lot of fun shaping guitar noise over or behind most of the music. Maryrose is like an Emmylou Harris in the midst of the big noise but looking like she really loves being there, playing guitar herself as well as singing. Great to hear “Touch of Evil”. With Jenny and Paul, and Mike OC.
07/08/22 Come Together: Fleetwood Mac Rumours (Christchurch Town Hall). Another great lineup of Kiwi musicians: Laughton Kora, Julia Deans, Mel Parsons, Dianne Swann, Brett Adams, Matthias Jordan, Jol Mulholland (MD), Alistair Deverick, and Mike Hall. First set was a mix of old Peter Green era tracks, quite bluesy and starting with Albatross, then more well-known FM songs like Riana and Say That You Love Me – both of which I like, but not being a huge FM fan I didn’t know the Stevie Nicks song Gypsy when they played it, or some of the other songs… Sara (sung by Julia Deans) was last before the break I think. Dianne Swann and Julia Deans did the Stevie Nicks songs and Mel parsons did the Christine McVie ones. A large part of the crowd jumped up out of their seats to dance around the front of the stage from early on. Laughton Kora did quite a bit of singing too; Brett Adams was hot on the guitar as usual. After the break it was Rumours from start to finish: Second Hand News lead by by Brett Adams singing I think; Dreams by Dianne Swann; Never Going Back again was a beautiful version with Laughton Kora singing, backed by duelling guitars of Brett Adams and Jol Mulholland; Don’t Stop by Mel Parsons (“soundtrack of our lives”); Go Your Own Way was lead by Matthias Jordan; then a moving Songbird by Julia Deans with piano from Matthias Jordan; they all sang The Chain together; Mel Parsons back for You Make Loving Fun; can’t remember who sang I Don’t Want to Know, and I think Dianne Swann sang Oh Daddy; Julia Deans sang Gold Dust Woman. And that’s the end of the album, but they came back for another bluesy Peter Green track, Oh Well, and then Tusk, with a row of kettle drums lined up at the front, basically one each – the horns were replaced with guitars which made it more rocky. With Chrissie, and Jenny and Dave Purdon.
10/09/22 Dimmer, Proteins of Magic (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū). Support Proteins of Magic is Kelly Sherrod, a one-woman act, quite powerful – she has a very quiet speaking voice but an almost masculine singing voice; keyboard effects and electronic beats with some guitar or flute playing, pretty cool and engaging. The Dimmer show, delayed by a year due to Covid restrictions, was fantastic, touring “I Believe You Are a Star” album on its 20th anniversary (now 21st) with a very cool band that Shayne Carter sounded chuffed with: regular Gary Sullivan (JPSE), drums, James Duncan (SJD), bass, Louisa Nicklin, bv’s, guitar, sax, Neive Strang, backing vocals, percussion, and Durham Fenwick (Green Grove, Guardian Singles), keyboards, they played the album from start to finish in a very grooving way, as per the album. A tight band and they were all, very into it – “Seed” was a quite long and awesome version. The band disappeared for instrumental “Drift”, leaving Shayne and Gary alone on stage, but were there for “Powerchord”, a great jam. The album was followed with “Scrapbook” (Shayne Carter said ‘sorry to spoil the good times vibe’) before changing the mood with that song, then back to grooving for “Getting What You Give” and another song that I forget now, before coming back to encore with the powerful “Crystallator” – always fantastic live, this was no exception with the whole band there including Kelly Sherrod on bass. A magnificent gig, worth waiting a year for. (Right from the start a punter was yelling for “Crystallator” in the gaps until Shayne laughed and said ‘why don’t you yell it 12 times and then it’ll be done’). With Jenny, Paul and Harriet Nicol, Mike and Pia, Tim Baird, also chatted with Stephen McCarthy.
22/09/22 Moonage Daydream, David Bowie movie (Lumiere Cinema, Christchurch). “Not a documentary. It is a genre-defying cinematic experience based on one of the most iconic and global rock stars of all time, destined to be one of the defining cultural moments of the year. The film has the full support of Bowie’s estate and features many of his greatest tracks, as well as previously unseen concert footage.” Directed by Brett Morgan (of Cobain movie “Montage of Heck”), I loved every second of Moonage Daydream, thought it was perfectly made, and that Bowie would be happy with it. To sit and immerse oneself in the world of Bowie, probably the coolest person EVER, for a fast 2.5 hours was fantastic – as fantastic as when we visited the V&A David Bowie Is exhibition in Melbourne – almost like being there with him. With Chrissie, Nellie and Nick.
11/23/22 Alan Carr (Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch). Funny man. With Chrissie, Nellie, Nick, Tara, Gerard, Kath and Louise.
