AC/DC – Western Springs Stadium December 15, 2015
The last time I saw AC/DC it was 1978. They were playing in upstate New York, opening for Blue Oyster Cult, on their journey to the long way to the top. 37 years later, and a lot has changed both within and outside the band, but one thing remains constant, Angus Young’s connection to […]
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – St James Theatre 12 December 2015
Ruban Nielson and his bandmates took their fans on a fanciful musical journey that took quite a few unexpected detours as Unknown Mortal Orchestra played to a sold-out crowd at Auckland’s St James Theatre. There was a good energy in the old St James tonight, perhaps left over from the previous evening’s Save The St […]
Mono – Kings Arms December 10, 2015
The music did the talking last night at the Kings Arms as Mono played a blinding set proving that you don’t need a vocalist to tell a story when it comes to music. Before the Japanese quartet took the stage, a couple of Auckland’s finest got things started. Unfortunately I missed Greenfog’s set, but arrived […]
Ratatat – The Studio December 10, 2015
Ratatat – onomatopoeic moniker for a duo of rock-tronica musicians from Brooklyn NYC – is in my view an apt emblem for their beat-powered brand of instrumental neo-prog-experimental-rock. Ratatat started from humble beginnings, two guys – Evan Mast and Mike Stroud – started making music in their Brooklyn apartment just after the turn of the […]
Check Out These Concert Photos of Gin Wigmore & Tami Neilson
Gig Wigmore performed last night at the Auckland Town Hall, ably supported by Tami Neilson. 13th Floor photographer David Watson was on the scene and captured these shots. Click on any image to view a photo gallery by David Watson:
Lucinda Williams – Vector Arena December 4, 2015
With a new album in the can, and a back catalogue of songs that is second to none, Lucinda Williams performed a stunning set at a pared-down version of the Vector Arena, leaving fans beaming. I’ve seen Lucinda Williams a number of times over the past twenty years and her shows always seem to […]
In Defence – Whammy! (Concert Review)
Walking down Krd on a Thursday night is like walking through the worst of the 90s, bad clothes, bad facial hair and push bikes everywhere, I finally get to the blissful dank of Whammy bar. It’s pretty empty, as to be expected with a Thursday in Auckland, but disappointing all the same. By nine there’s […]
Thurston Moore – Tuning Fork December 3, 2015
In 2005, Rolling Stone rated Thurston Moore the 34th greatest guitarist of all time. The man’s musical CV ranges from Sonic Youth to, occasionally, REM. He’s clearly a very talented and highly accomplished musician. All of which simply makes the unremitting dreadfulness of last night’s show at Auckland’s Tuning Fork all the harder to bear. […]
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 […]