I saw The Cult perform in Wellington in 1993. I was four months pregnant at the time and spent the whole concert trying not to breathe in order to avoid brain damage to my unborn baby from the *ahem* herbal cigarette smoke that wreathed the venue; and the very drunk guy standing next to us took exception to the way my (now ex) husband looked at him and threatened violence.

I didn’t enjoy the concert much at all. Not because of herbal smoke or dickhead drunks, but because it was, quite frankly, lacklustre. Some musicians make their audience feel a part of something. Even if lines like “wow, this is the best audience we’ve played to” are hackneyed and trite, with the right delivery and some genuine emotion behind it the audience will believe. Other bands give off an “if it’s Wednesday then this must be New Zealand” vibe that leaves the audience with the impression that the band would rather be anywhere doing anything else than playing this particular song for the 157th time, and The Cult was one of those.

But hey, I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I still love their music and wouldn’t mind seeing them again, so I’m quite tempted to book myself tickets for their concert at Trusts Stadium on Monday 3 May. The Love World Tour follows a different format from your standard concert, with The Cult performing in its entirety their seminal 1985 album “Love”, followed by a “best of” finale showcasing their biggest hits.

So, what do you think? Should I give them another chance? Tickets are available from Ticket Direct.

Ask any Kiwi to list New Zealand music acts who have made it big internationally and Crowded House is bound to be near the top of the list. Formed in 1985, Crowded House had a string of national and international hits before disbanding in 1996.

Of course it seems that no band ever breaks up permanently, and in 2007 Crowded House reformed, added new drummer Mark Sherrod and released the album Time On Earth. Another new album is due out shortly, and prior to its release they will be performing in the Great Hall of the Auckland Town Hall on April 8th, giving their fans a sample of the new material, as well as a smattering of old favourites.

Further information and tickets from The Edge.

And if you don’t have tickets, you may still like to head along to the red carpet, because (along with OMG celebreties that you’d normally only see in the Grey Lynn Foodtown) soul, funk, jazz and hip-hop artist, Iva Lamkum will be performing live on the red carpet before the Awards.
 

This just sounds like heaps of fun, and quite beguilingly odd.

Manda

Tonight at the Kings Arms we have a selection of Alt Rock bands: Audio Empire, Stolen, Inverse Order and Elepho. Tickets are $10 on the door.

Mon 5th May & Tue 6th May we have The Foo Fighters @ Vector Arena. Tickets are $101.50 each from Ticketmaster.

Sun 11th May & Mon 12th May we have The Stereophonics @ The Powerstation. Tickets are $75 from Ticketmaster and the promoter has just announced the release of a small allocation of tickets to this sold-out show–better act now–this is the final release of tickets for Stereophonics!

Wed 14th May. Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold and Bullet For My Valentine @ Auckland Town Hall. I bought a ticket for this show the minute they were made available. This is going to be huge. Can’t wait.
Tickets are $75 from Ticketek & Real Groovy. It’s selling out fast but there are still some GA tickets available.

Wed 14th May. Stiff Little Fingers are playing at The Powerstation and clashing with Atreyu at The TownHall. ARRGGHHH!!! Split me in half someone please? The two stand out gigs for me this month and they’re on the same bloody day. Tickets are $65 from Ticketek.

Fri 16th May. Dragon are playing at the SkyCity Theatre. Tickets are $75 from Ticketek. Hands up if you know all the words to ‘April Sun in Cuba’?

Wed 21st May. Dillinger Escape Plan at Transmission Room. These guys are so bleeeeeping cool. I’lll be there with bells on. Not sure where to get tickets from but try the usual culprits, Ticketek, Real Groovy, Ticketmaster.

Fri 13th June. The Bravery @ The Kings Arms. Tickets $47.50 from Ticketmaster. Very polished sounding rock band with several top 10 hits in the US and UK and getting played quite a bit on The Rock here in NZ. Worth going and checking them out at a small venue whilst you get the chance.

Thu 26th June. Children of Bodom @ Transmission Room. Tickets $79.50 from Ticketek. Huge contempory metal band with several sell out tours under their belt. It’s melodic death metal and if you love killer guitar riffs and monster sounding solos then these guys are for you.

Thu 26th June. The Mars Volta @ Logan Campbell Centre. Tickets from Ticketek and Real Groovy.
The Mars Volta – well, if you don’t know who these guys are I suggest you use Google. They are unbelievably amazing and well worth going to see live. However, we have yet another event planning nightmare…. arrghh…. what is with event organizers in Auckland? Do you purposefully look to see which bands are playing and book them on the same night if they are music gods?

Sat 30th August. Panic At The Disco @ Vector Arena. Tickets $74.50 from Ticketmaster. An excellent live band who will be supported by ‘The Academy Is…’

That’s all for now folks….

Amanda

I stumbled upon one of these – Die Henkel Spur (the Henkel Way) – today on the way back from a meeting as I walked through St Patrick’s Square. Die Henkel Spur is a fantastic recreation of one of New Zealand’s first known musical troupes and it was a joy to come across this performance well underway in the middle of the afternoon.

The Living Room series has not been hugely publicised to date and is well worth checking out if you have the opportunity – I certainly recommend the great gusto of the Die Henkel Spur group!

Check out the full details of the Living Room series on Auckland City’s website.

The Managers do their well-loved ska-rock big band thing at The Gables in Herne Bay – rumour even has it that this could become a regular spot for their shows. Free as well!

Collapsing Cities farewell their hometown and celebrate their album release with a last show at the good ol’ Kings Arms tonight. $10 door charge.

DJs Manual Bundy, Stormin’ Norman, Lowman, DJ Style and Cold Hand Luke feature at the Pull Lounge Bar on K Rd. $5 door charge; 3 beers for $10.

If you’re a truly dedicated muso-about-town, you’ll make all three of course – but Aucklandista will settle for one. Support New Zealand music!