12/07/22 Rob Beckett (James Hay Theatre, Christchurch). Another funny man. With Chrissie, Nellie and Nick.
12/06/22 Hamish Kilgour found dead. RIP. Massive loss to Aotearoa music community, especially Flying Nun of course. Roger Shepherd: https://www.flyingnun.co.nz/blogs/features/hamish-kilgour-the-last-beatnik • Richard Langston: https://0800phantom.co.nz/hamish-kilgour-a-tribute/ • Philip Matthews: https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/300760021/life-story-musician-hamish-kilgour-emanated-generosity-possibility
01/27/23 Fontaines D.C. with Pickle Darling (Ngaio Marsh Theatre, UCSA, Christchurch). Couldn’t believe they would be giving us a gig in Christchurch, it was kind-of a side gig to Laneway next Monday I guess. Thanks to Paul for the tip, as I saw no publicity about it, and actually wasn’t sure if it was real until I got there. I was pleased for the opportunity to see Pickle Darling – they were quite mellow, a three-piece of singer/guitarist and two keyboard players for all other sounds; they definitely have their own sound (hard to describe – ‘electronic folky’?) I would say, but I didn’t love them. Fontaines D.C. were not mellow. This is a great band, with great songs, full of so much power and tension, but carefully controlled so that they pull you in and then drain you with their emotional intensity – but they don’t leave you empty; no, you are filled with devotion to and appreciation for the creativity of the songs and the clever but simple lyrics. As an example of where they are now, they can open the set with A Hero’s Death and not care about playing it at the start, knowing there are three album’s worth of very cool songs they have to draw upon. The crowd was mostly young (maybe because of the venue, possibly students) but it was amazing to be surrounded by them singing the lyrics, especially for the oldest songs, from Dogrel. Sha Sha Sha was second, and Hurricane Laughter quite early too. The crowd went crazy to Big, and Boys in the Better Land – lots of moshing. Jackie Down the Line got the same treatment. I loved hearing Televised Mind, Skinty Fia, Big Shot and How Cold Love Is – funny to hear the crowd singing that in singer Grian’s Irish accent. When the set got to Nabokov I correctly predicted it would be the last song (after playing for a bit more than hour), but that they would come back for an encore. I was hoping for Living in America, but there was just one song performed, I think it was Boys in the Better Land. Perfect live sound and playing from a young band with a big(ger) future – that sublime tension comes from the vocals and bass mainly, with the guitars and drums the icing on the cake. They almost said nothing through the entire gig – Grian said ‘cheers’ about ⅔ of the way through, and finally said a few indecipherable sentences near the end. But he loved the crowd and got as much reaction out of it as he could; he was quite cool to watch, wandering around the stage, waving the mic and stand around, pulling on his t-shirt, losing himself in the moment. The others just performed like well-oiled machines, only the bass player seeming to pay some kind of attention to the crowd of people in front of him. No one else wanted to come with me, and I didn’t notice anyone there I knew, but so glad I went. Here’s Nabokov live from around the same time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUWeFe3MjIo
02/24/23 Billy Bragg with Jazmine Mary (James Hay Theatre, Christchurch Town Hall). Great to see Billy Bragg again, just him and his guitar, playing old and new songs and lots of talking – about climate change (right on top of the Cyclone Gabrielle damage), politics of course (libertarians), trans rights alongside women’s and girls’ rights (all facing the same threat, male violence), home life, his son (also a musician)… he talked as much as he played over more than two hours, all great stuff. Loved hearing “Levi Stubbs’ Tears”, “Greetings to the New Brunette”, “Sexuality”, “Power in a Union” (after talking about the Calendar Girls ‘stripper strike’ in Wellington, which he was at – although he stressed that he doesn’t drive past a strike march and hop out to join in saying “hello”, he said some were at his show and invited him to join them). Although he said it’s not usually in the set list, he did perform “A New England” at the end, specially for a friend in the audience, and mentioned Kirsty McColl. We couldn’t find anyone who enjoyed Jazmine Mary, I’m sorry – she was just too intense, a bit depressing and kind-of try-too-hard at the popular alt-folk thing. With Chrissie, and we saw Jonny and Janine afterwards, also Nic and Paul.
