The Chills – Kings Arms May 13, 2017

Martin Phillipps and The Chills brought their “Vigourous and Far-Reaching New Zealand Tour” to Auckland’s Kings Arms. In addition to the excellent music on offer, there was further good news from the troubled front man.

As anyone who has followed the career of The Chills knows, Martin Phillipps’ health has been an issue for quite some time. In fact, the 53-year-old iconic musician was given just a year to live last year because of his 20-year struggle with Hepatitis C. But after receiving a “miracle” cure known as Harvoni, Phillipps was able to announce that he is “free of Hepatitis C”.

This is fantastic news, and to further celebrate, the band announced one more show to be added to their tour…a homecoming gig at the Captain Cook Hotel in Dunedin on Friday, July 28^th.

Those at the show would have noticed video cameras on stage with the band…a camera crew has been following Phillipps for some time now, with a feature-length documentary in the works.

Due to some confusion with the door list, our regularly scheduled reviewer was unable to cover the show, but fortunately photographer Ivan Karczewski was there from the beginning, grabbing shots of opener Anthonie Tonnon and The Chills’ set.

I, myself, was at the Green Day show at Spark Arena, but had the good sense to stop in at The Kings Arms afterward, just in time to catch the last few songs, beginning with set closer, I Love My Leather Jacket.

The place was packed…this was a sold out show…and there was a wonderful vibe, with the good news about Martin’s health, and the feeling that this was probably The Chills’ final show at the venerable old Kings Arms.

The band (Oli Wilson, keys, James Dickson, bass and Todd Knudson, drums) was firing on all cylinders and they quickly returned to play Rolling Moon and Heavenly Pop Hit. Just hearing Heavenly Pop Hit alone was worth the walk from Spark to KA.

The crowd insisted on hearing more, and Martin and The Chills obliged with Dan Destiny & The Silver Dawn.

Judging by the set list, it was an awesome show from start to finish with rarely played tunes like Lost In Space, tossed in to keep hard-core fans happy.

Even after the music was over, no-one wanted to leave and Phillipps and the band stayed around signing albums and generally hanging out with fans.

The evening summed up what New Zealand Music Month is all about.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Ivan Karczewski:

The Chills set list:

1. Night Of Chill Blue
2. Wet Blanket
3. The Male Monster From The Id
4. Eazy Peazy
5. Underwater Wasteland
6. Kaleidoscope World
7. Rocket Science
8. In Harmony
9. Satin Doll
10. Lost In Space
11. Pink Frost
12. Doledrums
13. America Says Hello
14. I Love My Leather Jacket
15. Rolling Moon
16. Heavenly Pop Hit
17. Dan Destiny & The Silver Dawn