Laura Marling – The Powerstation
When Laura Marling first performed in Auckland, as part of the January 2012 Laneway Festival, she looked and sounded like a classic English folk singer, dressed in jeans and a red jumper, strumming an acoustic guitar sporting long blonde hair and backed by a band featuring banjo, mandolin and cello. For her first “proper” Auckland […]
Dawes – Tuning Fork: October 22, 2015 (13th Floor Concert Review)
In a different time and a different place Dawes would have been an arena-filling act with their songs saturating FM radio stations alongside the likes of Springsteen, Browne, Young and Clapton. But pop music is a fickle and impatient beast, and here in Auckland in 2015, Dawes are about the best bar band you’re gonna […]
Concert Review: Joan Baez – Aotea Centre, 20 October 2015
Another day, another 74-year old “legacy” artist is in Auckland to perform. This time it’s Joan Baez, who like Neil Diamond, who is also in town, has a wealth of material to draw from. Her performance at the Aotea Centre was a showcase for some of the finest songs ever written.
Neil Diamond – Vector Arena 19 October 2015
It was business as usual for Neil Diamond last night at Auckland’s Vector Arena, and that business is playing hits…lots and lots of them. With fifty years of chartbusters to draw from, Diamond had his fans singing and clapping along for well over two hours.
Jamestown Revival – Tuning Fork October 18, 2015
I was expecting to see a couple of guys with acoustic guitars harmonizing about idyllic life in the mountains…sort of John Denver x 2. Instead Jamestown Revival showed up as a five-piece rockin’ band ready to show off their arsenal of Texas roadhouse tunes and, yes, some fine harmonies. This show is part of the […]
The Fall – The Powerstation (Concert Review)
They say you need to see The Fall at least once before you die. Well, I can tick that one off my bucket list. Was it worth it? Not really. Mark E Smith and his ever-changing crew may have been relevant at some point in their 30 + year career, but for this neophyte, I’m […]
Kiss – Vector Arena October 16, 2015
My how times change. Back in the mid-70s, when Kiss first emerged out of the rapidly-deteriorating New York City landscape, they represented, to certain factions, all that endangered good, upstanding family values. Now, 40 years later, that same band provides a night’s entertainment for not only rebellious teenagers, but mothers, fathers, toddlers and grandparents…its fun […]
Avalanche City – Mercury Theatre (Concert Review)
The billing of last night’s Avalanche City show wasn’t entirely fair. My ticket said “Avalanche City with Benny Tipene,” but asThe 13th Floor arrived at Auckland’s Mercury Theatre — the show had originally been booked for one of the Town Hall’s smaller chambers, but ticket sales had impressed the promoters so much that they moved […]
Russell Brand – Vector Arena (Review)
What Russell Brand would have you believe tonight’s show was about, and what it was actually about, are two very different things. Brand came onstage, a good half-hour later than scheduled, following a montage of aren’t-you-shocked photos of homeless people and Abu Ghraib prisoners and street protests and clips of Brand himself being interviewed on […]
Skyscraper Stan – Tuning Fork October 10, 2015 (Concert Review)
Last time I saw Skyscraper Stan he was opening up for — and utterly outclassing, in the process — Holly Arroswmith. That night, also at the Tuning Fork, about a month ago, Stan shared the stage with just Oskar Herbig, his cousin and guitar player. Last night he was back with his band the Commission […]
SJD & Shayne P Carter – Mercury Theatre (Concert Review)
Beware all ye who enter here. Up these sweeping steps and between the crumbling pillars of the once-grand Mercury Theatre, a beautiful haze of existential angst awaits. Shayne Carter is preparing to unleash his one man blues explosion, and a string quartet is about to usher SJD’s latest album, Saint John Divine, up into the […]
Kurt Vile & The Violators – Webster Hall (Concert Review)
With his new, and arguably best, album, B’lieve I’m Goin’ Down, fresh out of the oven, Kurt Vile is touring the US with his band, The Violators. The 13th Floor’sMarty Duda caught the second of their two-night sold-out stand at New York City’s Webster Hall. Webster Hall is a somewhat historic New York venue, having […]
Toxic Holocaust, Wednesday 7th October
So a few years ago it was announced that Toxic Holocaust would be hitting our shores, to great excitement. Then it was postponed. Then it just sorta dropped of the timetable, being indefinitely put on hold, then it was cancelled. People were pretty pissed, not just because they were hugely disappointed but because of the […]
Delaney Davidson, Tami Neilson, Barry Saunders & Marlon Williams – Holy Trinity Cathedral (Concert Review)
Take salty sea dog Barry Saunders, pocket rocket Tami Neilson, wounded tom cat Delaney Davidson and mama’s sweetheart Marlon Williams, put them in a gothic cathedral chancel in front of a rose window, and pray. Over the next couple of hours you’ll meet the devil himself, hear the voices of angels and perhaps even bear […]
The Situations & The Transistors – Golden Dawn (Concert Review)
As Golden Dawn sheds it golden hue on the evening it’s clear that there’s great comradery between the bands on tonight’s bill. That spirit is carried through the evening as The Situations, The Transistors and The Low Fidelity play the third of the their four gig NZ tour supporting the release of The Situations’ new […]
The Phoenix Foundation – Powerstation (Concert Review)
An album-release show —and, let’s face it, that’s what the Phoenix Foundation played at Auckland’s Powerstation last night — is not the moment to win new converts. And, to be fair, much of the Phoenix Foundation’s music takes repeated listens, ideally over headphones in a darkened room in a questionably-enhanced frame of mind; it’s not the […]
Darlene Love – Clermont Performing Arts Center (Concert Review)
Vocalist on hundreds of classic sessions including lead turns with The Crystals, Darlene Love proves, at age 74, that she’s still got what it takes, belting out her old hits and featuring new tunes written by the likes of Costello, Springsteen and Webb. Despite the somewhat ironic title of her new, Steven Van Zandt-produced album, […]
Tami Neilson – The Tuning Fork
Silver Scroll winner Tami Neilson bursts onto stage in a sparkling gold wiggle dress, her hair piled in a high beehive and her rhinestone earrings gleaming under the coloured lights. She stands in front of four male musicians, each dressed in their best suits as though auditioning to be her prom date. They are gathered […]
Luna – The Tuning Fork September 19, 2015 (Concert Review)
Luna finally made it to Auckland for their first-ever NZ show. The reunited 1990’s dream-poppers are led by New Zealand native Dean Wareham, and on this night also featured original bass player Justin Harwood who resides in Piha. Fazerdaze The crowd arrived early to The Tuning Fork on this Saturday night. Maybe it was to […]
Eb & Sparrow – The Wine Cellar (Concert Review)
It’s a dark and stormy night, and the line of people queuing for tickets winds right through the labyrinth that is the Wine Cellar. Inside, Port Chalmers resident and APRA Silver Scroll nominee Nadia Reid, transports the crowd with her hypnotic folk songs. The last song, the newest, is also the muscliest. In it, she […]