Here we go…the first concert review of 2016! Texas retro-soul man Leon Bridges made his NZ performing debut on this Saturday night at Auckland’s St James Theatre. The 26-year-old has gotten rave reviews for his album, Coming Home, but can he keep a live audience entertained? The answer is “no” and then, “yes”. Bridges […]
“Three lads from Mangere, you say?” “That’s right.” “Singing opera?” “That’s the one.” “In a vineyard?” “Indeed.” “And you want me to review this for The 13th Floor?” “The very fellow.” We’re nothing if not catholic in our tastes here at The 13th Floor. A brace of tenors and a baritone would, ordinarily, fall outside […]
13th Floor ace photographer Michael Flynn caught the Gunslingers Ball: Last Minute Christmas show at Auckland’s Wine Cellar last night. The show featured sets from Will Wood, Reb Fountain, Hopetoun Brown and contributions from Dave Khan, Tom Cunliff and Thomas Landon-Lane. Micheal claims the sold-out show had a great atmosphere and the finale was a […]
San Francisco-based singer-songwriter Jessica Pratt cast her spell over Auckland’s Tuning Fork, just 11 months after she did the same at the Golden Dawn. In the interim she has released a new album and picked up an additional guitarist.
The last time I saw AC/DC it was 1978. They were playing in upstate New York, opening for Blue Oyster Cult, on their journey to the long way to the top. 37 years later, and a lot has changed both within and outside the band, but one thing remains constant, Angus Young’s connection to […]
Ed Sheeran, perhaps to make up for the fact that his show comprised only one musician, packed the undercard at his tour-ending show at Auckland’s Mount Smart Stadium last night. Or perhaps, given that this would be the last performance in, as he repeatedly reminded us, a four-and-a-half-year tour, he was minded to depart with […]
Ruban Nielson and his bandmates took their fans on a fanciful musical journey that took quite a few unexpected detours as Unknown Mortal Orchestra played to a sold-out crowd at Auckland’s St James Theatre. There was a good energy in the old St James tonight, perhaps left over from the previous evening’s Save The St […]
The music did the talking last night at the Kings Arms as Mono played a blinding set proving that you don’t need a vocalist to tell a story when it comes to music. Before the Japanese quartet took the stage, a couple of Auckland’s finest got things started. Unfortunately I missed Greenfog’s set, but arrived […]
Ratatat – onomatopoeic moniker for a duo of rock-tronica musicians from Brooklyn NYC – is in my view an apt emblem for their beat-powered brand of instrumental neo-prog-experimental-rock. Ratatat started from humble beginnings, two guys – Evan Mast and Mike Stroud – started making music in their Brooklyn apartment just after the turn of the […]
With a new album in the can, and a back catalogue of songs that is second to none, Lucinda Williams performed a stunning set at a pared-down version of the Vector Arena, leaving fans beaming. I’ve seen Lucinda Williams a number of times over the past twenty years and her shows always seem to […]