03/11/23 Port Noise: Ben Woods, Womb, Dance Asthmatics, more… (Lyttelton). Like a mini-festival, this was a well-organised and very successful (sold out) event in a great location – and the weather was perfect, sunny and warm. One central ‘hub’ in the car park where everyone got a wristband and then accessed the four venues from there: the Loons upstairs, Loons Basement, Lyttelton Coffee Co. and Wunderbar. Doors opened at 5.00 but I got there at 6.45 for Ben Woods in the Loons. What a great sound that place has, and his music has gotten better and better, quite powerful songs with a good building of feeling; Ryan Fisherman in the band and Rory on drums, plus the singer from Womb joined for the last song, which was nice (Jenny and Paul went to an early evening ‘secret’ gig by her in a church, solo with cello, which they said was good). We went to grab a bit of Delaney’s set in the Wunderbar but there was no entry as it was packed, so we heard a little bit of trashy-sounding Wet Specimen in Coffee Co before heading back to Loons for Womb – I hadn’t seen them before or heard much of their music, it was really great live, just a duo (Womb Duo they said, ha!) of the two women without the drumming brother; I enjoyed them a lot, but it was just half an hour. They called up Ben Woods to join on a song they had done together. We had a bit of chatting and drinking etc in-between acts which was the intention I guess, and it was a great atmosphere all about the place; Mel Parsons and Marlon Williams were punters. Next was Dance Asthmatics, who I had never seen but was really looking forward to – and I was not disappointed: very loud, heavy, kind-of dystopian, I loved them. We saw Tim Baird afterwards, and he wasn’t happy having been locked out of the gig downstairs, as it was packed – Henry Nicol said that’s no-one’s fault as it couldn’t have been predicted, but Tim was livid. I went to see a bit of Voom in Loons but met Mike just leaving and so I turned and went with him instead – we all went up to Wunderbar to see Half Hexagon, a ‘project’ band of James Milne, Julien Dyne and Na Noise singer Yolanda Fagan. Hmm, we didn’t love them – 50/50 Jenny said, Paul said worse, and so we left after four songs – lots of electronic sounds from Milne, live drumming from Dyne, and echoey vocal sounds and singing from Fagan, but it just didn’t work for us really. Probably no-one else walked out (think it was packed), and I could have actually watched the whole show but didn’t mind leaving. The Dead C started a short time later but that really was terrible, just awful noise that didn’t do anything for us at all. I went home (Pia, Natalie and Mike too), and left Jenny and Paul to wait for Henry’s DJ set as Horatio Kane at 1.00. With Jenny and Paul, also Mike and Pia.
04/15/23 The Exponents, supported by Dance Exponents (Christchurch Town Hall). This was a good, fun, gig; sold out, great atmosphere. The first set was comprised of the “old classics” from the very early days, up until early 90s I think, starting with “Poland”. Brett Adams played with both bands as extra guitarist – at one point Jordan said he was “the best musician on stage”, which must have had the others staring at him… Jordan was great at referencing those lost: Steve Cowan, and calling guitarist Brian Jones Steve Jones, and bass player Dave Gent Myles Richardson, both original Basement (pre-Dance Exponents) members, now passed. Jordan was wearing his classic tartan-style pants from back in that period; but after a break they cam on in different clothes and played a louder, more powerful set, which included the biggest hits like “I’ll Say Goodbye” and “Why Does Love”, which the crowd went nuts for. Afterwards we were able to catch up with tour manager Rodney, Kieran (who was on the tour to film and photograph it), Brian, and Jordan a little bit, plus the Cowan family, Morrison girls and more. With Chrissie, Jenny and Paul, Deb White, Tara and Gerard, Pip and Phil Nicol, Phil and Kath Baird, Andrew Bishop…
05/04/23 Soft Plastics (Darkroom, Christchurch). I was so looking forward to this, and I wasn’t disappointed: a fantastic young band from Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington, with a great repertoire of songs, superb musicians, and a perfect live sound. Vocalist Sophie Scott-Maunder has a great voice and is also excellent on bass; Jonathan Shirley’s guitar work was solid and sonic, going a bit Kevin Shields at times – between the two of them there is quality control of tension and room-filling warm sounds, backed up with Laura Robinson's drumming skills. I could have watched the whole gig all over again. They played most of their debut album “Saturn Return”, and I was very pleased to get “Day Job”, one of the best NZ pop songs I’ve ever heard I reckon. With Jenny and Paul, and Jenny’s son Adam.
