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 […]
Son Little Winners!
Congratulations to Tim Hickey, Peter Harwood and M Goldfinch…our three winners of the new album by Son Little. They were the first three to correctly answer with Son Little’s given name: Aaron Livingston. Son Little’s debut album is now available on Anti- Records.
Mi-Sex: A Second Chance To Rock & Roll (interview)
Pioneering New Zealand synth-rockers Mi-Sex will be teaming up with Dragon and The Angels for a “Clash Of The Titans” tour in February of 2016. The three bands will play 7 dates throughout New Zealand playing hits like Computer Games, April Sun In Cuba and No Secrets. The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda spoke to Mi-Sex […]
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 […]
Watch Jack Ladder at The 13th Floor
Jack Ladder and his band The Dreamlanders (featuring Kirin J Callinan) will be opening the show tonight for Florence + The Machine at Auckland’s Vector Arena. Jack paid a visit to The 13th Floor to talk to Marty Duda and perform a solo acoustic version of To Keep And To Be Kept, one of many […]
Check Out Our Music Awards Photo Gallery!
Fans and artists showed up in their finest for this year’s New Zealand Music Awards. 13th Floor photographer David Watson has assembled his favourite shots of the famous, and not so famous who caught his eye at Auckland’s Vector Arena. Click here to view the 70 or so photos that comprise our 13th Floor New […]
Check Out Our Music Awards Slide Show
Photographer David Watson has been busy grabbing images from the Red Carpet at tonight’s New Zealand Music Awards. Watch a slide show of his photos here.
Ash Grunwald: Now More Than Ever (Interview)
Australian blues rocker Ash Grunwald will be touring New Zealand beginning November 27th in support of his new album, Now. It’s been three years since Ash has played here, which is also when The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda last spoke to him. They spoke again, recently and did some catching up.
Soaked In Bleach: There’s No Holding It Back (Interview)
Incredibly, more than 20 years after his death, there is still controversy around how Kurt Cobain left this world. Perhaps with the proliferation of conspiracy theories found on the internet, its not so surprising after all. If you are one of those folks who tends to roll their eyes and throw up their hands when […]
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 […]
Lucinda Williams: Chasing The Ghosts Of Highway 20 (Interview)
Over the course of her 35+year career Lucinda Williams has assembled a a songwriting catalog that ranks among the finest of any songwriters of her generation. That catalog is about to expand with the release of her latest album, The Ghost s Of Highway 20, due in February. New Zealand fans will get an opportunity […]
Check Out Marlon Williams’ Startling New Video
This just in from Marlon’s publicity folks: Marlon Williams has released the stunning new video for latest single Hello Miss Lonesome, described by The Fader as “a cross between a Sia video and a bar fight”. The video sees Williams in an abandoned house, being thrown, punched, coddled and closing with a naked fight scene […]
Recalling Records With The Ruts (Interview)
On the eve of legendary UK punk act The Ruts DC visiting NZ for the first time, we tracked down drummer Dave Ruffy to talk about something very close to our hearts … RECORDS. He talks about his time working in a record store in the seventies. The RUTS DC perform in New Zealand November […]
Watch Lisa Crawley’s 13th Floor Video Session
A couple of days ago we posted a clip of Lisa Crawley performing Up In The Air, the title track to her new EP, at The 13th Floor Studios. Now here’s your chance to watch the complete session. Lisa talks with Marty Duda about her musical life in Melbourne which includes hanging out with Robbie […]
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 […]