San Francisco Nights

Last week saw my latest contribution to local pop culture history site AudioCulture published online (see here). This one was a little bit different. This time around it wasn’t a “scene” piece or a band profile, it was the history of a venue – San Fran in Wellington. A venue that has, a few times across the past couple of decades, been on the brink of terminal closure. But it always manages to survive and bounce back. It wasn’t strictly about San Fran either, because I wanted to offer a brief overview or history of the premises itself as the building located at 171 Cuba Street nears its one hundredth birthday. Which also meant there was a lot of focus on the popular nightclub known as Indigo, the building’s occupant at the turn of the century. This article sat unloved and unfinished in a "drafts" folder for more than three years as I tried to get some buy-in from a couple of people I desperately wanted to talk to, but never quite did. In the end, the "publish and be damned" option seemed the only way it would ever get to see the light of day. Anyway, click the link provided above and see what you think. 

Gig Review: Courtney Barnett, San Fran, Wellington, 9 July 2021

Okay, so this review is a bit late to the party. Courtney Barnett’s short New Zealand jaunt is almost over. Which means any sort of comment I make on it is already largely redundant. But I feel compelled to post a few words about her opening night in Wellington a few Fridays back, just for posterity’s sake. Just because I was there. A sure sign that gigs are few and far between for me at present. 

The Friday night at San Fran was the first night of a three-night sold out run at the venue for the popular Aussie indie troubadour.

Support was provided by Emily Edrosa, and San Fran was already packed to overflowing when I arrived to catch the last 15 minutes of Edrosa’s well-received set. In all honesty, I wasn’t overly impressed with what I heard, but that may have been more to do with the fact that I was heavily distracted, and frustrated, by not being able to find a comfortable standing spot amid the throng of activity around me. I eventually settled for a spot at the rear of the venue, while my more resilient gig-companion opted for somewhere much closer to the stage. 

Barnett arrived on stage at 9.30pm and for the next 70 minutes she offered us an absorbing mix of decade-old songs and brand spanking new ones, an Arthur Russell cover, and a Kurt Vile duet that wasn’t really a duet at all. 

After opening with long-time favourite ‘Avant Gardner’, the solo Barnett then gave us ‘Walkin’ on Eggshells’ and ‘Dead Fox’ before being joined on stage by current co-conspirator Stella Mozgawa (of Warpaint) for new single ‘Rae Street’, which was followed by another new track, and the aforementioned Russell cover, ‘I Never Get Lonesome’. Mozgawa then exited proceedings temporarily. 

There was a lot of audience banter and interaction throughout, with the in-joke being that a lot of enthusiastic fans knew all of the lyrics and Barnett was quite happy to let the crowd sing along unaccompanied at various points. Never more so than on gig centrepiece ‘Depreston’, a highly relatable tune about the minutiae of suburban living, and easily the highlight of the night for yours truly. That song really has morphed into something of a signature tune for Barnett. 

Barnett sang both parts in the Kurt Vile “duet” ‘Let It Go’, which was slightly odd - if understandable, given Vile’s absence. That was followed by ‘Sunday Roast’ before Mozgawa returned to the stage for another brief run of songs from the pair’s upcoming collaborative album, Things Take Time, Take Time. 

All of the new tunes had a pronounced country/folkie flavour, and all were enjoyable enough. The sort that will doubtlessly grow in familiarity over time, with the album, as I understand it, not due for a full release until November. 

We finished up with ‘History Eraser’ and a one-song encore, ‘Nameless Faceless’, but not before Barnett had described the gig as “the best night of my life” in her finest deadpan voice.

I had my doubts about the authenticity of that statement, but much younger, less cynical attendees lapped it up and seemed convinced. As I set off to brave the chilly Wellington elements, post-gig, I tried to recall the last occasion (pre-lockdown) I’d seen an “international” artist live on stage at San Fran, but it was a forlorn task, and I was mostly just happy to have enjoyed a rare night out.    

Gig Review: The Beths, San Fran, Wellington, 9 October 2020

The Beths last Friday night at Wellington’s San Fran was either the third or fourth occasion I’ve managed to catch the band live on stage. But it was my own first live experience for a number of months (beyond DJ sets) thanks to the way Covid-19 has played havoc with the live music scene, both here in Aotearoa and overseas. It’s fair to say then, that this gig, the first of three successive sold out nights for the band at the same venue, was one I had long looked forward to. I was never likely to be disappointed.