06/04/23 Playthings (Space Academy, Christchurch). Well, a bit of a contrast to the previous night’s gig: that was a brand new, young band, where tonight’s was a resurrection of a band who would have been about the age of Soft Plastics back in 1980… very happy to have seen both. Playthings had just started when I walked in, and the sound was really good, but it was obviously a gig ‘of that period’ (witness the punters – mostly my age of course). Original members Jay Clarkson, Janine Saundercock, Paul Kean and Dave Toland, with Mark Wilson (Androidss) on guitar (original guitarist Nicky Carter having passed way many years ago), belted out enthusiastic and noisy renditions of those old songs. The set included a cover of Bacharach’s “The Look of Love” including live trumpet from Greg (?). Great stuff, and then, after a couple of songs, Alec Bathgate hopped up on stage to play some sonic guitar with the rest of the band for two Toy Love songs including “Sheep”, with vocals from a young man called James Saunders (I think); that was followed by Mark Wilson leading on the Androidss “Getting Jumpy”; then back to Playthings and They Were Expendable, but also one song with Kaye Woodward leading. There was a lot of reminiscing going on, a fun experience of 1980s nostalgia, finishing with “Sit Down (Stand Up)”. Had to buy the vinyl of re-packaged Playthings singles, available there, courtesy of Leather Jacket Records, and Tim Baird’s Pinacolada – Paul Kean said Tim was responsible for putting the gig together. Very cool. A wee catch-up with Alec and Georgina, also there were Warren, Mike OC and Tim Baird.
05/08/23 Joe Lycett – More! More! More! How do you Lycett? (Christchurch Town Hall). Support Kiwi guy Eli Matthewson was really good, really funny, and not cringey at all – well done. Great to see Joe Lycett live, after watching him on tv so many times over the past few years, he is really clever with his humour. Which was a bit ruder than I expected, but funny with it of course. His long (main) story about Kings Heath in Birmingham, where he lives, was fantastic – he had obviously cooked it up for live shows / touring, and it worked so well. As with all the British comedians that come here, the material is UK-centric, but that’s fine because we all read the news and largely know what and who he is referencing; there’s always a well-researched Kiwi politician or situation dropped in here-and-there too. Loved it – “you can’t beat a good laugh”. With Nellie and Nick, Tara and Gerard, Louise, Donna and Jason, and Francis.
05/19/23 Ed Byrne – If I’m Honest (Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch). I didn't know anything of Ed Byrne’s material, had done no research – I just trusted he would be good when Nellie, Nick and Chrissie said ‘yes’ to getting tickets. And he was great, very funny. It actually was a straight stand-up comedy show and very well done, the last show of his tour, postponed from COVID times – and he made jokes about the material being from back then. He seemed to enjoy himself, and we did too. He made a joke about working on having a good body at his age and ending up looking like Iggy Pop – then finished the show by stripping off to his trousers and All-Stars to the loud playing of “Lust for Life”. With Chrissie, Nellie and Nick.
07/07/23 Henry Rollins (James Hay Theatre, Christchurch church Town Hall). Venue mostly full, of like-minded people to him! More than two hours of non-stop motormouth, standing with legs slightly bent, dressed in his standard black t-shirt, black cargo pants and black shoes/boots. Less hair, and more white now, he was kind-of angry but mostly delivering cleverly-worded state-of-the-US, state-of-the-world stories: COVID and the ‘anti-science people’, the end of Roe v Wade, the second amendment regarding guns, and his suggested amendment to it: for women to be able to carry 9mm pistols in order to defend themselves from ‘the rapos’; destroying ‘big people pushing shopping trolleys at the supermarket full of frozen pizza, beer and bullets’, as opposed to him in his face mask and buying bags of spinach: “Are you a communist?” “Define communism.” “Well … it’s what Obama did!” “Yeah? What did Obama do? What’s communism? Can you spell it?” “Uh… K … O…” – ‘dunces wearing red crowns with “Make America Great Again” on them’. He told two long stories: the first, the shorter, about his mother who he obviously did not like, and her eventual death and disposal of eco-friendly ‘teabags’ of her ashes, via his longtime friend Ian MacKaye, was quite funny; the second, about a Finnish guy who tried to get into his LA fortress house, eventually led to a summing-up that there are mentally ill people out there who need help and not incarceration. He sprinkled his stories with his obsession of collecting old punk singles and posters, and finished up with tales of being at early punk gigs (Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Birthday Party) and still going to gigs now, but hanging at the back so as to leave it to the young people to be at the front – but still being recognised (“dude, are you still alive?” and “can I take a selfie to show my Dad/grandfather?”). Bought the ticket 45 minutes before the show start, and worth it.
