Mt Oxford - Ashley Saddle - 27th October 2018

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary: Tramp No. 163

Mt Oxford/Ashley Saddle

27th October 2018

A real shock to the system, a full on tramping trip, after more than two years of inactivity due to health issues, laziness and spending all my spare money on records. The health issue was the relapse of the disc prolapse in my back a few years back which stopped me in my tracks from walking and tramping and caused me to develop a serious limp. Due to the damage to the nerve in my back, I have been quite restricted in my activities, although, managed to keep working all through this time. Recovery has been very slow and I many never recover back to my full mobility(I can walk fairly fast now, albeit with a limp, but I cannot run).

 Part of my various treatments to get me more mobile again is to actually get back out tramping in the hills. The only walk/tramp I had done since June 2016 was a walk with the wife to Ryde Falls over 12 months earlier. I was feeling confident that I could now actually try some real tramping and the plan was to attempt some of the local hills, of which I was pretty familiar, to gage how well I was able to cope. The weekend previous, now that spring was in full effect and daylight saving time had kicked in, the wife and I tackled Mt Richardson, a local hill that I had done a couple of times many years back and knew it was not too hard. That Trip went well and I was planning to try and get out in the local environs over the coming weeks. I had planned to tackle Mt Gray with a friend this weekend but one of my other friends mentioned there was an impromptu club tramp up Mt Oxford on the same day. I wasn't going to tackle Oxford so soon but it would be good to go on a club trip after soo long. As it was so close to home I took my own car just in cast I couldn't handle the pace of a club trip after 3 years.

 I met the group of 12 others at Coopers Creek just past 9am on a pleasant but not too warm day. I inquired to the leader as to the planned route and discovered that they planned to head up Oxford then loop back via Ashley Saddle and the ridge leading down to point  758 above the Scout Lodge. This was good as I had not actually taken this route before on the several other times I had climbed Mt Oxford.

 So we hit the trail by about 9:30am as I had a catchup with a club friend and was able to keep up with the pace of the group. The climb went well and I didn't fall too far behind, although I was last one to the top. Lunch was had in pleasant conditions with great views over the plains before we set off along the tops towards Oxford Hill. It was pretty easy going, mostly but the scrub and grass got higher and thicker as we started to drop towards Ashley Saddle. We stopped in the soft grass of Ashley Saddle for afternoon tea and to regroup as we had got quite strung out on the way down.

 After point 758 things started to get pretty overgrown but there was a track to follow so it wasn't too bad. The final stretch was along the four Wheel Drive Road, through a nice strand of mature pine trees before we hit the Scout lodge again and then back to the cars by about 4:30PM. After 16KM and about 1200m of uphill work I was pretty tired and sore but I handled it a lot better than I imagined and I haven't actually lost too much condition for so long out of the game. Still a long way off from being properly tramping fit again.

Don McGlashan - Rangiora Town Hall - 18 October 2018

Don McGlashan, 40 years of producing fabulous New Zealand music and still touring the country from end to end. The  Free Flight Tour is taking in a lot of smaller centers as well as a couple of the main cities up north. This time I got to see him at the Rangiora Town Hall, a much shorter drive than most of my concerts I attend.

 A seated concert in the old theater part of the town hall complex, the place was almost full, with most of the punters being of a similar age as the man in question himself, the wife and I were feeling quite young.

 Don had Anthonie Tonnon as his support act, a name that was familiar but his music was unknown to me. He preformed solo using an electronic keyboard to provide beats and other sounds as well as playing guitar and singing. His music was is a little hard for me to describe but although he was a reasonable singer, his music did not really connect with me or the wife for that matter, so we were both pleased when he finished. He did go down fairly well with plenty of others in the audience.

