Awning, Ringlets & Cold Ceiling – Whammy: December 17, 2025 (13th Floor Concert Review)
Three bands, playing on the third day of the week, celebrating their release of three albums (one each) in 2025. A ruse, a play on words, a Xmas gift to their fans perhaps, at $20 a head, a cost of living crisis bargain, on hump day, in a stalwart venue.
A full house, packed, good top see Tamaki Makaurau lively mid-week, many of the usual suspects in attendance, the Gisborne Gold flows. The only question is, in what order will the bands play tonight?
Ringlets/Sterling
Are on first, featuring a new member, drummer, second show with him, he was introduced at their first, in the Whammy Public Bar, I wasn’t there, I’m still in ignorance.
The singer, Leith Towers is wearing shades, in the style of Terminator, his stage prop, it works. The band play a sprite set across material from their two albums, sometimes the guitar noodling stagnates the flow, but when it melds, they sound classic post-punk, the (new) drummer and bassist Arabella Poulsen seems to have it together.
They play the ‘hits’, the crowd love them, there is loyalty in the room. Ringlets are headed to Europe next year, all power to them, Swallow the Rat were just there, and revelled in it, coming back home stronger. My thoughts stray to musing what Ringlets third album might look/sound like.
Awning/Waning
Tonight is the first of three this weekend for Awning, I assumed they were trialing new material, later we find out, in fact their sophomore album is already in the can, saved to the hard drive.
Songs from their first album sound edgy tonight, there’s three guitars, so no unexpected space in song, though singer/songwriter is apt at creating space within song, tension, trough and highs. Songs like The Rabbit, and Moth & Fly kill the room. We get a trio (maybe more) of new songs, perhaps sound a little less embracing, perhaps more abrasive, there’s angst, they promise much for the new album.
Cold Ceiling/Clinic Lodge
The brave, the loyal and the curious remain. I warn a gig-friend that Cold Ceiling will take things up a notch, regale him about seeing them at the Junk Festival in 2024.
Cold Ceiling is sitting in hiatus, or possibly is just toast after tonight. Guitarist/Vocalist Mathew Pogson is Perth based, and perhaps the good-intentions are flawed by the tyranny of distance. Tonight might be a last chance, Pogson is unshaved and in a wife beater black singlet, his guitar slung low.
A gentle start, a sound check melody perhaps, and then the gloves come off. Drummer Riley Noonan (also in Awning) and bassist Christopher Jackson create a driving rhythm and beat that grinds while Pogson creates hardcore-metal on guitar and with growling vocals. There are moments of reflection (The Day), but intensity has always been a hallmark of Cold Ceiling. They play my fanboy favourite, Silvereye. The set seems short, but intense. They will be missed.
Simon Coffey
