Most people know the story of Sixto Rodriguez by now; a Detroit folk singer who released two critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful albums in the early 70s, who disappeared from the music industry for thirty years to work as a labourer and pursue a University education, only to be contacted in the late 90s with the news that he was huge in South Africa. Those South African fans had thought him dead, and when he travelled to the Africaan country to perform some shows soon after, he had know idea the huge crowds and the star treatment that would await him. The documentary however left out the fact that he had a fanbase in Australia and New Zealand and had already toured down under in the late 70s. Never-mind, the documentary tells a good story and is largely responsible for the worldwide resurgance of interest in this once obscure singer-songwriter.
Some of his old fans and many of his new ones turned up last Sunday night to see the man, the enigma, the street boy in person. Rodriguez himself didn't disapoint, offering versions of his classic songs delivered with a voice that sounds like it has not aged at all in the last forty years. Accompanying him were a group of New Zealand session musicians who provided authentic reproductions of the arrangements found on the original albums. Yet perhaps due to the musicians not being completely comfortable with the material, probably having learnt it only days or hours before, or perhaps due to Rodriguez' increasingly frail demeanour, the concert did not explode with a terrible amount of urgency. This could have also been due to a fairly passive crowd, who largely remained seated for all 90 mins of Rodriguez' performance, in spite of yells from many hecklers pleading with the crowd to stand up.
I myself wondered why they didn't stand. As Rodriguez performed classic after classic off his first two albums, such as I Wonder, Only Good for Conversation and Sugarman I could not help but rise and find a position in the aisle where I could dance and sing along. This could be a problem with seated gigs in general; or with concerts that attract a largely middle aged and over demographic. Rodriguez communicated with the crowd between songs by telling jokes, offering humourous wisdom and looked dapper in a black outfit and shades. Age may have taken away much of Rodriguez' sight but none of his style.
While the audience gave a tepid response during songs, they redeemed themselves by expressing their enthusiasm as Rodriguez limped off the stage, helped by his guitarist and some of the road crew. After an extended standing applause, Rodriguez found his way back to the microphone to deliver two more songs. First a cover of Bob Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone, sung probably closer to the album version than Dylan himself will ever peform live and finally I Think Of You off the singer's second studio album. It was a tender finale, and as Rodriguez cautiously made his way off the stage, I was left to wonder how the man's career could have been different if he'd only have the chance to tour like this forty years earlier.
So it has taken me a few days of recovery and reflection to put pen to paper and write my thoughts up on Laneway 2013 and I will start by posting the Japandroids setlist:
Brian King (guitarist/vocalist) handed the setlist down to me at the end of the Japandroids set. It's a cool peice of memorabilia and one of many great moments of an awesome day, one that was for me a big improvement on Laneway 2012 (probably because the bands were better).
The day started off with Kings of Convenience on the main stage, the Norwegian indie pop folk-duo beginning softly with several acoustic numbers before bringing out a band and bringing the funk. I'd not listened to much of these guys before the concert so wasn't prepared for just how funky it would get and certainly wasn't expecting the dance-off that emerged during I'd Rather Dance With You. Prompted by lead singer Erlend Øye, the crowd formed a circle at which enthusiastic audience members jumped in to display their dancing chops. Sadly there's no videos of this yet uploaded to YouTube, but here's a live rendition from the Singapore Laneway.
Kings Of Convenience bring the funk
Later on at the Laneway after party at Cassette 9, I would find myself dancing with Erlend Øye and a bunch of Australian girls, practically and unknowingly acting out the lyrics to the above song, in a strange life-imitating-art kind of moment. I'll definitely be listening to more Kings of Convenience in the future, as their energy, humour and melodic songwriting won me over.