 Don strode onstage after the drinks break waved to the crowd and asked how we were doing before picking up his guitar and giving us a couple of his solo songs from his last couple of records, one I recognized, one I didn't but it set the tone for what was shaping up to be an excellent night. With just an acoustic guitar and some wonderful songs and his awesome voice, Don was magic right from the go as he, after bringing out a drummer to add a bit of weight to the songs, took us through a sample of his entire catalog, from the fantastic "Don't Fight It Marsha, It's Bigger Than Both Of Us" from his early Blam Blam Blam days, a good number of Front Lawn songs, a Muttonbird song or two and even a new one that may have not yet been recorded. Anyhow, It was wall to wall excellence and I knew almost all the songs he played and many of them are classics. New Zealands best songwriter IMO. A fabulous night and an hour and a half of listening to him sing was just not enough.

Tool - Lateralus - USA 2001

The fantastic third full length, super heavy, super cool, super awesome, there are no faults with this record, except perhaps it being a bit too long. Been a while since I played it but it has just grown in stature over the years. Some of the riffs are just sublime to my ears and the production is bloody good. Always play at maximum volume and you will never be disappointed with this alternative sort of heavy metal, sort of a super heavy "Post Rock" perhaps. Awesome record, rating 5/5.

The Builders - The Darkroom - Christchurch - 12th October 2018

Another Bill Direen and The Builders Gig, this being the third time I had seen Bill at the Darkroom. The Builders had many different lineups over the last 30+ years and this was the 1985 band that had recorded most of the Conch3 album, which contained perhaps their best known song, "Alligator".

 Arrived at the venue about 8:20pm on a very cold and wet evening and while at the bar ready to order a drink, I overheard the barman talking to another gentleman regarding The Axemen and the poster art they use to use for gig advertising, I mentioned that I had been perusing the Axemen's blog the previous evening looking at some of the aforementioned posters and the gentleman that the barman was talking to was in fact the drummer from The Axemen and also was the drummer for tonight's Builders gig. So we had a nice chat about The Axemen before I settled in to wait for the gig to start. As I was pretty early, the place was still quite empty and Bill was wandering round waiting for more to arrive before he started his solo set. He stopped and said hello to me and we chatted about the recent vinyl reissues the builders had released.

 Bill finally took the stage not too long after the scheduled start time and presented us with a lovely set of his songs, many seeming to be translations of old french poetry, or stories about old friends and one dedicated to Jane Walker, of Toy Love, who had passed away the previous day from cancer.. I did recognize one song of the recent Chrysanthemum Storm reissue.
  There was only a short break as the other two musicians got ready to join Bill on stage. The guitar, bass and drums were kept at fairly low volume for some quieter songs at the start of the set, but the sound stayed quieter than most bands that I see and it was cool to actually hear so much of what they were playing and just showed that you don't have to turn everything up to 11 like so many bands do.
 So they played quite a lot of the songs from the Conch3 album several that I did recognize this time and thoroughly enjoyed their set very much, they did rock out a bit and it was perhaps the best of the gigs I have seen Bill play. The saddest thing was Bill announced that he was retiring from playing Builders gigs and this was to be their last show in New Zealand and would wind it up in Australia soon. He would still be preforming the theatre music he does but no more Builders.

Spook The Horses - People Use To Live Here - Pelagic Records PEL 085-V - New Zealand 2017

The second vinyl release from yet another Wellington band, this latest record is actually their third. I have their "Rainmaker" LP from 2015, but I have not given it a lot of attention as the screamy vocals did put me off a bit. They have certainly toned things down a bit for this latest effort and their "Post Rock" has become a lot more atmospheric and the singing is now normal, making for a much more accessible record. There are plenty of lovely touches on these tracks with some wonderful airy guitar melodies weaving through the slowish music. Very good record. Rating 4/5.

Arc of Ascent - The Higher Key - Clostridium Records CR004 - New Zealand 2012

One of the many bands lead buy the busy Craig Williamson, bass player, singer and songwriter. Arc of Ascent are heavy stoner rock/doom metal which will give you a pretty good idea of what this sounds like. blazing guitar, thunderous drums, Sabbath esq riffs, this is a pretty fine damn example of the genre IMO. This was AOC's second record from 2012 and I think the first track, "Celestial Altar" is the best track. The record motors along relentlessly and although it is a great record, it doesn't drift far from the formula and the vocals tend to sound the same for each track, but play this fucking loud and disappointed you will not be if you like this sort of music. Rating 3.5/5

Idiot Prayer - Falconer - Monkey Killer Records MKR004 - New Zealand 2011

A short lived three piece garage power trio from Dunedin, this "EP" was released in a limited number edition of 100 copies back in 2011 buy Monkey Killer Records, which was run buy one of the members of this band.