https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/news/20766/Review-Henry-Rollins---Old-St-Pauls-Wellington.utr
07/26/23 Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars movie (Lumiere Cinema). From the promo material: It is one of the most iconic performances in the history of modern music. While Bowie's decision to retire his beloved extra-terrestrial rockstar persona and to dissolve The Spiders From Mars was a shock to fans (and to the band as well!), it was a pivotal moment in securing his future. Moving past Ziggy was a crucial early step on Bowie's journey to becoming the restless, inquisitive and shape-shifting artist that would have unparalleled influence on music, film, fashion and beyond. In addition to providing the template for '70s glam rock, the impact of Ziggy Stardust's brief existence remains widespread across popular culture, having inspired artistic and ideological freedoms that are still being enjoyed by musicians and the wider creative community today. The band's performance on July 3, 1973, was captured on film by award-winning director DA Pennebaker (famed for Dylan's classic '67 doc, Don't Look Back) and released under the title of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture. A new version of the film is now ready to be screened to celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of Bowie's bravest and most celebrated moments, featuring:
The full uncut performance featuring seldom seen scenes with the legendary guitar player Jeff Beck not included on previous DVD and soundtrack releases, including his high-octane performance on Bowie's anthemic 1972 hit, The Jean Genie
A fully restored, 4K visual mix overseen by DA Pennebaker's son, Frazer, and Chris Hegedus
A 5.1 mix undertaken by producer Tony Visconti
An extended running time of one hour and 42 minutes
Fantastic to see and hear this at the cinema, confirming Bowie as the coolest person ever to have lived – love the music, love the man, and The Spiders were a great band. With Chrissie.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jun/29/ziggy-stardust-and-the-spiders-from-mars-review-bowie-bids-farewell-to-an-icon-in-legendary-gig
08/09/23 Jamie Reid dies. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/09/jamie-reid-artist-of-sex-pistols-record-covers-dies-aged-76
08/23/23 King Loser movie (Lumiere Cinema). From the promo material: King Loser’s fractious farewell tour sets the stage for not just the career-spanning documentary the legendary 90s band deserve, but also a poignant and powerful meditation on the toll the rock and roll dream takes.... “We had a bit of an us against the world vibe… but also us against us, too.” King Loser’s first of fifteen drummers summarizes their stunningly explosive (and implosive) qualities midway through this unflinching yet affectionate portrait of the legendary 90s band. Driven by the “C&C Music Factory”— Chris Heazlewood and Celia Mancini—King Loser blended surf, lounge, psych and noise into a singular, swampy sound. A cyclone of chutzpah, cigarettes and impeccable fashion sense, the larger-than-life Mancini epitomised a notorious band that collapsed too soon but left a mark on all who encountered them—either at their transcendent best or catastrophic worst. Perhaps the biggest surprise of King Loser is its universality. Rich archive poignantly contrasts the youthful rock and roll dream with the middle-age reality of the struggling musician, while present-day interviews acknowledge the cumulative challenges of addiction, physical and mental health issues, poverty and homelessness.
A really well-made music documentary, a band of fantastic and exciting music, and sounding great in the cinema – a sad but important story in NZ music history. So good that Paul said “I could watch it again”, and I agreed. With Jenny and Paul, and Warren there too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyObGLciBRA
09/15/23 Vorsen with support The Outsiders (A Rolling Stone, Christchurch, NZ). Vorsen are John Halvorsen from Bailterspace on guitar and vocals, with Hayden Ellis on bass and Steve Cochrane on drums. We were expecting something more “sonic” and blistering, given Halvorsen’s musical heritage, but they were quite hard-indie-rock in nature with proper song structures rather than ‘soundscapes with some singing’, and a good sound it was – but not with any real variation, each song sounding like a slightly different version of the others. Halvorsen’s singing is in a kind-of growly, forceful style; he didn’t speak much. Ellis played cool bass, the instrument strapped high, and Cochrane’s drumming was solid even though he was quite static to watch. The Outsiders (featuring Peter Vangioni on drums, and a cast of 6 or 7) were not bad, largely performing their material in a shambolic, Velvets style, with loads of battling instruments defining a big noise; I did enjoy the keyboard sound (reminded me of Green on Red). Unfortunately, quite a small crowd – with three bands (missed the first one) and their partners and friends, there wouldn’t have been much pay for the musicians. With Jenny and Paul.
10/20/23 Dennis Bovell (Flux, Christchurch, NZ). This was a cool wee gig from the Barbados-born and London-based reggae/dub producer – very much a “DJ set” with all music played from an iPad and just a bit of talking, toasting and singing over the top. But what a fantastic selection of tunes, setting the scene for a happy vibe. He explained the baseline in the first song was written by his daughter Simone (“I paid her by buying her a PS5 – ‘not enough!’ she said”), it was called Simone’s Ska I think, and yes, very much a ska tune. Famous for inventing Lovers Rock, that more poppy side of reggae was in evidence until things got more dubby as the night went on, including Lee Scratch Perry, and that was the cool peak for me - until we got to the finishing track: Toots & the Maytals’ 54-46 Was My Number, with everyone singing along. Really great; and we shook his hand and thanked him before he headed off, presumably to bed… With Jenny, Paul and Harriet.