Street Chant
After Kings of Convenience I stayed at the main stage to watch Auckland group Street Chant who brought the punk and the angst, with front woman Emily seeming in a particularly sardonic mood. They handed out self-brewed 'Sink' beers to the crowd during the performance of that song and also Street Chant badges so points for the merchandise. There were a few technical difficulties however, such as Emily's effects pedal cutting out during Salad Days although she managed to get it up and running with minimal damage to the performance. I think their set was cut short due to Kings of Convenience playing over time and Emily seemed visibly irritated, at one stage throwing the F-bomb at that band and the Laneway organisers. I guess that kind of attitude is part of Street Chant's style, although it seemed at odds with the spirit of the rest of the day.
Polica was up next on the main stage, the band from Minneapolis bringing bass heavy electronic sounds and delicate melodies sung by from woman Channy Leaneagh aided by a powerful rhythm section featuring two drummers, one also triggering electronic samples. It sounded huge though I took the time to go for a wander and explore the rest of the Laneway environment, checking out a bit of Auckland indie-group The Eversons on the smaller Cactus Cat stage. I would next stand in front of Cloud Nothings who delivered a set of loud, aggressive but skillful tracks off their third album, Attack On Memory. The set peaked during a version of Wasted Years which showed off the drummers skill of being able to hold a fill for about 6 minutes.
The afternoon sped by as I rushed between stages catching The Men (from Brooklyn), some of Of Monsters and Men and A Place to Bury Strangers. The Men were my personal favourite of the bunch, playing many tracks of their awesome album from last year Open Your Heart as well as new single Electric. Their new songs sound really good and I'm looking forward to hearing what comes next from these uber-cool New York rockers.They ended their set with a surprise cover of Dunedin band The Chills' Pink Frost:
The Men cover The Chills
Of Monsters and Men drew one of the biggest crowds of the day, and played a tight and entertaining set, with lead singer Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir looking particularly cute. Although I was enjoying the set I didn't stick around to hear the big single Little Talks as A Place to Bury Strangers were playing on the other stage and I wanted to check out whether this band would be as loud live as the buzz suggested. They indeed were, with the finale of the set seeing lead singer/songwriter Oliver Ackermann turn the monitor speakers around to face the audience, taking the vocal mic and placing it up against his guitar amp (both of which had separate effects running through each of them) and then generating feedback from his guitar creating a noise so loud that I felt sorry for anyone not wearing earplugs. Ackermann and bassist Dion Lunadon formerly of The D4 then proceeded to smash their instruments in true reckless rock n roll style. I later asked Ackermann after running into him at the merch tent how they can afford to smash their instruments every gig. He told me: "Glue and tape". (Watch the video below)
A Place To Bury Strangers set finale destruction
Back on the main stage Alt-J had accumulated a huge and increasingly intoxicated crowd for their intricate and groovy art-rock. With label money behind them they were the first band on the main stage to bring a giant backdrop with them (the only other artist to bring a backdrop and have any kind of stage design being Bat For Lashes), and had a bit more lighting then several of the other bands including some strobing. They had a very enthusiastic crowd response as I expected with much of the audience knowing the lyrics to all their songs. Their sole album has had a lot of hype behind it so this isn't surprising, and the band sounded great live, nailing all the vocal harmonies and trick rhythms. The drummer in particular stood out to me, showing a flair for different percussion than the usual cymbals and toms combination. The music sounded pretty much exactly as the album, which was a good thing but they didn't particularly bring anything more to live performance and therefore wasn't the most exciting act of the day.
Crowd surf during Japandroids
Japandroids on the Cactus Cat stage provided everything that Alt-J didn't. They brought excitement, looseness and the most energy yet seen during a Laneway set that day, inspiring the audience to mosh, crowd surf and sing along to their upbeat anthems about holding on to your youthful dreams in spite and because of the inevitable responsibilities that come with aging. Or in other words, their music makes it cool for a bunch of twenty and thirty year olds to rock out as if they're still seventeen. Their set was full of classics from the Post-Nothing and Celebration Rock albums, with the highlights for me being Younger Us, The House That Heaven Built and Young Hearts Spark Fire. Although there were a few technical difficulties with Bring King's guitar cutting out during Fire's Highway and drummer David Prowse missing some queues, it didn't matter, the energy was there and it if anything hyped the crowd up even more.