 An excellent 5 track mini LP, the lofi grungy garage rock here really gets my motor running and has become a firm favourite since I managed to secure probably one of the last copies available not all that long ago. Rating 4.5/5.

Salad Boys - This Is Glue - Trouble In Mind Records TIM128 - New Zealand 2018.

Perhaps Christchurch's premier indie rock band at present, The Salad Boys are mostly Joe Sampson and a revolving number of local muso's playing with him when needed. This was Salad Boys second full album on vinyl, although they have some other very limited cassette releases.

 Pretty straight ahead jangly catchy indie pop/rock, with some pretty cool guitar and melodies, plenty to keep the foot tapping, strong songs and a pretty good recording. Nice mix of fast and slower numbers showing off Joe's song writing chops and it can also get a bit heavier at times just to mix it up a bit. A strong album and their best so far as these melodies worm their way into my subconscious. Live they really kick arse. Rating 4/5. 

Orchestra Of Spheres - Nonagonic Now - Fire Records FIRELP247 - New Zealand 2011

Wellingtons Orchestra Of Spheres is another kiwi band I came to after they already had a couple of  albums in the wild. This was their debut release from 2011. A four piece with a big sound and exotic instrumentation, Orchestra Of Spheres inhabit quite a unique niche in New Zealand music and are one of the most creative bands going at present. This first album is great and steams along a a pretty fast tempo with its strong  funky African rhythms, fueled buy electronics and things like, Gamlan, Theremin and Carillan, what ever the hell that is, judging from when I saw them live last year, it's some sort of Oud like guitar. Some nice experimental parts on this record and a bit of Sun Ra sounding weirdness just to enamor them to me even more. A real danceable album with heaps of interesting things happening throughout, a recent New Zealand Classic IMO. Rating 4.5/5.

The Spines - Idiot Sun - Flying Nun Records FN072 - New Zealand 1986

The Spines were a band of whom I was familiar with their name and remember seeing their records around back in the day but didn't actually get round to checking out their music, much to my regret. As I am rediscovering New Zealand music now, I found I was familiar with at least one of their earlier songs from back in the day but the rest of their music was unknown to me.

 That changed recently with exposure to a couple of their songs that turned up on a compilation I acquired as well as additional exposure via a New Zealand Music podcast I listen to frequently., so I was keen to pick up a copy of this record when it came up for sale via a seller in a Facebook Group I am a member of.

 Idiot Sun was their third and last album but their first on Flying Nun. The music is a sort of alternative experimental pop, well recorded, easy to hear everything that's going on in the recording, and not hiding behind layers of effects and distortion like so much rock music. The songs are just wonderful and quirky, very well constructed and occasionally fleshed out with some cool sax over the Bass, Drums and Guitar. They certainly had a unique sound of their own and I have totally fallen for this record and it's idiosyncrasies to the point that it is now firmly cemented in my all time NZ Top Ten. Rating 5/5.

Humphress & Keen - The Overflow - Sweat Pea Sounds SWEET PEA LP 01 - New Zealand 2009

Graham Humphreys and Peter Keen were members of the Flying Nun Band, The Abel Tasmans who put out four albums between 1986 and 1995. They got together for this sole release from 2009, another limited edition release that has been ignored by almost everybody, as I was still able to pick up a copy fairly recently from their bandcamp page, although I think I may have got one of the final copies.

