The Terminals - New City Hotel - Christchurch - 21 July 2017

The Terminals are another of the legendary Christchurch underground bands and have been around off and on since the mid 80's. They recently released a new LP and this gig was kinda in support of that. I had only recently started listening to The Terminals, although I had heard of them over the years, the recent compilation was pretty cool and the new album I am still getting to grips with it's very lofi sound. Still I didn't want to miss this rare opportunity to see this band in action.
 This was my first gig at the New City Hotel, the last of the original historic hotels still standing in Christchurch, although a place of pretty rough reputation in the past. It had been a recent development of having gigs there.
 With 5 bands playing and a pretty late start, it was going to be a pretty late night. I arrived just after the advertised 9pm start time to find the place pretty empty with just a few musos milling around including Steve Cogan, the leader of the Terminals. There was yet no one on the door collecting the cover charge and I had to sort that later.
 As the place started to fill, I finally got to meet the dude from Coco Muse Records(Regan) who had been sending me copies of the records he was releasing for testing of pressing quality on my hifi gear.
 Also it turns out that the first Band, Les Baxters, included the owner of Galaxy Records, a small record emporium from which I often procure New Zealand records I am after.
 Les Baxters are a four peice with electronics, keys, samplers and a therimin. They produced an electronic industrial techno kinda noise that impressed me and reminded me a little of early Cabaret Voltaire. Not sure if the improvise their music or it is pre constructed but it was an interesting set.
 Next up it was Richard Maybe's Passion for Nature. Two young ladies on keyboards and electronics who created a cool but very lofi bunch of noises and beats with one of the girls singing but the vocals were mixed down into the mix so that they became part of the sound effects. Not sure if this was deliberate of just part of the bad sound system. I certainly enjoyed what they did and it turns out they were the two girls out of The Negative Nancies, along with Mick Elborado from the Terminals, whom I had seen in Dunedin earlier in the year.
 Colt 45 had pulled out of the gig and fortunately for me and the getting lateness of the show, The Terminals played next, possibly because it was getting past their bedtimes as well, aging hipsters that they are. As they kicked into their set we were presented with a real distorted wall of noise, the sound quality of the PA was not that great or set up all that well, confirmed by Dave from The Les Baxters the next night when I saw him at another gig and I struggled to enjoy the noise they were making and being unable to make out all that much out of the muddy mix. I know they are a pretty lofi band and all but it was difficult to make out the differences of each song, although some I did recognize. The last two songs of the set were quite long drawn out dirges with no vocals and I couldn't tell them apart. Mick played his keyboards with much gusto and was one of the few things I could actually make out at times and I always like Steve Cogals voice. All that being said, I'm still really glad i got to catch these guys in action and they play with a lot of energy and all are legends in the NZ music scene. I didn't wait around for the last band as it was now past 1am and i still had the hours drive home.

The Bads - Bluesmoke - Christchurch 20 July 2017

Another New Zealand band that have been around for quite a while but I was not familiar with them until the release of their new album which was posted in some Facebook group I frequent and looked interesting. I did some quick listening on Bandcamp, liked what I heard enough to take a punt and go see them on this album release tour and hopefully pick up the aforementioned LP while there.

 The Bads are lead buy the couple Dianne Swann and Brett Adams, both have been around the NZ scene for more than 30 years and had been in high profile local bands in their early careers.

 They were supported buy two other local acts as I arrived at an only half full Blue Smoke, secured a beverage and found a spot to enjoy the show.

 First up was Flip Grater, a solo woman on acoustic guitar who did a pleasant set of nice songs that I enjoyed but didn't leave a lasting impression for me to say much more four days and three gigs later.

 The next act was a husband and duo going under the moniker Terrible Sons with him on acoustic guitar and her on keys. Nice vocal harmonies and a very quiet laid back sound. She had a nice voice and really caught my attention on the last piece of their set when she let loose with some cool vocalisations at the end of the song. Again a nice support act but nothing to really stick in my memory apart from the very laid back vibe of their music.

 The Bads hit the stage with their backing band making for five musicians on stage. They ripped straight into it with a fabulous sound from the PA and played a set of great and catchy Alt-Country pop, with some slower numbers as well. They played several off the new album, of course and some older tracks and considering I really was not at all familiar with their music, I was totally impressed with their music and vibe and thoroughly enjoyed the show. Brett Adams proved to be a very impressive Guitar player and the band was tight and having a great time. I walked away at the end totally impressed and would love to see them play again. Listening to the album next day was a bit disappointing after the energy of their live show but it is a well crafted and well recorded album which I am growing to enjoy a lot.

The Miltones - Blue Smoke - Christchurch - 16 July 2017

I recently picked up a copy of a most excellent debut album from the above combo and so liked their brilliant take on light Americana and Fleetwood Mac. My wife was also impressed enough to want to come along with me to see this five piece in a Sunday sit down gig at Blue smoke.

 After lunching in the city and doing several chores we ascended on Blue Smoke about 15 minutes after the advertised door opening hour and after procuring drinks found a good table in the center of the room.

 The support act was a fella by the name of Nick Dow who played an electric piano/keyboard and was backed by a drummer and another fella on guitar. The music he presented was very laid back pop, almost jazz-like and certainly did have some Jazz flourishes at times. It was really nice music and Nick was a good singer. Perfect Sunday music and I really enjoyed their set. I was reminded of another NZ artist called Gramsci while listening to this music. 

 It was a surprisingly quick turnaround between sets as The Miltones hit the stage and got stuck into the songs off their album. Their sound was clean and clear, the singer is really great and the band was tight and professional and having a ball playing their songs. They played at least one song not on the album and also during one of the later songs in their set the keyboard player let loose a very cool trumpet solo giving the track an afrobeat feel and showing the versatility of this band. They had several people up dancing by the second half of  their show and I was even more impressed with them in a live context, as much as I like their album. Their sound is pretty commercial but I thing their songs are strong and they sound very confident. I think they could go far. Brilliant gig.

Glass vaults - Space Academy - Christchurch - 7th July 2017

Glass Vaults hail from Wellington and play a sort of electronic indie pop with their first album being more experimental than their latest, of which this tour is supporting, which is more poppy on first listen.

  They had two acts in support, the first being a young lady also from Wellington who preforms under the name Womb. Listening to her very small output on bandcamp reveals electronic ambient drones with airy vocals. Live though, she just had her guitar and loop generator and set up some very simple loops and sometimes didn't touch her strings for the most part of the song after initial setting up of her sounds. She had a nice voice and sung with quite an intensity(reminding me of Aldous Harding slightly) in places with lyrics also sounding a bit more deep(when I could make them out). I enjoyed her set and it was a shame that so many of the audience chose to talk loudly throughout her set.

  Next up were a Christchurch band called Pickle Darling, a 6 piece jammed into the small corner allotted to the bands at Space Academy. For a large band their sound was very restrained, they had keys, trumpet, two guitars and bass backed with drum machine. They were very quaint pop with some interesting sounds, very twee, reasonably interesting although the singer was so restrained that he was difficult to hear, but not something I would buy if they had any music to sell.

Still, I enjoyed their set enough, quiet as it was and a large slice of the audience still talked loudly throughout the set.

  I had been on Facebook between sets and a friend said he had seen Glass Vaults a couple of years back and thought the gig was terrible, so I was hoping this would not be the case again. The sold out crowd paid a lot more attention now and the increased volume made talking more difficult. Glass Vaults live were more bouncy and up tempo than their records and nearly everyone was dancing and grooving to their sounds. They reminded me a lot of Primal Scream's Screamadelica period actually and I really enjoyed their set.