Brian King mid-air
Although the moshpit was energetic, it was never agressive as-per a metal concert, for Japandroids inspire some sort of comradery between us concert goers, where we can thrash about and loose ourselves within the fight of a moshpit while at the same time looking out for one another. Anyone that fell over or tumbled during a crowd-surf was immediately helped back up to their feet, ready to join the mosh again. I managed to get my crowd surf on and it may have looked something like the guy in the photo to the left (who I later met at the Cassette 9 after party) and this for sure provided a highlight of my day. As mentioned earlier I got the setlist of Brian King after the show and thanked him for an awesome performance.
Things get a little blurrier and I spend a little more time in the drinks lines over the next few hours but that is by no means the end of the festivities. I check out a little bit of Bailterspace on the main stage, which is cool but Jessie Ware is playing back over on the stage near the Silo's so I quickly mission over to check her out. One of the only problems with Laneway (apart from the congestion in the drinks lines which was probably worse this year than last year) is that the second stage over by the Silo where Japandroids, The Men and Jessie Ware played is not really big enough and this was particularly evident during Ware's set. She is a charismatic performer with a great voice and obviously had a lot of fans because her audience was crowded. She would have been much better suited on the main stage, or on a slightly bigger second stage as it didn't really allow her much space to perform. Never the less her set was great, filled with classic tracks off her debut album such as Sweet Talk, No To Love and If You're Never Gonna Move. Wildest Moments and Running provided great singalong moments and hopefully she'll be back on a bigger stage, with more recognition in a few years time.
Natasha Khan
Yeasayer took the main stage next and although I spent most of their set in the drinks line (the infernal drinks line), they sounded good, in particular singles off their second album O.N.E. and Ambling Amp. With drinks now in hand I made my way into the crowd for Bat For Lashes, and got up front just in time for her to start her first New Zealand and somewhat awe-inspiring set. Flanked with a really talented band, a giant backdrop image of a grey scale beach and a stage decorated with lanterns, Natasha Khan launched into a set featuring tracks from all three of her albums and hypnotically dominated the stage for 45 minutes. It's a shame she didn't have more time because her voice sounded amazing and proved her self a truely great live performer. I was particularly a fan of the tracks off the new album The Haunted Man which included All Your Gold, Laura and Oh Yeah. The favourite tracks of the set for me were Lillies (because damn that has a heavy beat) and Marilyn which felt even more touching and dramatic live than on album. The drummer was particularly impressive, bouncing between electronic pads and his acoustic set playing many beats simultaneously that would usually be left for samples. It's a set like this that makes me appreciate Laneway because I probably never would have seen Bat For Lashes live or even listened to the new album if she hadn't toured to New Zealand through this festival and I definitely would have missed out on something great. I suggest you check out the new album if you haven't, it deserves more attention than it has recieved.
Bat For Lashes ended too soon with final track and crowd favourite Daniel. I then made my way over to the next stage for headliner Tame Impala, who I and many more people in the crowd had been looking forward to all summer. Totally destroying last year's headliners Gotye, Kevin Parker and company proved rock not to be dead in 2013 opening with Solitude is Bliss off Innerspeaker and then jamming their way through tracks off last years Lonerism with such ease as to make all that skill look rediculously easy. Most songs were extended in true late 60s/early 70s style and at one point during Elephant the band completely abandoned the song for a drum solo, then some barely musical fucking around, then a brief reggae jam, just to return to Elephant for roughly 10 seconds before ending the song. Apart from being hilarious it was also one of the most memorable moments of the day and was so awesome to see a band not giving a fuck and JUST HAVING FUN. The crowd was a bit shit, and only a few of us were jumping around as much as I would have liked but perhaps most people were by this stage exausted from the heat or the alcohol. Regardless I feel that Tame Impala is going to be a band I see live many times and hopefully so, because they're doing something with rock that feels both fresh, familiar and really unique. I have a feeling that their live shows will get even more jammy as the years progess.