  This is and will be a New Zealand classic. A wonderful pop record of epic proportions, brilliant detail, catchy, awesomely creative, and so much to be revealed over repeated listens. I love this record and need to give it much more attention. There is a real Canterbury feel to this record, i.e Caravan at their poppiest, and perhaps a bit of Belle & Sebastian as well. Fantastic record and get a 5/5 rating.

The Mantarays - Garden Of Light - Rough Peel Records RPR003 - New Zealand 2013

This three piece instrumental surf band hails from Wellington I believe, and this was their second LP from 2013, with my version being the limited to 150 copies blue version, which just goes to show how under appreciated this great music is that I can still pick up a limited edition copy something like four years after it was released. 

 The music is surf orientated but has a slightly more experimental bent in places and a little distortion on the guitar in places and there is no bass guitar, the third member playing organ. A little lofi, but in this country that is far from unusual, but the songs are all catchy and creative and I like this set a lot, will be looking out for their first record too, although that is ever rarer. Rating 3.5/5.

Bachelorette - My Electric Family - Drag City DC397 - USA/New Zealand 2009

Bachelorette is the vehicle for the musical output of one Annabel Alpers, from my hometown of Christchurch. I have come late to her output but have managed to pick up about three of her releases on vinyl from the now defunct Galaxy Records shop in Christchurch.

 My Electric Family is the second of four albums she put out between 2007 and 2011 and what a wonderful slab of beautifully constructed chamber pop it is, great melodies from her lovely vocal delivery backed with intricate electronic instrumentation that has coalesced into a strong album of wonderful pop music. In an Ideal world this is the sort of pop music our radio stations would be playing. No weak tracks here just wonderfully consistent quality. Roddus Rating of 4/5.

Koizilla - Space Acadamy - Christchurch - 28th October 2018

About a year ago, I was down in Dunedin for a weekend and managed to catch a gig by the Mermaidens, who were touring in support of their debut album. Supporting the Mermaidens was a young local Dunedin combo called Koizilla. I was very impressed with their set and so was pretty keen to see them playing again, this time supporting their new album that they had just dropped via bandcamp.

  The first band of the night supporting the group were a duo of a couple of young Australian bloked going under the moniker of Bleeding Gums Murphy. Playing Guitar and ukulele, these lads played a kinda comedy folk and were pretty catchy and played some nice lines, not to be taken too seriously but more enjoyable than I anticipated.

  Nervous Jerk, I had seen once before and also had a track on the excellent "Sickest Smashes From Arson City" CD compilation so I was looking forward to seeing then play too and I wasn't disappointed, the sound mixing was pretty damn good and their classic punk was fast n' furious and fairly melodic. The Guitarist/singer was pretty impressive  and ripped out some damn fine rifferage and solo stuff and was well supported buy the rhythm section. A great set.

 Koizilla are obviously pretty well totally unknown here in Christchurch, the audience was pretty much only about 6-8 paying punters with the rest being the members of the other acts who supported. This was a shame as these guys are a fantastic group with a very strong album they just dropped and despite the minuscule crowd, they played with energy and much enthusiasm. The sound was great and it was totally infectious, a great live set and it was interesting to have it fleshed out with the young lady on flute and keys. Their music had a real touch of the progressive but heavier than on the album. I highly recommend checking these guys out.

P J Harvey - Dry - Too Pure - (UK 1992)

The great Polly Harvey's debut album burst onto the music scene in 1992 and in my humble opinion might be one of the best debuts ever. I've had this on CD since it first came out and it was a massive fave back in the day and 26 years later still sounds as awesome as the first time I played it, actually it has grown in stature in the meantime. I surely don't need to describe the music on this by now. If you have not heard it then you need to ASAP.  This a;bum gets a Roddus Rating of 5+/5.

The Beths - Blue Smoke - Christchurch - 21 September 2018

The Beths had just released their first album, Future Me Hates Me" in August and it is already contender for one of the best New Zealand releases of 2018. A beautiful collection of up tempo indi rock with punky overtones and fantastic melodies and great playing, so I was pretty excited to see how it came across live. 

 The wife had also liked their record so this was one of the rare gigs where we could go together.

