December 1, 2024

The Others Way 2024 – K Road Venues: November 30, 2024

The weather was not ideal, in fact it was very damp, but that didn’t keep music lovers away from this year’s Others Ways Festival as nearly 50 acts played across 10 venues over 7 hours.

13^th Floor photographer Azrie was on the job, covering as many acts as possible, while Marty Duda reports his thoughts and feelings.

Ebony Lamb

It’s 6:03pm and Ebony Lamb takes the stage at Galatos, apologizing for being late. Only in New Zealand will you find an artist so concerned about wasting their fans precious time. Ebony blamed it on the rain, the crowd forgave her Milli Vanilli moment and off we go. Bass player Phoebe Johnson and drummer Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa had also been waiting on stage for Ebony to emerge, so it was a surprise to hear that the bass amp hadn’t been sorted. I bit of plugging and unplugging and all was good, Ebony sounding as good as ever.

T.G. Shand

I bailed out of Galatos to catch a bit of T.G. Shand at the Pitt St Church. The pews were dry and Annmarie Duff sounded fine with a bass player helping out, and Mermaidens’ Gussie Larkin watching approvingly from the wings.

Princess Chelsea

I’m always keen to catch a Princess Chelsea set. These days she and her band always seem to surprise and delight, but tonight, as we gathered in The Studio, something seemed off. Chelsea’s mic seemed to be malfunctioning and then I got an emergency phone call. By the time I retuned, The Studio was full and it was virtually impossible to see or hear anything so I hi-tailed it to Whammy Bar.

Mystery Waitress

A cold beer in hand and a recommended band on stage. I was not familiar with Mystery Waitress, but I soon liked what I heard. They begin with a dreamy, Floydian guitar intro that turns into In A Shell, the last track on their album, Bright Black Night.

The band is fronted by Tessa Dillon, who sounds like a more sultry Chrissie Hynde. The rest of the group is drummer Olivia Campion, bassist Xanthe Rook and guitarist James Morgan who adds a bit of classic rock attitude to Tessa’s indie cool cred. The dynamic between them makes them even more entertaining. The quartet performed most of the latest album during their 40 minute set.

Erny Belle

From there we slide over to Double Whammy to catch a 13^th Floor favourite, Erny Belle. This is a full-band performance with multi-instrumentalist Dave Khan sporting a pink cowboy shirt and looking good in the process.

They sounded great, but the crowd was getting noisy. It reminded me of the Going Global Showcase that took place in the space this past September. Suddenly, the previously well-behaved crowd sounded more like a well-oiled crowd.

Erny and band preserved and ultimately triumphed.

From there I tried to chill and catch Crystal Chen at Verona, but the room is not set up to handle any kind of crowd when a live band is playing in the back.

Dean & Britta

Dean & Britta are Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips who, along with drummer Roger Brogan are playing the songs of Galaxie 500, the very influential band Dean fronted in the late 80s.

Their 50 minute set began with Flowers, the opening track to Galaxie 500’s debut album, Today (1988)

They sound tight, with Dean and Britta harmonizing, Dean taking off with his guitar solos and Britta bass sounding very good.

The highlight for me was the extended version of Yoko Ono’s Listen The Snow Is Falling, with Britta sings and Dean taking off for places unknown on his guitar.

A cover of Joy Division’s Ceremony was the icing on the cake.

Las Tetas

After a brief look-in to catch the last couple of tunes from Theia at Neck Of The Wood, I returned to Whammy for my other pleasant surprise of the night…Las Tetas.

The veteran punk band just released their (self-titled) debut album after recording it over a decade ago.

I saw the band slam through 9 songs in 30 minutes and every minute was worth it. They are angry, outspoken and loud. Exactly how a great punk band should be.

Ladyhawke

And so we wrap the evening with Ladyhawke at Double Whammy. Pip Brown is no punk rocker but she has nailed that 80’s disco sound and tonight we get her (self-titled) 2008 debut album, played from beginning to end.

The crowd is up for a good boogie and Ladyhawke does not disappoint with bangers like My Delirium, Paris Is Burning and Crazy World giving all and sundry plenty to shake their booties to.

We did also get two relatively recent tunes at the end, both collaborations with Pnau, but I’m thinking it’s time we heard something new from Ladyhawke. Let’s see what happens in the coming months.

Overall, an excellently-run festival. There’s not much that can be done about the weather…and that steady drizzle seemed to last all night…but good live music always wins in the end.