One of the best things about a Beths live set in 2020 is the fact that the band now have two full albums worth of material to draw from, in addition to an earlier EP. Even better, is that virtually all of band’s tunes translate effortlessly in a live environment. In fact, it could be argued that loud and live is easily the best way to consume the music of The Beths. 

Before the gig was even 10 minutes old we’d already been treated to a punchy power pop masterclass with the band drawing one track from each of those three releases; opening with ‘I'm Not Getting Excited’ from Jump Rope Gazers, followed by ‘Great No One’ from Future Me Hates Me, before hitting an early peak with long-time crowd favourite, ‘Whatever’, which first appeared on that underrated debut EP. 

And for the next 70-odd minutes, as we traversed our way through the band’s catalogue, zig-zagging between releases, it was all about tight compact tunes, high energy levels, and charming pop hooks. Jonathan Pearce threw in the odd rock-god mini-solo, but as ever, it was the unassuming nerdy presence of Elizabeth Stokes nonchalantly guiding the band to new heights on tracks like ‘Jump Rope Gazers’, ‘Little Death’, and encore highlight ‘You Wouldn’t Like Me’. 

As gigs go, this one was close to perfect. One minor, very minor, quibble: I realise it’s election time and there’s a cannabis referendum to tick ‘’yes’’ to, and a Green Party to help get across the line, or a women-in-rock initiative to promote, but each time the band stopped to share their “message” they flirted with the prospect of losing hard-earned momentum. It just felt a little contrived and it interrupted the flow just a bit. And given all the saturation electioneering happening elsewhere, it was probably unnecessary anyway (ok, boomer!). 

A shout out too, to support band Vera Ellen, a local six or seven-piece with some amount of attitude. There was a sense that they were all about seizing the moment, throwing everything at us, from psych-freak-outs to edgy punk, and discovering that a whole lot of it was able to stick. Definitely one to keep an eye on. 

As usual, in my semi-drunken state, I took a whole bunch of photos and filmed a few clips, but unsurprisingly none of them turned out to be blog-worthy quality. Even poor hobby-blog-worthy ...

Gig Review: Gang of Four, San Fran, Wellington, 13 November 2019

I broke a golden rule. A personal rule. The one which dictates that I don’t go to see reformed bands from the 80s unless something close to an original line-up remains intact. 

At the Gang of Four gig at San Fran last Wednesday night, the only original band member still in place was guitarist Andy Gill, who represents just one quarter of the band’s famed foursome of Allen, Burnham, King, and Gill. That’s the Gang of Four who made the band’s most feted album, Entertainment!, back in 1979. The album we were all there to celebrate the 40th anniversary of, all these years on.

The venue was nonetheless packed. A sell out, some nine months on from when the gig was initially scheduled (and postponed due to Gill’s illness). A planned second Wellington gig on the Thursday was also in the process of selling out (and may well have done so).

As it turned out, my “rule” was exposed for the nonsense it probably is. Gang of Four were super impressive on the night, and the “new” band members - Thomas McNeice (bass), John Sterry (vocals/melodica), and Tobias Humble (drums) - all added a lot of life, energy, and love to a set of tunes that have stood the test of time.

The fractured funk rhythms of ‘Anthrax’ kicked things off in no uncertain terms, offering an early taste of the pulverising basslines that tend to dominate the band’s best work.

We then got a procession of the politically-motivated tunes that have always best represented the beating heart of Entertainment!, with stand-outs (for me) including ‘Not Great Men’, ‘At Home He’s A Tourist’, ‘Guns Before Butter’, and ‘Damaged Goods’, before a raucous take on ‘I Found That Essence Rare’ took things to a mid-set peak and a curious (yet brief) interlude.

After the short break, the band then set about ticking the promised “other hits” box, a pick and mix assortment which basically amounted to a “best of the rest” of non-Entertainment! cuts. Highlights included ‘I Love A Man In Uniform’ (off Songs of the Free), and the closing track ‘What We All Want’ (off Solid Gold).