Elephant, from Singapore again, but an awesome live version
Laneway 2013 ends, and I head off into the unknown of the night, finding my way to the after party at Cassette 9 where I meet Kevin Parker from Tame Impala, who turns out is also a really nice guy! I also watch Rackets play, who are always good and listen to a DJ set from A Place To Bury Strangers. By three in morning, I'm about ready to pack it in, after have a chaotic and action packed day and seeing some really really great bands live. I have to therefore say that Laneway out did themselves this year and I will most definitely be making my way to 2014 provided I'm in Auckland. I could gripe at this stage about the things Laneway could improve on; the long drinks lines, the fact that standing on concrete all day is a bit of a bitch and that there isn't much shade the protect you from the glaring rays of the sun, but I will have to save that for another blog because all and all it was a fantastic day.
Crystal Castles came to The Studio in Auckland last night, bringing their unique brand of electro/goth/punk and managed to make the night feel simultaneously like a party and the end of the world (probably an end brought on by man's self-destructive ways). Or to be not so abstract, it was an intense and intimate show, with Alice Glass and Ethan Hall putting in their all for the modest Auckland crowd.
Tensions mounted before the band took the stage as an eclectic crowd quickly filled up the small space in front of The Studio's stage. The entirety of Joy Division's album closer was played through the P.A. speakers leading up to the band's arrival, which I personally felt was a perfect album to accompany what was to come. I love this album and Crystal Castles' dark goth rave fits perfectly with the depressing but hypnotic art-rock of Joy Division. I'm not sure everyone around me felt quite the same way, as there were restless yells after each song, with one group even starting a chant out "We've got work". Apparently an Auckland crowd's not to animated on a Tuesday night.
That was until of course, Crystal Castles took the stage.
Opening with 'Plague', the crowd immediately erupted into a surge of activity with Ethan's synths set to 11, accompanied by Alice's violent, piercing, unmistakable screams. I personally love this track and let the surge of the crowd take me into the thick of the mosh, where I stayed for the rest of the set. The wall of sound was accompanied by a live drummer, adding an human feel to the processed drums and rows of lights which filled the stage. Initially the lights were used minimally, with only flashes of blue being
used at times as Ethan, Alice and their live drummer stood nearly in
darkness on the club stage. Gradually more lights were introduced until the stage became cloaked in strobing white light.
The intensity did not let up as they launched into 'Baptism' and 'Suffocation' off the 2nd album. 'Wrath of God' provided a moment to cool down before the band launched into what was unsurprisingly a highlight of the set, 'Crimewave'. 'Crimewave' saw the crowd engage in the most prolonged period of pogo-ing, and also in the most enthusiastic sing along of the night. Alice disappeared onto the floor of the stage during this section and didn't reappear until what I think was 'Alice Practice', another highlight, with it's particularly aggressive beat spurring the crowd on to mosh some more.
The moments that Alice threw herself into the crowd were highlights, with fans scrambling to get a touch of Alice in the flesh. On one occasion she caused the entire crowd to collapse, the entire pit swaying to the right side of the stage where she stood precariously on top of a multitude of hands. This did not stop her from returning into the crowd a few songs later, which at thing point I was very near the front of the stage so had the pleasure of helping to hold her up on top on the crowd. Her energy as a frontwoman and efforts at interacting with the audience in moments like this rivals other great front people I've seen live, such as Peaches and Iggy Pop.
Their cover of 'Not In Love' ended the initial set and at this stage I was sweaty, exhausted but satisfied. After a brief break the band returned for their encore, three more songs beginning with 'Intimate' from II and 'Sad Eyes' from III. I hung in there till the end, although the jumping around on my end had stopped a few songs back. Last song of the night, the epic 'Yes No' from the first album gave us one last aggressive blast to savour and I managed to muster the energy to thrash around for another few minutes. Alice descended upon the crowd one last time, the crowd managing to keep her stable this time. She swung her microphone into the crowd upon finishing the songs vocals, and although I'm not entirely sure but something very hard hit me in the side of the head just after that moment, which I'm guessing was the microphone. I have a jagged red bruise in that spot to prove it.
