Tragic at the Disco… For better or for worse, music has the ability to capture a moment, a feeling or a mood. It is something that is almost primeval, that defies any carefully curated notions of taste. For this writer, the woefully bad pop-punk phase circa 2005-2006 is one that continues to tug on my […]
When I was 13 I attended my first live rock show at Wellington’s Athletic Park. It was KISS. And it was 1980. The night was appalling. The show started late and there was trouble from the crowds, who were predominantly young drunk males. The local constabulary were also over-exerting their authority, as was their custom […]
Maynard James Keenan’s Puscifer closed out their Money Shot tour at Auckland’s Vector Arena, bringing the multi-media show, complete with masked wrestlers, to several thousand hard-core fans.
Like Nick Cave before her, PJ Harvey eschewed an opening act, with her and her very impressive 9-piece band carrying the full load. And the end of the night it was clear…PJ Harvey is one a very few artists will to challenge herself and her audience, in the process making the best music of […]
After splitting up five years ago, Canadian rockers Alexisonfire are back together and touring down under. Their show at Auckland’s Powerstation found them picking up right where they left off.
Thirty years ago, Dinosaur Jr wrote the manual on fuzzy impressionistic downer rock. While it’s been subtlety rewritten over the course of 11 studio albums, the most important aspect of a Dinosaur Jr record has been the mood that seems to permeate all of them. The longevity of Dinosaur Jr can be just as much […]
Dunedin quartet The Prophet Hens rolled into Auckland on this Saturday night bringing both the sound and the weather of their hometown as wind and rain lashed at the front awning of Freida Margolis in Grey Lynn.
Whoever is organising the gigs at REC is doing a top-notch job. After three sold out shows of Conan Moccasin, New Zealand’s own sleaze-funk prince, this Saturday they hosted indie-pop stalwarts The Ruby Suns.
After a brief, 30 year break, The Mockers returned to Auckland’s Powerstation, the second stop on their 8-date reunion tour. There was what appeared to be a full house on hand to greet them, cheering and singing along like it was 1985.
Well, for a lot of folks the 2017 concert season began tonight with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ show at Auckland’s Vector Arena. And so stunning, so powerfully moving a show it was, that it might very well be the last show of 2017 for all intents and purposes.