11/04/23 Bill Bailey (Christchurch Town Hall). Back to see the very funny and clever man again (the fourth time I think) – maybe not as full-on funny as the last time, but still worth going; and, he does a long show. With Chrissie and Nellie, and Ange Beard and John Rawstron; Rachel and Mark there too.
11/08/21 Kevin Bridges (Christchurch Town Hall). Another very funny man, and providing a superb stand-up comedy show. Quite sweary but in a way that was necessary for the jokes to work; plus the Scottish accent always helps of course. The support was an Englishman (Ken …) who lives in Melbourne, he was pretty good too. With Chrissie, Nellie and Nick.
11/17/23 Kristin Hersh (The Piano, Christchurch). Thirty years since I had seen Kristin Hersh live, in London with Throwing Muses, seeing as I (stupidly) missed her last solo gig here about seven years ago. This was a beautiful gig – she walked out in a sleeveless summer dress, tights and sandals, with her guitar (no support act) to rapturous applause and whistling, and smiled; she said “thanks for coming out tonight, in the rain”, and the woman in front of me called out “we love you”, and she replied “I love you too”. The sound was perfect, with her guitar picking that played the tune very clear and precise; but she also achieved a lovely sounding bass, seemingly with her left hand, at the neck (there was only fold-back on stage – no amp or pedals). I didn’t recognise many of the songs but they all felt like familiar friends, and they were all great. Her singing was mostly quite soft, mellow, but not all the time. And she was funny, telling cool little stories between songs – about cockroaches, goldfish, New Orleans… She closed the first set with the goldfish (called Freddy Mercury) song from the last Throwing Muses album “Sun Racket”, and Your Ghost, which was lovely to hear. Started the second set with the instrumental opening of The Key (from Your Ghost EP) but it blended into a different song; I loved hearing Miss Haha, a recent single, but that was all I knew in the second set. She gave us a reading “about death”, a couple of pages from her last book, great. She returned for an encore of one song, I think from her “Learn How to Sing Like a Star” album, and then she was gone with a friendly wave, and loud shouting and clapping from us. Loved it, so glad I went. Sat with Nic and Gary O’Neill, and spoke with Tim Baird afterwards.
11/26/23 Mermaidens with support T.G. Shand (Space Academy, Christchurch). T.G. Shand are described as shoegaze/dream pop, and that would be accurate – the music was really good, and the band were five people; Jenny and Paul had already heard some of their songs; they did suffer a little from the ‘support act sound’, otherwise they could have been better with a more full sound – and thinking ahead to Mermaidens, I felt if the singer could sing stronger like Gussie and Lily, then they could be awesome. Mermaidens had the full sound alright: solid drumming from Abe, throbbing bass most of the time from Lily, and Gussie gets all kinds of sounds from her guitar through their songs – from poppy and chiming through to full-fuzz and Earth Tongue heavy. They played for about an hour, with material from across all albums, including Under the Mountain (they usually play that), and a lot from their cool new one – which was available to buy, and I would have loved to buy the vinyl but settled for the CD in a cardboard sleeve to save some $$. There was some nice wee banter going on, from all three of them; and almost no crowd talking at all between songs – Gussie said “you’re so respectful, all 120 of you”; she talked about them playing “I Like to be Alone” from the new album for a fan’s 5yo daughter who loves it. Another great gig from them, they really do have their own sound. With Jenny and Paul, and Jenny’s son Adam, Tim was there, and had a chat with Adela (ex-Pask) afterwards.
12/08/23 Cloudboy (The Loons, Lyttelton). From UTR: Cloudboy’s touring band is comprised of Demarnia Lloyd (vocals), Craig Monk (violin, guitar, synth), Johannes Contag (guitar, flute, bass), original drummer Heath Te Au, backing tracks and John White (violin, backing vocals); live visuals created by Ōtautahi Christchurch-based photographer/film-maker Stuart Lloyd-Harris. I don’t think John White was there, as there was only one person on violin; sound was by Stephen Kilroy. It was an interesting gig … seats in the Loons, never seen that before – I think the gig was lacking something it would have had if the audience could move around. But the music was cool: I thought I would quickly get sick of the way she sings but the vocals ended up being like another instrument and were even overwhelmed a bit by the synth-bass, live guitars, percussion and various sound effects. As a live experience I think the music worked even better than the record – the two guitar players would swap their instruments for flute and violin, but Craig Monk’s guitar work was very cool, in a stabby funky blues way; and the live drumming sounded really great. A different movie played on a backdrop for each song - they were ‘arty’ but generally quite cool; however, the sheet was a bit small and looked a bit ‘thrown up’ without much care, some wrinkles... minor complaints. Definitely glad I went along – the gig was a bit longer than an hour.
