Concert Review: Whammyfest 2019, Night Two – Whammy Bar, October 26, 2019

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Serving up 27 spine-tingling performances across two nights, the second night of Whammyfest 2019 saw the remaining artists deliver another unforgettable evening of dark musical magic and mischief over six-plus hours.

And we’re back! After an incredible first night at Auckland’s Whammy Bar, I was wondering how round two of Whammyfest 2019 could compete with the ghoulishly gnarly collection of musicians we witnessed the night before – yet these doubts were laid to rest almost instantly, along with my now-deceased eardrums.

Grown Downz

Kicking off to another small gathering of eager fans – although noticeably larger than the first night – 2-piece rock-’n’-roll-punk siblings, Joel and Ellie Burgin of Grown Downz, exploded onto the Circle Room stage with clean, sharp guitar and devastatingly gorgeous drums. The previous evening, there was a slight worry that vocals would be lost under a sea of instrumental angst, but this duo immediately showed that vocal clarity was possible even when competing with their high-energy punk-rock riffs. Simple in construction but damn catchy in execution, Grown Downz made me feel seventeen again, performing each song with a fearless level of energy that reminded me of watching Dead Beat Boys earlier this year.

Consistently brilliant and dialling up the energy of their set with each consecutive number, you’d be amazed this was just two musicians on stage. The duo performed a dazzling Stooges tribute before addressing the small audience – ‘I think we’ve got time for one more?’ Joel asked the crowd, which was hastily met with a screaming ‘YES!’ – and delivering a jaw-dropping closer filled with screeching guitar solos.

Old Loaves

‘What a way to start the night,’ a crowd member yelled, as Old Loaves took to the Main Stage behind them, unaware they were only a few seconds away from having their skulls shattered by this heavy-hitting metal trio.

Old Loaves fed the crowd a brief appetiser of wild distortion before unleashing a devastating set of crushing bass, thunderous drums, and deep, heavy guitar riffs. As my skeleton was blasted through the back of my body and into some dark, musical void, I couldn’t help but stand in awe at the sheer power this group was displaying – guttural, growling vocals underpinned by beautifully controlled drumming led into slow, moody guitar and one ferocious riff after the other. Closing with Half-Ounce, the group brought a slightly spookier sound that bled across its measured drum beats and tearing guitar into a heavy, fitting finish. You cannot afford to miss this group if you’re a fan of hard-hitting stoner metal.

Dateline

Back to the Circle Room, the fully costumed collective of Dateline captivated me with their perfectly harmonised vocals and dreamy tunes. This group was instantly catchy even before the stellar drum beats kicked in and, when they did, all I wanted to do was groove and dance to every ultra-infectious number they performed. The group showed a delicate balance of volume and pace in their sound that demonstrated how to perfectly deliver a slower, softer set – with their dry-humour comments to the crowd between songs showing a lovely level of playfulness. Such a Bitch invoked the image of a 1950s prom night, with its sweetheart guitar riffs and ‘OoohOooh’ backing vocals perfectly executed. Closing with a slow, groovy number that built to a heavy finish, the band thanked the audience before bassist, Hariet Ellis, danced across the room and onto the Main Stage to perform again as part of Na Noise.

Na Noise

Na Noise are Yolanda Fagan and Hariet Ellis, and brought a beautifully vintage, fuzzy rock sound to each of their songs over a wonderfully surprising and simple drum-machine backing beat. Gorgeous melodies layered themselves into spooky surf rock, with haunting vocals and bendy bass vibrato matching up with brilliant organ-like keys. This set felt like the dark love-child of The Doors, The Black Keys, The Velvet Underground and Sigur Ros, all driven forward by Fagan’s husky gremlin vocals and the gorgeous, rhythmic bass of Ellis.

Lucy Hunter

Na Noise were followed by Lucy Hunter on the Circle Room stage – a dark gothic masterpiece of grim piano and haunting vocals. I couldn’t quite put my finger on who she reminded me of at first, before her ethereal vocals and crashing chord progressions revealed a mirror image of Dresden Dolls’ Amanda Palmer. Hunter’s set was a break in the energy but seemed perfectly fitting in the moment, not muting the energy instilled in the crowd by previous bands but redirecting it to a darker, gorgeously gothic place.

