Much Better Sundays

Tommy Ill, Heat Like Me, Kittyhawk, Bodega, Friday 23rd November

In Wellington, the weather has never been so good. Temperatures reach 20 degrees every day; the beach is packed with sluggish bodies getting their first taste of summer. And on Saturday, I woke with that blurry green mark on my wrist that is the sign of a blissful Foxcore show. I feel like I haven’t seen music in ages. We haven’t had holidays in ages. It’s time to loosen some strings and DANCE.

Tommy Ill started it off on Friday. He’s looking good. He’s definitely growing on me, I’m trying to rid myself of prejudice. He has blues ballads for the modern youth. It’s cool. Yeah. It helps if I forget how popular he is amongst the scene kids.

Anyway, if you want to DANCE then check out Heat Like Me, indie electro synth. This is something like their third gig, but they’re already lined up to support some bigish names, which is cool. Four synths is not a set up I’m used to seeing onstage, but the music pulls it off with catchy intensity and awesome vocals. Definitely a good time band that’s great if you want to party, forget your worries and DANCE.

Kittyhawk came all the way from Auckland to play for us, which is very nice of them. They are very nice guys. They even had a free CD on the door. Having made preliminary chit chat, I was excited to see that they also play music well. I envy their stage energy, their disco punk beats, their guitarist’s curly hair. DANCEable rock is not something to sneeze at, not that you could, because you wouldn’t be cold, because you would be dancing so much. See?

So the moral of the story is that we should get out more and DANCE, because although philosophical paradoxes are excellent, actually the only thing that matters in the end is having a good time. Oh, and the other point is that all the bands that played were awesome and excellent and you should definitely go to see them!!!

P.S. I was really excited because Bret from Flight of the Conchords was there.
P.P.S. Hey Cara, how are you? I’m glad your gig was good. Are you coming to see the Actualities play on Friday?

Battle Circus, last night at Subnine = pretty damn amazing. They played their album, Half-light Symphony in its entirety (which is four tracks, but over forty minutes long, and only $15). It was most epic (songs about nuclear war!), and very loud (the bomb noises made the whole building shake) and I left feeling like maybe my brain had been vibrated into mush. It’s certainly atmospheric music – but it’s the atmosphere of life under a mushroom cloud.

There was a bigger audience than last time they played in Wellington, but I really think more people should know about them. Because they’re bloody good.

The other bands playing were The Dukes of Leisure, Kerretta, and Captain Sergeant Major, who played last and thus I missed (I’m writing this today at work, see). Dukes of Leisure I saw play a couple of years ago, in Aro Park, back when Craftwerk was Bitchcraft, and I really quite like them. They and Kerretta were entirely instrumental – which means they get to do lots of interesting things with their instruments.

It also meant that I did some short story writing, which is a danger when I go to instrumental gigs, because they put scenes in my head. My writing through a gig is actually a compliment! I’d been wanting to find a start to that story for ages.

I’m sorry the show wasn’t better attended, because it was an excellent night. And anyone who gets a chance to see Battle Circus play should definitely do so, because it’s kind of mind-blowing.

Head, The Railway Sleepers, The Dissentors, Rifles, Bastard Sons of Grey Power and Neon Bastard
Valve, Friday 16th November, 2007

This is because I’ve been busy. Sure, sure. Plus, I haven’t been to many gigs lately. Apathy. I don’t want to see any bands I haven’t seen before, in case they’re not good, and I don’t want to see any bands I have seen before in case they’re not as good as they have been. This time, family responsibilities demanded that I attend.

My sister’s band, Head, played first. I feel I can’t review them here because I don’t know how biased genetics have made me. It’s like, hey, half of my genetic code is up there playing piano! How awesome am I?! All I can say, I guess, is that I like them; all under the age of twenty, my sister describes their sound as “what you’d expect from four vegetarians jamming on drugs”.

The Railway Sleepers are somewhat of an acquired taste, but they’re good to dance to. Starting off with a mock sword fight, they feature a double bassist (who you’ll recognise as the bartender from Happy), violinist, synth, drums and crazy unintelligible vocals. Kind of in the same league as Bjork – you know, you’ve got to get into it.

The Dissentors were cool cool fun fun! I mean, nothing stunningly original in the line up of bass, guitar and drums, but they have damn good sunglasses. I can see these guys heading away from Valve and into the indie scene. Also fantastic to dance to (maybe I was just in a dancing mood), slightly bluesy rocky rock with some nice female vocals. I’m getting out to see these guys again.

Missed Rifles; but the Bastard Sons had it going on. Oh! A refreshingly energetic band! Their lead singer wears little clothing, including a pair of white rainbow shorts. They aren’t concerned with injury to self or property. They sing like they mean it; or, if they can’t remember what it is, they sing like they mean something. They sound like rock, mixing it up with a little keyboard, but none of this fancy pretentious shit. See them for the show.

I was too tired to see Neon Bastard. Everyone I talked to said they’re a good band, but I had to go to work the next day. Ah, hospitality… Sucker of souls.