01/31/24 Mick Harvey & Amanda Acevedo, with Anita Clarke (Wunderbar, Lyttelton). I was looking forward to this gig, especially after the last one Mick Harvey gave us in Christchurch – although I knew this would be different to that. And it was (he had a full, and amazing, band that time). After a brief opening set by Motte (Anita Clarke), she joined Mick and Amanda for basically their entire performance – and although Mick said they’d only done a small rehearsal together they all worked together perfectly, Anita’s violin work suited the songs. Mick, looking a bit like a mad professor with his thinning hair in a slightly wild state, played acoustic guitar, while Amanda was dressed in white with long white gloves and looked and sang beautifully; they were a duet – Mick alluded to Nancy and Lee at one stage (but played the comparison down), and they closed the night with a wonderful cover of “Bonnie and Clyde” by Serge Gainsbourg and Brigette Bardot. He played two or three songs without Amanda (but with Anita), otherwise they were all on stage together for the whole show. He has an older, sort-of croaky, nasally singing style, while Amanda, being much younger, has a smooth voice with a Latin-infused deepness, and they mostly alternated (a la Nancy and Lee) with just one song sung at the same time. He spoke a lot, between all songs, and was quite funny, taking the piss out of himself for various things: forgetfulness (guitar effects), needing glasses (but removing them to sing), messing up arrangement of (taped) backing instrumentation, saying they would play a song and ‘see how it goes’… They clearly enjoyed themselves and so did we. They performed a cover of Pat Benetar’s “Love is a Battlefield”, which was really great in their style; also The Saints’ “Photograph” (as a tribute to Chris Bailey), as well as some songs from Mick’s solo albums; the first song, among others, was from the new album by the duo. There was a Cuban song [by Silvio Rodrigues] about a unicorn – Mick said that Amanda will sing it in Spanish and “I’ll annoy her by translating it into English”; and it was a bit annoying, to me – better he didn’t do that at all, or stand back from the mic so that his vocals were more background… Someone called for “Nick the Stripper” and he responded ‘do you really want that?’ (From UTR press release: When Mexican singer and filmmaker Amanda Acevedo and founding member of The Birthday Party and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Mick Harvey met several years ago, they had no idea they would eventually be travelling the world together. Mick was touring with his regular collaborator P.J. Harvey in Mexico City at the time, with the pandemic yet to hit. Fast forward to 2021, with lockdown in full swing, Mick and Amanda began to share creative ideas and musical notions between Australia and Mexico. Acevedo suggested the pair collaborate on an album of duets, and the rest is sweet history. “The first recording we did was amazing,” says Amanda, “our voices matched very well”. Harvey expands, “…little by little it started to feel like something that could be an important project and gradually became the dominant focus for the following 18 months.” Phantasmagoria in Blue is a 14-track album of duets, with Harvey and Acevedo bringing new life to songs which were sourced from existing duets, songs that were never intended as duets, translations from Spanish, songs sung in Spanish, and a sprinkling of original compositions. Following their initial long distance collaborative work, Harvey and Acevedo met up in Los Angeles so they could continue work in person. Harvey explains, “We aimed big, I wanted it to be a big production to match the level of ambition in the whole idea. I think it’s one of the best things I’ve been involved in, for a long time”. Late last year they continued to work in Melbourne, with Harvey finished mixing the album, and coordinating the mastering with local legend Mikey Young, before Acevedo returned to Mexico. Phantasmagoria in Blue is lush and sweeping in its emotional content and full of nourishment for the imagination and the senses, reworking and reinterpreting songs from artists as varied as Tim Buckley, Luis Eduardo Aute, Sibylle Baier, Silvio Rodriguez and Pat Benatar. Says Avecedo, “It was an unlikely connection and a very unlikely situation but it started working and has developed into a good friendship that I’m very grateful for. The album is a testimony to this.”) With Jenny and Paul, Gretchen and Mike, and Mike OC.