This segment also included energetic vocalist Sterry taking to a strategically placed on-stage microwave with a rather large piece of wood, something which might be considered a bizarre turn of events were it not completely aligned with the band’s well documented anti-consumerism stance. In this instance it seems a poor microwave was deemed the night’s symbol of capitalist repression.

Shortly before 11pm, after something close to 90 minutes (all told) the gig was done, and Gang of Four exited the stage without an encore – or even any requests for an encore. It’s odd perhaps, but that seemed about right for this gig; surely nobody would have felt short-changed by what they'd just witnessed, and Gang of Four have always been about breaking those time-honoured pesky rules. 

No regrets from me either that I’d broken one of my own rules in order to attend. There are certain bands and albums that transcend any level of ridiculous rock-snobbery. I’ve been regularly listening to Entertainment! for roughly 35 years, so original band or not, I wasn’t going to pass up the rare chance to see it performed live.

And maybe it’s a rule that I’ll need to be more flexible with in future? 

(Support had been provided by veteran local post-punkers the Uncools, but I caught only the tail end of that set, walking in to hear the closer (and Snapper cover), ‘Buddy’, which immediately had me questioning my tardy arrival time and wondering what else I may have missed.)

Gig Review: The Beths, San Fran, Wellington, 8 November 2019

Sometimes you just know when you’re in the company of a band right at the top of its game. I got a sense of that earlier this year at a wild midweek Miss June set at Meow, and there was a distinct whiff of it last Friday night at San Fran with The Beths.

Tiny Ruins guy A.C. Freazy (and full band) offered a pretty decent synth-poppy opening set which culminated with The Beths surprising the packed venue by appearing on stage to assist with a closing cover of Sheryl Crow’s ‘If It Makes You Happy’ ... something that resulted in a fairly lively crowd singalong.

That rousing support finale put pressure on The Beths to hit the ground running immediately, and the band didn’t disappoint, opening their set proper with a tight, driving take on ‘You Wouldn’t Like Me’, the first of many cuts from the band’s popular debut album of 2018. 

Those tunes included long-time favourites like ‘Whatever’ and that album’s title track, ‘Future Me Hates Me’, but it’s clear that a follow-up album can’t be too far away, with the set also serving as an introduction to a good number of new songs, all of which sound great in a live setting. 

We also got an unexpected cover of Crowded House’s ‘Fall At Your Feet’, a rare quieter moment, but an equally well received one as the gig then built to a stirring crescendo, and the band closed an hour-plus set rather fittingly with ‘Little Death’, one of my own favourites from Future Me Hates Me.

While I’ve seen The Beths before, I haven’t seen them in this sort of form before, at a peak level where the band has clearly benefitted from the busy touring schedule undertaken over the past year or so – both at home and overseas.

There’s a sense that they’ve improved markedly during those sojourns and there was a tightness and an air of confidence about this San Fran gig – the first of two successive nights at the venue – something that wasn’t always evident the last time I saw The Beths at Meow in September last year.

A triumphant return.

The Vinyl Files Part 8 ... Blondie - 'Dreaming' (single, 1979)

Changing focus for the Vinyl Files slightly, as it would be remiss of me not to feature at least one single or 45 amongst the records I’m covering in these blogposts, given that the format often forms a big part of most vinyl collections. 

This one, Blondie’s ‘Dreaming’, was a relatively late addition to my own collection and it landed in my lap more by accident than by design. But I love it, just as I loved the tune when it was first released (although evidently not enough to have picked up a copy back then). 

In 2009, when my significant other was celebrating a significant birthday, we decided to have a birthday meal at a local tapas bar with a group of friends. After the meal we would all (most of the group, at least) head up to San Fran (bar) on Wellington’s Cuba Street for a night of 80s new wave nostalgia at the popular retro night, Atomic. The 80s was the wider theme of the “party”, and we decided it would be fun to thank those who joined our celebration by presenting each person with either a 1970s or 1980s-themed vinyl single. We spent that afternoon rifling through the large selection of preloved vinyl at Real Groovy Records to select appropriate records to hand out later in the night. Everyone loved the gesture, a bit of swapping went on, but come the end of the night we found ourselves in possession of two “unclaimed” records – Blondie’s picture-sleeve ‘Dreaming’ 45, and something far less memorable by 80s chart-rockers Reo Speedwagon. 

I was quietly chuffed that of all the records purchased that day, I personally would be able to take home the Blondie 45. By default, on account of it being left behind.

