L7 – The Powerstation: December 6, 2023

L7 returned to Auckland’s Powerstation after having first (and last) performed there in 1992. The 13th Floor’s Simon Coffey and Brenna Jo Gotje were on the scene:

L7 formed in 1985 in Los Angeles, associated with grunge, but in reality, they are a synthesis of art punk, hardcore and metal, released a steady stream of albums including at least three fabulous ones, split up, or hiatus as they called it in 2001, reformed in 2014, released their latest album Scatter The Rats in 2019 and finally made it back to Aotearoa as part of the 30th-anniversary release of their third album, Bricks Are Heavy started in 2022.

L7’s lineup for tonight’s show is the classic: Donita Sparks, Suzi Gardner, Jennifer Finch and Demetra Plakas, a lineup that gave us the three fabulous albums (Smell the Magic (1990), Bricks Are Heavy (1992) and Hungry for Stink (1994) that reflected their anarchic attitudes, gender stereotype challenging values and narratives about being GenX in corporate America.

The Dawns

The Dawns are a Tamaki Makauarau band of school friends, Mila (Vocals and Guitar), Elliott (Drums), Georgia (Lead Guitar) and Imogen (Bass) They started off playing covers like The Cure‘s Just Like Heaven and became an overseas internet and sensation, evolving over the last few years into writing their own material, and have released three songs (in three years) on Spotify.

Onstage for about 25 minutes, their sound was formulaic, MOR, their punkish roots long lost as their repetitively structured songs filled the room. Their description of themselves on the instagram account as 4 girls who make music occasionally portrays their lack of growth post-school band growth. The grossly undeveloped vocals, textbook lead guitar and jazz bass held them back, however, the shining star in the band was the drummer, a cut above the rest. Many in the crowd were appreciative, the generosity of kiwis knows no bounds, but perhaps a young band like Buzz or Late To Chelsea who are doing the hard yard, would’ve been more deserving of the opening spot. 

L7

An intro of early 90s classic songs teasing the audience from rap to metal heralded Tamaki Makaurau heralded the return of the band after 30 years as the fox-force-four took up the stage positions, Donita Sparks started the show with ‘Auckland we’ve missed you!’ and L7 thrashed their way through the first three songs off Bricks Are Heavy, with the crowd being quickly rewarded with Pretend Were Dead.

Staying true to the album’s original order. Diet Pill is intro’d by Donita as a song about domestic abuse, quickly followed by Everglade on which the vocal duties are taken up by bassist Jennifer Finch whose radioactive red hair radiates as her powerhouse vocals feature, and then it swings over to Suzanne Gardner who takes control for Slide, this sharing of vocals adds excitement to the night

30 years on from their last visit to Aotearoa (they couldn’t get here from Australia in 2016), it’s evident that L7 still have that magical aura of the past, the intervening years haven’t seen them lose any of their vibrance and passion. All three vocalists are still able to punch out the lyrics, as they attack their guitars with semiotic skills, their riffs just as heavy as in the 1990s. Demetra Plakas on drums is solid, creating an anchor for the upfront three, at times a trigger, always a spark that ignites many of the songs.

A highlight song sounding huge is One More Thing, whilst on Shitlist, Donita Spark’s vocals are rivalled by the crowd’s sing-a-long efforts, and as This Ain’t Pleasure, the last song on Bricks Are Heavy come to an end, ‘Now, says Jennifer Finch, that is what an album sounds like children.’

The night’s pantomime continues as part two of the show begins, the bonus hits CD starts with Andre and Fuel My Fire from 1994’s Hungry for Stink, sounding fresh and alive, showing how slick a unit L7 are after nine years of reformation. A reformation that saw an album of new material released in 2019 Scatter the Rats. L7 performed two from it; Stadium West and Fighting the Crave which sounds mightily contemporary, both are very danceable groovy songs illustrating that as musicians L7 haven’t been sitting on their laurels creatively.

Shove takes the crowd back to moshpit halcyon days, while 2017’s Dispatch From Mar-a-Lago, a dig a Trump brings the show to an end, but not quite, as American Society and Fast and Frightening are delivered as encores, to truly bring our night with L7 to an end.

Simon Coffey

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Brenna Jo Gotje:

L7:

The Dawns:

L7 Setlist:

Set #1

Wargasm

Scrap

Pretend We’re Dead

Diet Pill

Everglade

Slide

One More Thing

Mr. Integrity

Monster

Shitlist

This Ain’t Pleasure

Set #2

Andres

Fuel My Fire

Stadium West

Non-Existent Patricia

Fighting the Crave

Human

Bad Thing

Shove

Dispatch From Mar-a-Lago

Encore:

American Society

Fast and Frightening

Click here to read The 13th Floor interview with L7’s Donita Sparks.