The band left the stage over a wall of feedback and noise. The crowd was still amped and crowd surfing continued after the music was gone and the stage was bare. Which probably means it was a really good gig.
It seemed a big generous set as more than often bands seem to give in New Zealand,
even in the small club venues. Perhaps
they were putting in their all after their last show here at the Big Day
Out 2011, which was hampered by sound issues and Alice's leg in a cast
limiting here performance. Or perhaps they were just riffing off the
crowds intensity (or at least it felt intense from where I was). Probably though, they're just a really great live band.
Even though Auckland has a huge gap in it's festival calender now that the Big Day Out has left us, sideshows such as this from BDO artists do more than a little to fill the space until that festival or something equivalent returns.
Now bring on Laneway.
Setlist:
Plague
Baptism
Suffocation
Wrath Of God
Doe Deer
Crimewave
Pale Flesh
Alice Practice
Reckless
Celestica
Empathy
Vanished
Black Panther
Not In Love
Kiwi ex-pat Ruban Neilson, previously of The Mint Chicks brought his latest Portland-based project to Auckland last night, playing Cassette 9 ahead of their opening slot for Weezer tonight. The band has been accumulating a large and dedicated fanbase, winning over the indie press with Pitchfork giving them a hype worthy 8.1 review for the debut self-titled album. They've been selling out shows all around the world and playing festivals from CMJ in NY to the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago. In my opinion the hype and success is worth it, as Neilson and company demonstrated last night, with their set of psychedelic grooves and melodies, tight and impressive musicianship and above all, great songwriting.
The queue
The night began with a 40 minute wait in the Cassette 9 line, as the venue was nearing capacity as early as 10pm. After waiting for the many guest list attendees to arrive the staff finally let in some of the regular punters waiting in line into the venue, and I managed to be one of those lucky few. Many of those in the sprawling line went home disappointed, as the modest-sized bar was not able to accommodate all those interested in the band. I managed to make it inside in time to see Auckland duo Golden Axe tear through a brief set of distorted, analogue, punky dance tunes. With the nimble keyboard fingers and characteristic wigs and gas mask microphones, Axe proved a highly entertaining beginning to the night. The tightness gained from the hours of international touring they've been racking up lately was apparent, although in all fairness this was the first time I'd seen them live so perhaps they've always been that tight. Next up was all female three-peice Las Tetas. They're agressive, minor-key indie rock was a change in tone from Golden Axe but they won over the audience, ending with a thrashy cover of The Stooges 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'. I approved.
Golden Axe
Unknown Mortal Orchestra finally took the stage at around 12.30, giving one last soundcheck before opening with an extended period of noise; strumming chords, rumbling bass and the drummer going nuts on double struck rolls all over the kit building tension, which would then release as the groove to 'Little Blu House' is introduced. The noise intro gave an opportunity to appreciate just what skilled musicians Ruban has gathered, especially the drummer whose skilled chops were immediately apparent. First song Little Blu House, a favourite of mine off the debut sounded great, although it took the sound guy a verse or two to get the vocal mix right. These are obviously three very skilled musicians, as they control the audience with ease, not by applying any forced live theatrics but rather by playing the songs with confidence and obvious enthusiasm. Ruban plays his guitar initially with the strap slung over one shoulder, and the body held high up to his chest like a gun. The melodies are ripped out from his fingers with so little effort he makes it look easy, betraying the years and years of touring and recording that have got him to this stage.
The beginning of the set is dominated by tracks from the debut, peaking with 'How Can U Luv Me' (which is also probably the debut's centrepiece). The crowd at this stage is going nuts and a mosh pit breaks out, of which I happen to be caught on the peripheral of, and the aggression of a drunk few seems slightly out of place given the chilled out vibe. Perhaps that handful thought they were at a Mint Chicks gig. After 'How Can U Luv Me' the band begin Pink Floyd/Barrett cover 'Lucifer Sam', of which I'm highly pleased to hear although sadly the band cut it off after only a few bars. Ruban tells the crowd "And it was going so well.." I'm unsure why they stopped the song, perhaps Ruban's guitar was out of tune. Only having a tease of Lucifer Sam was a slight disappointment but they coped with the technical stuff up in a professional way, by launching into an entirely new song. It's always a little awkward when bands have to restart a number.