There were to be two support acts this night, one being a Wellington outfit called Hans Pucket, of whom I knew nothing, and also a singer songwriter called Holly Arrowsmith. I had heard of Holly and was aware she had a vinyl record out. I checked her out on Spotify and liked here Americana tinged minimal folk so was looking forward to hearing her play and picking up a copy of her record.

 Unfortunately Holly had taken sick and was unable to make the gig, so a fella called Jed Parsons stepped in to fill her spot. Jed's name was one I has seen on The Flying out website as he too had a recent record out but I did not know if he was even a Kiwi let alone an actual Christchurch homeboy. So I was going to play closer attention to see if I would be interested in picking up a copy of his record.

 Jed and band duly hit the stage and presented us with several songs from his record, poppy indie stuff that was OK, but really did not overly inspire me to grab the record, although I suspect repeated exposure may present a capable and enjoyable record, financial considerations prevented by just buying the record for the hell of it. I though his set was and music was average but I did tap my toe somewhat, the wife was not so impressed.

 We headed down the back of the venue for the next band as Lynn needed to sit down as her back was sore from work that day so we sat out Hand Pucket and frankly their music was not really of interest to me much at all. Pretty nondescript indie really and I was pleased when they finally finished their set.

  The Beths hit in with the title track from the new album and  I was instantly struck with a feeling that this was not going to be a jaw dropping set to stick in my memory for a long time. The band played very well, the sound was very good and the music, which by now was pretty familiar to me, is great, but even though Lynn and I both enjoyed their set, I was still just a but underwhelmed. I understand they had been living and gigging in the States while recording the album so I expected a tighter and more energetic gig perhaps. There is a indescribable and intangible magic that happens with gigs sometimes and not everyone can pull it off every time, some nights are better than others, this night was very good but not great. Still we both enjoyed it enough to be glad we went. Next time I see then, they might totally blow my sox off.

P.H.F/Roy Irwin/Wurld Series - Space Acadamy - Christchurch - 15th September 2018

A big day in the city doing chores, attending a Record Fair, watching a great All Blacks game at a sports bar and finishing off the day with this gig at Space Academy.

 Roy Irwin was who drew me to this gig, I have both his records and thought I would check him out live. It turns out that Roy had just come along for the ride with P.F.H and he preforms his songs solo unlike his records where he has a backing band. It is a pretty difficult task to pull off preforming solo like this. Something special is needed from the performer and strong songs.  I have seen several local artists that I really like on record preform like this and only some of them pull it off. Roy, unfortunately didn't for me, his records patchy affairs but he does have some great songs that I am familiar with but I only recognized one of them during his short set. He finished his set abruptly half way through a song, with the comment "Fuck it! I'm done".

   Previously to Roy, Wurld Series played. A four piece indi band that I really have enjoyed the other times I have seen them, a cross of Flying Nun and Pavement with catchy tunes and plenty of energy. It was interesting after the last gig I went to a couple of nights earlier where the PA was cranked to overload and ear damaging volumes, compared to the sound of these guys this night. It appears that only the vocals were coming through the PA during their set in this small venue and so thew rest of the players we were hearing just their guitar amps direct and the drums naked and it sounded bloody good, pretty clear and well separated sound. It worked really well in this venue. Don't know if this was deliberate. Again really enjoyed their set.

 P.H.F were completely unknown to me, from Auckland, this four piece hit right into some great punky tunes with the singer pretty snotty and often singing on the floor in front of the stage. They were tight and fast and really mixed up their set with some poppy stuff, some slower stuff, some grungy stuff and the best of the lot some cool punk rock. I was most impressed and the small audience was actually asking for more at the end. Just listening to their Bandcamp stuff as I type and they are much better live.

