Mary Ocher & Power Nap – Whammy Bar: April 11, 2025
Some 20 years since she first made her Aotearoa concert debut, European maven Mary Ocher returned with last night to once again, push the envelope in Tamaki Makaurau.
Moscow born, Tel Aviv raised, but Berlin resident, artist Mary Ocher is no stranger to Tamaki Makaurau, having played here in 2015 (at the long lost Golden Dawn) and in 2019 (at Audio Foundation) as well as other parts of Aotearoa. Mary Ocher’s mahi stands out for her intensity and refusal to conform. She’s one of (too few) artists who blend experimental sound with deeply political and societal themes, expressed as avant-garde performance, that both intimately connects with audiences, while also astutely confronting them.
On the back of recent shows in North America, Australia, and a Soviet-era Satellite state, her latest release, 2024’s Your Guide To Revolution, continued her journey in challenging the boundaries of post-punk, funky experimentalism, krautrock and electronica, with it gaining critical acclaim as The Quietus as Album of The Week.
Power Nap
Tamaki Makaurau musician Chris Cudby, alone onstage is Power Nap, with multiple keyboards and other electronic wizardry. He concocted a cracking 80/90s-infused electronic set, that drew on influences ranging from early electro-beat, eclecticism of no wave and modern dance floor rhythms. His steadfast faithfulness to the song-model, pausing to share and intro each piece, and his alt-vocal style. Power Nap offered a performance that merged many musical genres into his own vision, a vision that included Devo and dinosaurs tonight, and perhaps is better suited better to the wee hours when senses are somewhat more subfusc.
Mary Ocher
With little fanfare Mary Ocher introduces herself to the faithful and intrigued. Surrounded by multiple keyboards, a guitar (with a cool micro-amp) and electric piano, she immediately launched into harmony on keys, followed by beats, and a recorder composition was offered with vocal manipulation.
Quietly spoken between compositions, from, that spanned past and present (Your Guide To Revolution) she used her sway and presence to deliver orally, between folkish to falsetto in a night that saw her undulate between the conventional; guitar and vox, to harmonic beats and textures. And later onto the experimental (her words) audio-visualism, using recorded beds accompanied by video (projected behind) thanks Mr Crawley for sharing your password with Mary and her own words about the current socio-political worldism.
There are stories, a visit to/show in (I think) Turkistan, whence her Soviet Union born mother suggested she not mention the war. She did mention the war. Missing the friendly drug dogs at Auckland Airport, the fluffies, her recent experience of Trump’s America, (not promising) perhaps not playing a show so soon after arriving from another country, and an insightful explanation about the merchandise available at the door.
Mary Ocher’s ability to transcend genres, from Bob Dylan-esque folk, to autonomous electro beats, and Cabaret Voltairish industrialism, all in a single set, created a sense of expectation, ebb and engagement. It’s a pity she was at an ill-fitting whare for her sort of a performance, though she was stoic for her audience tonight. Thank you to the Goethe-Institut New Zealand for helping make her visit happen.
Simon Coffey
Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Azrie
Saturday 12th April – Goblin (DJ Set), Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland (door charge only)
Monday 14th April – Space Academy, Ōtautahi (new date)
Tickets on sale HERE via UTR
Mary Ocher:
Power Nap:
