Countdown To Ecstasy: The 13th Floor Top 10 Concerts of 2015
Reviewing concerts has become our bread and butter here at The 13th Floor. Personally, I went to over 100 shows ranging from tiny local gigs by the likes of The Cavemen and Holly Arrowsmith up to stadium fillers like Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles. For me, a live show is the ultimate way to experience […]
Sol3 Mio – Villa Maria Winery December 20, 2015
“Three lads from Mangere, you say?” “That’s right.” “Singing opera?” “That’s the one.” “In a vineyard?” “Indeed.” “And you want me to review this for The 13th Floor?” “The very fellow.” We’re nothing if not catholic in our tastes here at The 13th Floor. A brace of tenors and a baritone would, ordinarily, fall outside […]
Check Out These Photos From The Gunslingers Ball: Last Minute Christmas Show, 19 December 2015
13th Floor ace photographer Michael Flynn caught the Gunslingers Ball: Last Minute Christmas show at Auckland’s Wine Cellar last night. The show featured sets from Will Wood, Reb Fountain, Hopetoun Brown and contributions from Dave Khan, Tom Cunliff and Thomas Landon-Lane. Micheal claims the sold-out show had a great atmosphere and the finale was a […]
Jessica Pratt – The Tuning Fork December 17, 2015
San Francisco-based singer-songwriter Jessica Pratt cast her spell over Auckland’s Tuning Fork, just 11 months after she did the same at the Golden Dawn. In the interim she has released a new album and picked up an additional guitarist. Yes, Jessica was spellbinding, but before we get to her, let me just say a […]
Save Our St James: Here’s The Story!
Here’s Dedee with a report on what went down at the recent Save Our St James event: On Friday December 11th 2015, eight months after the St James had reopened its doors, a few hundred of us gathered to watch a stellar line up on a small stage in the foyer. It was called ‘Save […]
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 […]