02/10/24 Calexico with Ebony Lamb (The Loons, Lyttelton). So happy that the wonderful Calexico included Christchurch on this tour – my memories of seeing them live here a few years ago are some of the best, an amazing live band (as well as the albums). Support Ebony Lamb was a good choice and I enjoyed her set of bluesy folk (she described herself as “a recovering alt-country singer”), some great guitar work from her and another guitarist, with the odd taped effects going on. She had a bit of a shyness about her, but still confident enough to express her feelings about things (e.g. the government), which manifests in her vocal style I guess. Calexico created a huge party feel with their six on stage: core members Joey Burns singing most of the songs and playing guitar, and John Convertino on the drums, very cool; the other musicians were all Latin-looking and brought that style of music beautifully to the songs: there was another young guitarist, who sang the last song (I think) in Spanish and tried to get us to finish the chorus at the end of the song, but it didn’t happen unfortunately; keys and bass player; then two others who played trumpet (one of them sang a couple of the songs in Spanish including Flores y Tamales), but also accordian, percussion and some more guitar – one song featured everyone playing a guitar with the drums. As it was the Feast of Wire tour we got all of that, fantastic, we all loved every second – the crowd went nuts to Guero Canelo, singing along; and when Not Even Stevie Nicks turned into Love Will Tear Us Apart it was magic, a very special treat. Minas de Cobra was awesome, and their cover of Love’s Alone Again Or was superb live. I watched with Jeff Bluett and he was ecstatic, it’s just such happy music (mostly), so good live. Near the end Joey Burns stopped and said “I just want to savour this moment, such a great venue, great sound”, and he is right, The Loons is perfect, in size and with a great sound system – it was a big noise, filling the whole room. I bought a poster, so cool, like the ones you see online for US tours of Calexico, Black Angels, etc, and this one is for this tour (see the posters page). With Jeff and his wife Helen.
From the press release: Having toured tirelessly across Europe and America throughout 2023 in support of the 20th anniversary of their seminal record Feast Of Wire, the band have saved the best ‘til last and are headed our way again at long last. To celebrate this double decade milestone, these shows will feature the album played in its entirety, plus of course a generous handful of fan favourites to finish. Across their illustrious career, the charismatic core pairing of Joey Burns and John Convertino, both formerly of cult act Giant Sand, have earned a fevered following for their unique melting pot of country, cinema noir, desert jazz, TexMex tango, Latin rhythms, and French chansons. Their 1998 album The Black Light and 2000’s Hot Rail saw their star rise, but it was Feast of Wire that completed the trilogy of sorts, and shot them into the musical stratosphere. These three shows, happening this February at Wellington’s beautiful Opera House, Christchurch’s favourite venue Loons, and Auckland’s finest, The Powerstation, are set to be momentous occasions, celebrating an album that has a tight and enduring grip on so many of our music-loving hearts.
02/21/24 Holy Fuck (Space Academy, Christchurch). A short 11 days ago I was seeing Calexico live and loving them – and it’s a long way musically from Calexico to Holy Fuck, but here I was in heaven at another live gig. I had high expectations for something very cool (and loud), and it turned out (within a couple of minutes) to be one of the best things I’ve experienced in years (probably since seeing Moon Duo four years ago). A very funky sound, and with more singing than I was expecting. So much electronic equipment on stage, it must be a nightmare (and very time-consuming!) to set up and break down; but they have a live drummer in Matt Schulz, who is fantastic in basically (to use a cliché) holding the unit together, and so good to watch (Paul said “he’s the perfect drummer”); Brian Borcherdt moves around a lot, very energetic (“a bit ADHD” Paul commented), doing most of the singing while twiddling knobs, pressing keys (sometimes with a kitchen cutlery knife) and playing some guitar – he also had an old film machine which he pulled audio film through to create more sounds (like record scratching, other keyboard player Graham Walsh said to us afterwards); Graham also did some singing while mostly keeping his head down and moving on the spot while playing keys; the fourth member is Matt McQuaid who also had keys at his disposal but mostly played live bass. Paul said they were as good as UNKLE and I totally agreed. I loved every second. And they were very welcoming to us, thanking us for being there (that sentiment was reciprocated by many in the crowd at this small venue), saying they had wanted to come for years; they also thanked local sound man Marcus (“you’re lucky to have him”) who Paul knows of, and he said the kind of sound of this band would be a mess without someone like him on the desk. We were stood near the front and at the left – not usually good for a gig, better to be in the centre, but no, the sound was just great; and the perfect level for enjoyment, no ringing ears the next day at all. At one point Brian produced some shells which he had proudly collected at the beach that day (“I live by a beach too, but it’s not as nice as yours”; Graham also showed a shell; Brian asked Matt the drummer if he had any and he just looked like ‘what?’ and shrugged ‘no’. I spoke with Matt afterwards and he was really nice, expressing gratitude toward everyone who had come along, also saying he had wanted to come for a long time. At one point someone yelled “kia kaha”, and Brian pointed at the speaker and smiled. Support was from a lone (British?) guy who I likened to Squarepusher with bass – lots of clicks, clunks, bangs, whines, moans, squeaks and beats with heavy bass sounds thrown in. Definitely testing of musical taste, and not really me, but okay for a short support slot and worked for this gig. With Jenny and Paul; also there: Marcus Peuntener, Dave Imlay, Tim Baird and Stephen McCarthy.
This is pretty much the same show: live at the Moroccan Lounge, Los Angeles, CA 6/10/22 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEawqsak_Bk
[more to come…]