UMO
The next two songs are off the new album, 'Monki' and 'So Good At Being In Trouble' both of which contained strong grooves and melodies, a hint that the new album was to be just as strong as the debut. After this crowd favourite 'Ffunny Ffriends' is launched, with Ruban encouraging everyone in the crowd to clap, including "the cool people in the back". The clapping dies off after the first chorus after which Ruban states he didn't ask anyone to stop and the clapping starts up again. My attempt at clapping for the entire song is interrupted by another moshpit and I decide joining is the better option than getting stoically shoved around so I pogo'd my way to the front of the stage. New single 'Swim Like A Shark' is then played, before the show ends with a thrashy and epic rendition of 'Boy Witch'. I hang around hoping for an encore though this was not to be, perhaps due to the fact that it was past 2am, or maybe this is the practice at Cassette 9.
Never-the-less it was a great set, even with the abandonment of 'Lucifer Sam' and the at times overly excitable crowd. I felt privileged to see the band before they embark on sold out European shows in such an intimate setting and all for only $10! It's good to see The Mint Chicks boys have success in their current projects, as both are extremely gifted musicians and songwriters and Ruban Neilson certainly deserves all the success that is now coming to him. With the new album released for download to those who pre-ordered it today, it is sure to be another big year for UMO and hopefully we will see them on our shores again soon.
Three dudes, all swapping instruments, creating catchy as punk in a completely unpretentious way. The awesome thing about a band like this is you can rip through an entire album of theirs in a short amount of time, cause each track is like a minute long. They're fucking great live, tearing shit up every time. Most recent EP is great, but I also suggest checking out the early stuff, which is equally good. They're hardworking, passionate and greatly deserving of a listen.
Wild punk chicks (and one dude) who really don't give a fuck and also craft great, hooky, energetic indie punk. They've got three tracks up on their bandcamp which I enjoy very much. They're also great live, of particular note is the raw energy of front woman Emily, who together with Rackets and Tiny Ruins performed at the Vodafone NZ music awards last night with their Toy Love tribute, and tore shit up.
I particularly enjoyed driving around Dunedin listening to The Clean anthology this year. This song particularly fitted as a soundtrack to the landscape. Here's a live version.
Chris Knox's band before the Toy Love were The Enemy. But with no official recordings, we have to make do with archival stuff like this. As you're probably aware,we now have two new Toy Love vinyl's available on a limited release, one live and one a compilation of the bulk of their recordings. I got the live double LP, but I won't play it till I get a new turntable mat, as I (un-cool music geek moment) wish not to damage the precious grooves by getting dust all through them.
Another snapshot of Dunedin circa-mid 1980. Ahh, so beautiful, so melodic; under-appreciated. The videos a little corny, a little cheap, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Why doesn't anyone remember The Chills' 1992 masterpiece Soft Bomb? I don't know, probably because they got dropped from the major label they were signed from soon after release making it subsequently a pretty rare find in music stores. But if you find it, pick it up, or even just pirate it. It's the, dare I say it, Dunedin-sound (for lack of a better classification) White Album. Great songs, great ideas, melodies, lyrics, from start to finish.
So people didn't like their attitude at the Vodafone NZ Music Awards 2012 last night? I thought they were awesome. Great live performance, the right amount of impoliteness, attitude and sticking it to the establishment. They said cunt, they ripped on John Key. Both things I like.
Dunedin rock/reggae/funk/metal/blues with balls! They're great live, toured all the time and released a great full length album this year.
Ok, so I realise I pretty much just talked about my favourite old school NZ bands, but I will make a point of finding some new, currently gigging and emerging NZ artists and writing about them on here. More to come soon. Chur.
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