Father John Misty – St James Theatre December 3, 2015
When Josh Tillman last performed in Auckland, he was keeping the beat for Fleet Foxes at the Town Hall. But that was almost four years ago. Since then, he has come out from behind the drum kit and taken on the alter-ego of Father John Misty, a complex songwriter and an explosive performer. Those […]
Muzai Annual – Whammy! & Wine Cellar November 28, 2015
Auckland-based indie label Muzai Records took over Whammy! and The Wine Cellar this Saturday night. Bands like Climate Change, God Bows To Math and Girls Pissing On Girls Pissing alternated between the two venues beginning at about 9pm and stretching into the wee hours. The All Seeing Hand made a particularly glorious racket in the […]
Ash Grunwald – Back Beat Bar (Concert Review)
When you’re a blues singer you pretty much have two options when you start a song, either, “woke up this mornin’” or, “well, well, well”. Australian blues man Ash Grunwald opted for the latter as he began his set at Auckland’s Back Beat Bar. The attending crowd was small, but they were treated to a […]
Chris Cornell – ASB Theatre November 26, 2015
Chris Cornell opened a three-day, sold-out stand at Auckland’s ASB Theatre with a stunning 27-song set that found him picking out gems from not only his solo catalogue, but from his days with Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple Of The Dog, plus a handful of well-chosen covers. This was my first time seeing Chris Cornell as […]
Moon Duo – Whammy! November 26, 2015
An auspicious night to witness the San Francisco based psychedelic space-rock outfit Moon Duo, for t’was a full moon as I made my way along a hot and humid K Road to subterranean Whammy Bar. Wooden Shjips guitarist Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada comprise the official line-up, with Johnson’s wailing guitar lines swirling around Yamada’s […]
Tina Turntables’ Fleetwood Mac Concert Review: Mt Smart Stadium November 21, 2015
Weather-wise, it could have been worse. An hour after Mt Smart Stadium emptied, the Auckland skies were crackling with thunder and lightning and the rain was coming down in buckets. So, while it was wet and windy during Fleetwood Mac’s Saturday night show, it was certainly tolerable. Still it’s a tribute to the band and […]
Fleetwood Mac – Mt Smart Stadium November 21, 2015
Weather-wise, it could have been worse. An hour after Mt Smart Stadium emptied, the Auckland skies were crackling with thunder and lightning and the rain was coming down in buckets. So, while it was wet and windy during Fleetwood Mac’s Saturday night show, it was certainly tolerable. Still it’s a tribute to the band and […]
Florence + The Machine – Vector Arena November 21, 2015
A rebellious Florence Welch and her machine raised up the roof for their final night of their How Big world tour. While others endured the rain for Fleetwood Mac it was hotter than hell in Vector Arena, with Florence encouraging the crowd to strip off layers for an epic rendition of Dog Days Are Over. […]
The Ruts DC – Kings Arms November 21, 2015
The Ruts (aka Ruts DC – which I shall henceforth refer to them as due to it being on their stage banner tonight..) are a band harking from a time and place more openly confrontational than this era, namely, late seventies and early eighties London, UK. (Specifically, 1977-1983) As were many of the punk bands […]
French For Rabbits – The Tuning Fork November 20, 2015
Better known overseas than in their native New Zealand, Wellington’s French For Rabbits kicked off their NZ tour with a small, but perfectly-formed set of dream-pop gems at Auckland’s Tuning Fork. French For Rabbits is the vehicle for singer/songwriter Brooke Singer, who has just returned from a solo tour of Europe and is back […]
Lisa Crawley – Tuning Fork November 13, 2015
It may have been Friday the 13th, but it was a lucky night for Auckland music fans as Lisa Crawley brought her Up In The Air EP release tour to town. This would be the first show on the tour to feature Lisa with the backing of her three-piece band, including bass player Cass […]
The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Powerstation November 10, 2015
Anyone who has seen the 2004 documentary Dig! knows that anything can happen at a Brian Jonestown Massacre show. Fortunately there were no intra-band fisticuffs or altercations with the audience. But there was a fair bit of drama as the band seemed to wrestle with their sound gear early on causing them to stop […]
Mumford & Sons – Vector Arena November 10, 2015
When did Mumford & Suns turn into The Killers? My date for the evening made the comparison after the formerly folky band rocked Vector with electric guitars turned up to 11. Marcus Mumford and ‘sons’ – Ben Lovett, Winston Marshall and Ted Dwane – ditched their signature acoustic banjo-sound on Wilder Minds, and plugged in […]
10cc – Aotea Centre November 10, 2015
In the early 1970s, as they managed their transition from anonymous churners-out of slick but disposable pop and into a coherent band in their own right, 10cc produced some of the most intelligent, engaging music of the decade. Their pigeonhole-unfriendly music, encompassing straight ahead rockers like Art For Art’s Sake, typically written by Eric Stewart […]
Burt Bacharach – Vector Arena November 7, 2015
I was born too late to see Irving Berlin or Cole Porter or Duke Ellington or George Gershwin perform their own songs, but last night I was fortunate enough to witness another of the great American composers play and sing his own songs. And if you don’t believe Burt Bacharach’s name belongs alongside those […]
Sunken Seas – Wine Cellar November 6, 2015
Timing is everything. Fortunately Courtney Barnett’s show at the St James ended with just enough time to make it up Queen Street to catch Sunken Seas at the Wine Cellar. The two acts made for a thrilling double bill on this Friday night in Auckland. Sunken Seas started out from Wellington, but front man […]
Courtney Barnett – St James Theatre November 6, 2015
There were two reasons to get excited about last night’s Courtney Barnett show. Of course, there’s Barnett’s own brand of literate rock and roll…but for many, it was also returning to Auckland’s St James Theatre, a venue that holds a lot of memories for a lot of music fans. For myself, a quite a […]
Hozier – Vector Arena November 5, 2015
The Irish musical phenomenon known as Hozier rolled into town to play one sold-out show at the Vector Arena. It’s been little over a year since Andrew Hozier-Byrne released his debut album, but already he is able to draw huge crowd thanks to the success of his hit, Take Me To Church. The question […]
“Robbie Williams – Vector Arena November 3, 2015”
This is Robbie Williams’ “Let Me Entertain You” tour. And after sitting (and standing) through his nearly two hour show at Auckland’s Vector Arena, no matter what you think of his music or his persona, one thing is certain, the man delivered on his promise. I would venture to say that every one of the […]
The Broken Heartbreakers – Tuning Fork October 31, 2015
The Broken Heartbreakers played a warm, heartfelt set of tuneful songs, spaciously presented with subtlety and skill. The lush harmonies of Rachel Bailey and John Guy Howell were impressive, and the guitar work of the pair also very tasteful and melodic. This band has been together since 2002, and I saw them in a late […]