Soundgarden At Westfest Photos
Here’s another batch of Westfest photos from 13th Floor photographer David Watson. This time around its stunning shots of Soundgarden’s headlining set. Click here to view the Soundgarden photo gallery. Save
The Pop Group – The Kings Arms
Post-punk pioneers The Pop Group finally made their way to New Zealand almost 40 years after forming in Bristol. The band proved that their abrasive, confrontational and political brand of punk is as vital today as it was back in the days of Margaret Thatcher’s England. With the strains of Doctor Zhivago’s Lara’s Theme floating […]
Neneh Cherry and Rocketnumbernine – SpiegelTent, Auckland Arts Festival – 4 March 2015
Here I am queueing outside the venue, so polite for a rock n roll gig. Shout out to the guy behind me who knew Neneh Cherry did an album called Raw Like Sushi, and had a song he loved called Seven Degrees. (ah, Seven Seconds, but sure, bro). Once inside, the room is being pumped […]
Check Out These Judas Priest Concert Photos – 4 March 2015
13th Floor photographer David Watson was on the scene at Tuesday’s Westfest show and collected some excellent images with his trusty camera. Click on any image to view the photo gallery.
More Westfest – Mt Smart Stadium – 4 March 2015
Tuesday afternoon is an odd time for a rock festival. Judas Priest’s closing number — I only caught the end of it; I had to work all day — might have better been titled Rockin’ Before Teatime. Theirs is not music that wants to be performed in daylight. As soon as Judas Priest left the […]
Judas Priest, Faith No More & Soundgarden – Westfest 2015 – Mt Smart Stadium 3 March 2017
It seemed a little surreal…watching the leather-clad Judas Priest in the late afternoon sun as they banged out metal classics like Breaking The Law and Living After Midnight. Later the nearly-full moon (out) shined during Soundgarden’s closing set. But overall Westfest 2015 came across as well-organized, well-behaved and LOUD. I arrived at Mt Smart shortly […]
Conor Oberst & The Felice Brothers – The Powerstation
This was one show you didn’t want to be late for. Openers The Felice Brothers alone were worth the trip to the Powerstation and when it was revealed that they would also serve as Conor Oberst’s backing band, well, that sealed the deal, making this one very special night, indeed. Having said that, I was […]
J Mascis – The Studio
You could have been forgiven, were you not a fan of J Mascis, had you not noticed that he had taken the stage at The Studio last night. As a guitar tech finished off a few final adjustments on a cutaway Gibson acoustic, the house lights still up, a man in jeans and a black, […]
Shakey Graves – Tuning Fork
Preconceptions can throw you off. I expected the audience at Shakey Graves’ Tuning Fork show to be older and more laid back. Instead the sold-out crowd seemed to be mostly in their 20s and ready to party. I also expected the music made by the Austin, Texas-based musician to be a mix of country and […]
Peter Hook And The Light – The Studio, 27 February 2015
Before the Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses, long before Oasis, Peter Hook was a mainstay of the Manchester music scene, playing bass first in Joy Division and then, following the death of Ian Curtis, New Order. But New Order are infrequent performers of late, and its members, increasingly, are solo artists. Bernard Sumner, the […]
Finns at the Zoo – Auckland Zoo 27 February 2015
What do you call seven Finns in a rotunda – a flock, a festoon, a filth or a frolic? This is the question posed by New Zealand’s first family of pop as they wrap up a set of magical songs at Auckland Zoo. Crowds arrive with picnic baskets and beach-chairs and stroll through the zoo, […]
Atmosphere and more, news Friday 27th Feb
It’s a Friday and good news abounds; firstly, Napalm Death and Carcass have announced a second Valhalla show, and I am pretty fucking jealous, so if you missed out on the first sold out show don’t be a fool a second time and get your damn tickets asap!
Go Mental With The Pop Group (Interview)
Hailing from Bristol, The Pop Group had a brief, but important musical career, forming in 1977, at the height of the punk movement and splitting up just three years later. During that time the band released two albums and became one of the pioneering post-punk band by incorporating dub, reggae, funk and Krautrock into their […]
Purity Ring’s Next Adventure (Interview)
Canadian electro-pop duo Purity Ring are about to release their second album, Another Eternity, this week. Hailing from Edmonton, Megan Jones (vocals) and Corin Riddick (instruments) began working together as Purity Ring in 2011 and were snapped up by 4AD records a year later. Their first album, 2012’s Shrines, produced five singles. Now, the twosome […]
The New Sounds Of Kitty, Daisy & Lewis (Interview)
Kitty, Daisy & Lewis have returned with their new album, appropriately titled, The Third. It’s been nearly four years since they released their previous album, Smoking In Heaven. In the interim, the three siblings have been busy touring, writing and building a new studio. The tracks found on The Third are the first results from […]
Foo Fighters – Mt Smart Stadium 21 February 2015
We review the Foo Fighters at Mt Smart Stadium 3 February 2018 here. Well, they finally made it. A day after their aborted Town Hall benefit show, Dave Grohl led his Foo Fighters through a two hour and 45 minute set at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium in front of tens of thousands of happy fans. […]
Perfume Genius – The Kings Arms 20 February 2015
Who looks like Doogie Howser, sings like Patti Smith, croons like Chris Martin and tore up the stage like an avant-garde hurricane at the Kings Arms last night? Seattle musician Mike Hadreas, AKA Perfume Genius, that’s who – and next time he comes to Auckland he’s sure to be playing on a bigger stage. The […]
Marlon Williams -The Tuning Fork, 20 February 2015
Marlon Williams seems to have made Auckland’s Tuning Fork his second home. Now based in Melbourne, the Kiwi crooner filled the intimate venue just eight months after his previous headlining show. Last time Marlon was at The Tuning Fork he was aided and abetted by Aldous Harding and Australian songstress Melody Pool. This time around […]
Faith No More Grows Up: Interview
Faith No More is back! The band is set to release their first album since they split up in 1998. And…they will be in New Zealand in March appearing on the Westfest bill along with Judas Priest and Soundgarden. The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda spoke with Faith No More keyboard player Roddy Bottum about Sol […]
The Axeman Cometh; Metal News 19th Feb
Recent controversy surrounds NZ’s longest running metal radio show ‘The Axe Attack’; it seems the powers that be have axed it from the Sunday slot. The website has been de-registered, which brings a bit of doubt to the story the Rock is just doing up the offices, as does the Paul Martins statement ‘I would […]