As good as it undoubtedly is - good enough to peak at number two on the UK singles chart - it is baffling to me today that ‘Dreaming’ was chosen as the lead single off the band’s 1979 album Eat To The Beat, when you consider that’s the album which eventually spawned the number one hit single, ‘Atomic’. In fact, ‘Atomic’ was merely the fourth single released from the album, following ‘Dreaming’, ‘Union City Blue’, and the forgettable non-charting ‘The Hardest Part’ … indeed, ‘Atomic’ appears to have been released only as a very belated afterthought, midway through 1980, perhaps to follow-up or cash in on the success of the non-album single ‘Call Me’ (off the American Gigolo OST), which hit number one earlier that year. 

Apparently inspired by Abba’s ‘Dancing Queen’, the live-in-the-studio take of ‘Dreaming’ as released, is pretty decent, and it highlights, more than any other Blondie single, how crucial the frenetic stick work of drummer Clem Burke was to the band’s overall sound. Yet oddly, in reference to the track’s failure to hit number one, and more generally its lack of global impact, Burke believes his drumming held the song back: 

“The reason why ‘Dreaming’ came out the way it did is because (producer) Mike Chapman really gave me free rein and it was really a surprise. That take of ‘Dreaming’ was just me kind of blowing through the song. It's not like I expected that to be THE take. I was consciously overplaying just for the sake of it because it was a run-through. I always say ‘Dreaming’ would have been a bigger hit had I not played like that. It was Top 40, but it was never a huge hit.” 

Burke is clearly downplaying the significance of reaching number two in the UK. The single reached number 27 on the Billboard charts, and it peaked at number nine here in New Zealand. 

But more than anything else, my copy is a permanent reminder of a special night out with friends.

Eat To The Beat's ‘Sound-A-Sleep’ is on the flip.

(The Vinyl Files is a short series of posts covering the best items in your blogger’s not very extensive vinyl collection)

Gig Review: Dub Pistols, San Fran, Wellington, 22 February 2019

The Dub Pistols gig at San Fran last Friday night was a slightly odd affair. On one hand, the band totally nailed it. On the other hand, surprisingly few punters were there to see it. 

While it was perhaps a touch disconcerting to see one of the UK’s leading dub/ska exponents of the past two decades - and a frequent festival headliner - play its first ever Wellington gig to a half empty venue, the up side was that it felt a little bit more like a private party. And the band, which was passing through the capital on route to yet another Splore appearance, sure as hell weren’t going to let a relatively small turnout get in the way of a good party.

So those of us who did turn up - an eclectic mix of cockney geezer types and curious locals (stereotyping alert, but an awful lot of hands went in the air when there was a shout out for fellow Londoners) - were treated to what amounted to a virtual “greatest hits” set from the band’s handful of albums and a few covers. 

From where I stood, with my head-bobbing sway never quite morphing into a fully committed boogie (to the relief of all those around me, surely), the setlist highlights were the few tunes I was most familiar with, including intoxicating takes on better known tracks like ‘Boom’, ‘Sticky Situation’, and an especially raucous cover of Stranglers’ standard ‘Peaches’. 

Vocal duo Barry Ashworth and Seanie Tee owned the stage every step of the way, with each man clearly feeding off the vibe of the other. The band itself was on form and always tight, and the inevitable presence of a room-filling brass man ensured there was a full and funky sound throughout. 

It may have been that the $60-odd ticket price was considered too steep for a gig some might have regarded as little more than a Splore warm-up set, or it could have been that Cate Le Bon at Meow turned out to be Wellington’s premier Friday night drawcard, but given the terrific show put on by the Dub Pistols on the night, the smallish crowd at San Fran was especially hard to fathom. One thing seems certain: all those present got their money’s worth and more.

AudioCulture: Atomic

Just published this week on AudioCulture, my fourth contribution to a site which documents the who, what, where, and why of all things New Zealand music. 

It’s a “scene” story about the popular Atomic club night in Wellington, which by my reckoning is the longest-running regular club night in the country - 22 years and counting. It’s also about DJ Bill E’s wider obsession with all things retro and post-punk, and the various archiving projects he’s involved with. 

Check out the story at the link below ...

https://www.audioculture.co.nz/scenes/atomic-club-nights