Ben Woods

Following Lucy Hunter was Ben Woods – an artist so immediately and consistently captivating that I sought him out after his set to ensure we got a setlist – who appeared on stage with a Manhunter-esque stocking over his face and instantly drew me in with his stunning voice during the solo WHITE LEATHER AGAIN. Slow, melancholy vocals and wild guitar bends led into slow-building drums and sharp wah-wah guitar riffs across MARCHY and LOZENGE, before Woods jokingly mentioned between songs that wearing a stocking on his head wasn’t a fabulous idea. The two highlights of the set were WEARING DIVINE – featuring a duet with Lucy Hunter – and the outer space-distortion of CURSE/PARADE – this felt like the closing minute of Daft Punk’s Contact, and cemented Woods in my mind as an artist with immense current and future potential.

Oscar Dowling

The only downside of seeing Woods play was the worry that the other artists may pale in comparison – so imagine my absolute joy when Oscar Dowling performed on the Circle Room stage and tore my heart in half with his incredible voice and acoustic guitar performance. Dowling has a voice you would sell your soul for, and the closest comparison I can make in our local scene is the heavenly range of Ben Morley from Mice on Stilts.

Every song, every word from this musician’s mouth was almost unnaturally beautiful – I could list off Thom York, Damien Rice, Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith and more, but please, please see Dowling as soon as you get the chance. His voice is a gift from another world. I so rarely feel inclined to personally promote a musician I’m reviewing, but holy damn – you’ve just got to see this guy live, he is a musical and lyrical masterpiece and deserves everything coming his way.

Closing out the night on the Main Stage and Circle Stage were Echo Ohs and Exit Fear – the former showing their consistently refined sound and clarity in performance, and the latter hitting a new high in vocal endurance.

Echo Ohs

Echo Ohs are just getting better and better every time I see them – foot-tapping bass and irresistibly psychedelic riffs filling every second of their set. Dog Bone had the joyful crowd happily grooving in unison, before the mariachi guitar of The Crawl drove the energy into the ceiling with brilliant backing drums. Echo Ohs were so much fun to watch, and were clearly loving their time on stage as always. Joined mid-set by Hariet Ellis – ‘You might have seen her in the last six bands,’ bassist Yolanda Fagan noted – the group finished with the groovy slow beat of Wild Weeds and the howling, distorted guitar of Bruiser. Immense praise to Fagan and Ellis for their commitment throughout Whammyfest 2019 – simply covering the two-night event left me physically rinsed, however you never saw a moment of muted energy from these two in any of their many individual and joint sets.

Exit Fear

Just when I thought my body would collapse from exhaustion, Exit Fear arrived on the Circle Room stage to slap some energy into me with a remarkable set of pure and absolute nightmare noise. Loud, ferocious, and stunning screams competed with the smashing drums and soul-tearing guitar of every song – this was by far the most musically violent performance of the event, and was simply beautiful to witness. What a way to close out the main room of Whammy, and the small crowd that remained were expressively grateful for the immense vocal endurance on display.

Absolutely shattered from the two-night event, I wearily shuffled my zombified body back home, unfortunately too braindead to catch the Backroom performances of Holly Afoa, Keith, Leo CW, Community Garden, and DJ (Pro)Vibe. Holy heck though, Whammy Bar, did you put on one hell of an event. Massive respect to the bar staff and sound technicians for delivering a weekend of mind-melting musical talent, and you’ll be damn sure I’m going to be there next year – dead or alive.

~Oxford Lamoureaux

Click the gallery to see full size images from each artist. Photography by Todd Buchanan.

Ben Woods

Dateline

Echo Ohs

Exit Fear

Grown Downz

Keith

Lucy Hunter

Na Noise

Old Loaves

Oscar Dowling

Ben Woods Setlist
WHITE LEATHER AGAIN (Solo with Drums)
MARCHY
LOZENGE
PIRATE
WEARING DIVINE (With Lucy Hunter)
ROMANCY
CURSE / PARADE

Oxford Lamoureaux
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