Bailterspace with Wax chattels - Blue Smoke - Christchutch - 13th September 2018

It's been an undeveloped relationship with Bailterspace for me over the years, mostly me ignoring them and their music, not for any particular reason apart from never actually getting round to exploring it, but mostly because they are NOT The Gordons. Bailterpapce(although not originally), consists of the three original members of Christchurch's legendary post punk, pre grunge alt band The Gordons. The Gordons are unquestionably my all time favourite New Zealand band and even better is that they hailed from my hometown of Christchurch. Their first Album is just the greatesr NZ record ever and although many fans don't rate their second record as much, I love it almost as much and both were big records in my youth. So after they split and went on to form Bailterspace, my attitude was they'll be anywhere as good as The Gordons, and in my opinion they are not.
 Recently though I have bought both of Bailterspaces recent albums and did also score some of their early CD's and discovered that they had indeed produced some NZ classics I was familiar with.
  Hearing that the original three Gordons were doing a rare tour as Bailterspace(they have never played under The Gordons Moniker since the mid 80's), I thought I had better go.
  It was an added bonus that the support act was Wax Chattels, a band from Wellington that I had recently become familiar with after procuring their excellent self titled debut album a couple of months back.
 The place was pretty near full, I even had to que a bit to get in, which was a first at Blue Smoke. I was admiring the massive PA speaker stacks and the monster Marshall amps on the stage before Wax Chattels started their set. I had been warned that Bailterspace play it loud and they certainly had the rig to do so. I was prepared with those little foam ear plugs and got them in pretty quick when Wax Chattels started to play. I though, although very loud, the rig sounded bloody good, one of the best I have heard in a while and I find it frustrating that I had to use the ear plugs as they do muffle the sound somewhat while protecting our hearing, I did pull them out a bit just to hear better and Wax Chattels did sound bloody good. They played pretty much the stuff off their new album and I recognized some songs but the record is still new to me so not all was familiar or perhaps just sounded different live. They put on a great show and really threw themselves into their music, the drummer played especially wildly. This three piece consists of bass. drums and electronics and sometimes remind me of their fellow Wellingtonians, All Seeing Hand. A great and pretty wild set from this excellent alternative band.
  I was a long wait between sets but Bailterspace finally made it onto the stage. Loud! Yes it was fucking loud.. Even with such a good rig, they feel they have to crank the thing into overload, the bass was so loud that the place fairly shook and you could certainly feel it through the body, I think they just pushed it too far and with it distorting and vibrating the speakers and almost drowning out the guitar. Bailterspace are considered a noise rock band but on record it is easier to hear the subtleties inside the dirge they produce but live it all ends up being just a wall of noise. Alister Parkers singing sounds a lot different live also, a lot more snotty sounding. The drummer varied very little the beats he played, each song having a relentless but not flashy beat that rarely varied and just motored along, quite a contrast to the wild drumming of Wax Chattels. Highlight of the set was the playing of The Gordons Machine song and at least one or two of the classic songs I kinda knew from their rather large back catalog. I did have to remove my ear plugs for the Gordons song and also loosened them later to try and get a better appreciation of the noised they were making on the stage but I am now paying for it 24 hours later even from the short unprotected exposure I did have. I did enjoy moments of their set but it did get a little monotonous in the end and when the band finally finished, I did not stick around for the encore, especially as it was a weeknight and I still had the usual hours drive home.

Death & The Maiden - Space Acadamy - Christchurch - 7th September 2018

One of the Fishrider Records stable out of Dunedin, Death & The Maiden are definitely my favourite band from a very strong roster, with both their albums being very strong and the latest, "Wisteria", is perhaps my favourite NZ record of 2018. So I was pretty keen to go see them live.

 They had enlisted 3 other bands to support them, a couple of Christchurch groups and one from Wellington.

 First up was not actually a band but local artist, Motte, whom I have seen several times lately and who released a great LP last year,. that I really like. Motte first played one of her newer pieces where she uses some heavy deep electronic pulses to back her looped violin pieces. I was pleased to see she had got her voice back, after, I believe, she was not able to sing for a period due to health reasons and she preformed my favourite song from her album.

