Primal Scream at Powerstation
Primal Scream – Powerstation, February 25 2018
It was two days later than originally planned but Scottish legends Primal Scream came and conquered the Powerstation on a balmy Sunday night in Auckland. The band were supposed to deliver their sold-out show on Friday but had to reschedule after bass player Simone Butler was taken ill with the flu. The two-day delay did not deter the fans who sold out the venue to see Bobby Gillespie and company play a career-spanning set of indie rock and acid house classics.
Despite the rescheduling, Butler was still unwell and unable to play, meaning the band had to rely on pre-recorded bass tracks. Looking for the humour in the situation, a sultry shop mannequin in a sparkly black dress leaned up against Butler’s bass amp. Frontman Bobby Gillespie christened her Roxy.
With one member down, it was up to Gillespie, Andrew Innes, Martin Duffy and Darrin Mooney to carry on the Glaswegian group’s first Auckland show since The Big Day Out in 2011. Gillespie was in fine form from the opening track, Slip Inside This House, right through the band’s big hits such as Loaded, Rocks, and Come Together. Gillespie is often overlooked as a front-man, but he has a strangely laid-back charisma and should not be overlooked in a discussion of the best front-men of the last thirty years.
Primal Scream has always had two guitarists but strangely there was no second guitarist in this line-up. It was left to Andrew Innes to play rhythm and lead guitar something he took to well, despite having no bass player to lay down the rhythm when it came for him to solo. But he was electric throughout the evening with distorted riffs and licks going down a treat, especially on the more psychedelic numbers.
Gillespie alluded to how this was the band’s first club show in Auckland after playing festivals on previous visits. They clearly enjoyed the intimacy of an indoor gig, intimacy which outdoor festivals don’t offer. Their intense psychedelic and acid house jams were perfectly suited to the confines of the Powerstation, especially given the band’s reputation of making music for raving.
Primal Scream has always been huge in New Zealand, going right back to the heady days of Screamadelica in the 1990s, so it came as a massive surprise that the crowd was so flat. Aside from a couple of moments when it did feel like a rave, the crowd was generally lacklustre and unresponsive. When it came to the encore, it seemed the crowd could not care less if the band did not come back out. I know the rescheduling of the show could have been a problem for some, but in the end, it is Primal Scream!
Despite the lack of energy in the room, the band made the most of the moment. It must be hard adjusting your performance when you lose a band member at the last minute to illness, especially in their case when the bass guitar is such an essential element of their sound. However, the show must go on, and they did an outstanding job in Butler’s absence, pulling together a show that matched the high standards they have set over the years.
All up, the evening was an energetic, loud, and ravey rock and roll show of the like that only Primal Scream could deliver. Seven years is a long time between drinks for a band of this age, but they showed they have not lost any of their stage performance or their rock and roll nous in the interim. It’s just a shame they had to play to a weak crowd that seemed like they would rather have been at home than grooving out to these Scottish indie legends.
Sam Smith
Click any photo to view a gallery shot by Veronica McLaughlin
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February 26, 2018 @ 1:21 pm
Sam, I have to disagree. I have seen Primal Scream many times down the years, including one performance at Brixton Academy in 2002 that was just incredible. However last night I felt the band were lackluster and weak – not the crowd so much. Obviously being a bassist down will dilute the sound and on stage presence, but even so, the heavy reliance on backing tracks was evident and it did feel like a karaoke session a times.
Yes, they are legends, but they ain’t what they used to be.
February 26, 2018 @ 4:57 pm
Interesting review!! I liked the night and the crowd in front of the stage seemed pretty wild to me. The Powerstation seems to have a disproportionally large number of people who come to drink and talk through excellent concerts like James and Elbow. Last night though I thought the sound in the first half was terrible. I love a wall of noise but the mixing seemed atrocious. I’ve never seen roadies remove speakers mid gig! I got into it more as the night progressed. I thought Swastika Eyes was insane. Driving and epic. But in the end my ears hurt and I was tired and it hasn’t gone down as my best gig ever, patchy but brilliant in parts.