 Next Motte, also played in the next act, The Ben Woods Group, where she played keys and violin. I had seen The Ben Woods Group recently at one of the Melted Ice Cream gigs a couple of weeks earlier, their lofi droney shoegaze is ok but not not overall really inspiring, but I don't mind watching their set. Their best song is the one they have on the Melted Ice Cream sampler CD and is much more poppy and brighter than the rest of their music, I really like it.

 Plains are from Wellington and I had never heard of this three piece band. They played a sort of post rock kind of music with vocals and they sounded cleaner and clearer through the Space Academy PA and they got off to a great start with a great song that had stops and timing changes and I really was impressed and their next song was quite strong also, although the rest of their set did plod on a bit with their songs sounding all similar. They did not have a very strong singer either which is a common occurrence with many of the local amateur bands.

  Death & The Maiden are also a three peice with guitar, bass and electronics and the bass player on lead vocals. I thought the soundman struggled to get the sound right for this band as the bass was massively distorted and the guitar slightly lower in the mix than perhaps it should have been and it was bloody loud, also the vocals were a little hard to make out. The band on record are subtle and dark and beautiful but live is quite different but just as good. Sound issued apart, I thought they were fantastic, and knowing most of the songs they played as well as I do, I was almost dancing to the groove and just totally enjoyed their set as much ans anything I had seen recently, and there was some tough competition. The young lady on guitar was very impressive and I thought her playing was even better than on the records and it is really nice on them. A most impressive gig.

'Sickest Smashes from Arson City: Legacy Edition' Release Show No.3 - Darkroom Christchurch 18th August 2018

Night three and I'm excited to see Salad Boys and Dark Matter, having records by both groups and having seen both play live before. This final night is at my most visited of local venues, The Darkroom. I arrived just before 9pm and they still have not opened the doors so I wait in my car for several minutes untill doors open and get myself my only drink of the night as I soon find my wallet I left at home and I only had $5 left in my pocket. The first band sets up quickly and soon we are entertained by The Teasers, a drums and guitar duo with the White Stripes set up of female drummer and male guitarist and singer. An enjoyable if somewhat unmemorable set if my tired mind remembers correctly but I liked some of their songs and the added backing vocals from  the drummer.

  Next up is Dark Matter, bass, drums, guitar, violin and electric cello. I really liked their first LP. Some of the line up, especially the legendary lead singer/guitarist, Steve Cogal, also play as The Terminals, another legendary Christchurch underground band. They play with energy and tempo, creating a real dirge/wall of sound with the violinist fiddling madly at the back of the stage and the drummer going full tilt. It is kinda hard to make a lot out from the wall of noise but it is still pretty cool, and I always like Steve Cogal's singing, he has a real distinctive voice. Their songs do tend to blur together and sound the same with so much loudly amplified music going on.

 Third band are Salad Boys, perhaps one of the best known local indie acts with two full albums out and a great live act IMO. The band is the brainchild of  Joe Sampson with a revolving catalog of local musicians playing with him under the Salad Boy Moniker. Their set tonight is perhaps the best and most intense I have seen from them with Joe's guitar playing fantastic and the speed and energy of the three players the best of the three nights. Their cover of Wire's Ex lion Tamer was a surprise and a highlight in amongst the strong self penned songs that I knew from their records. This is one band that although they make great records, live they are even better. Brian Feary was again drumming in this band. 

 Lastly was perhaps the newest band from the three nights, Pavolvs Puss. This time it is our man Joe Sampson on guitar again with bass, drums and lead singer. The singer turns out to be another of those extroverts I had seen in the audience over the last couple of days and he was certainly pretty outspoken. He kinda sings/speaks/shouts his lyrics which sorta reminded of Sleaford Mods. Joe's guitar noodling in this band were not the power cords he played in Salad Boys but much more restrained and clear sounding and were pretty damn cool. This band will sound fucking cool on record I believe and were really enjoyable live. They ended their set but were threatening to play on maybe improvising some stuff as I think they had played all their repertoire, but I chose to opt out at this point as it was past midnight again and I wanted to get home again before I turned into a pumpkin. Last night was the best but all three night were totally enjoyable and worthwhile.