Welcome to BlogRoddus. This is my Blog dedicated to Music, Tramping and any other things that tickle my fancy. Thank you for visiting my Blog and I hope that you enjoy your time here.
The Don was hitting the road again, this time to showcase a whole album worth of new songs that were waiting to be recorded. It was a packed house at Blue Smoke as the support act Ryan Fisherman played a rather uninspiring set that sounded muddy and it was practically the last song he played that illicited any interest from myself or my friends that I was with.
Don hit the stage and announced that he and his band, with the impressive Shayne Carter on guitar, were going to play us 13 brand new songs that are most likely going to be on his next album. I was initially disappointed a little with this as myself and I am sure many others there would have liked to hear some of his older songs from his fantastic back catalog. Still, with these new songs, Don proved again what a great songwriter he is with his set showing us a glimpse of what looks like being yet another great McGlashan record.. After the 13 songs, the band then gave us a little bit of that excellent back catalog which really got the audience going wild, especially with the excellent version of "....Marsha....": Which I videoed and is posted below.. So in the end it was yet another excellent Don McGashan gig and I am looking forward to the next album.
Last night of the trifecta of gigs on this holiday weekend. Dick Move's first album had just arrived on my doorstep at the start of the week and I was pretty impressed with the trashy melodic punk they played on a well produced but very short album.
Arrived at Darkroom just a few minutes before the first band, Pretty Dumb, hit the stage. A very young three piece playing a nice brand of hard rock sort of music, they were very proficient and had some great songs and I really enjoyed their set and their chops.
The next band were called Marsha and their Facebook profile said Post Punk, but I thought they were more indie rock. They also had some nice licks but actually their music didn't much capture my interest, so I took the opportunity to sit down around the corner from the stage area on the comfy sofa until Dick Move came on.
Dick Move squeezed their five selves onto the tiny stage, but the singer spent quite a lot of the time singing down in the audience. She is another full on lead singer who reminded me of the Contenders singer I saw on Saturday night and also Annabel Liddell from Miss June, they all dress similar and have similar performance attitudes. The band played hard and fast and like the album , the set was over in short time. A five piece creates a lot of noise live and this they certainly did and it was a great set but after the massive build up I got from talking with one of the local punk musicians at Punk fest about Dick Move's set on Friday night, I was somewhat let down, the intensity of their set didn't quite meet my expectations that had been built right up and they didn't quite reach that magical apex that live performances sometimes exude. Still, a great band and great gig.
My noisy holiday weekend continues with my attendance of the Saturday night session of the Nevermind The Punkfest gig. 26 bands spread over 4 sessions across three days at Christchurch's punk HQ, The Embankment Tavern. I had attended my first local punk gig earlier in the year soon after the ending of the first COVID lock down , that gig was mostly Christchurch bands, this festival drew bands from all over the country, especially the North Island. Like the last gig the place was pretty much a full house and many of the young ones were in full 80's punk regalia and hairsets.
First up was Nervous Jerk, who I have seen several times over the last few years, they turn up at many of these multi band gigs locally. Their fast paced melodic American style punk is great live and I loved their set again, familiar with several of their songs now especially from the record they released.
Next up was a bit of a surprise. Unruly, from Wellington, I was familiar with in a slight way, but didn't register their name until I checked online after their set. They had a record out that I had very briefly checked out and quickly dismissed and forgotten about. This three piece played a super slow doomy sludge rock that really blurs the boundary between Punk and Metal. It was really low end heavy and so slow, I thought the notes were gonna drop to the floor. I was rather impressed and went and bought a copy of their album.
Things went in the opposite direction with the next band, Pop OD. Very fast melodic punk again in the American Hardcore style, they even played a Husker Du song. Apparently only their second gig. Really good.
Next was one of the two bands that I had really come to see this night. Contenders from Hamilton. I had heard a couple of their songs on The Counting The Beat podcast a while back and was so impressed that I bought a copy of the 7 inch record they released( I don't usually go for 7 inch records). They actually looked pretty straight as they hit the stage and ripped into their HI- NRG Rock N' Roll. Their female singer was probably the best vocalist of the night and she really makes her present felt by getting really close to the audience and standing on the rail in front of the stage and hanging from the scaffold while singing. They appeared to stretch the songs out a bit more in the live setting than on the record but I recognized several of their songs and they played a blistering set.
Rodgernomix were the next band that I was particularly interested in seeing, Not too familiar with their music but I had heard some on Counting the Beat and they were a favorite of Chris, the Counting The Beat DJ. Another four piece with the Bass player from Unruly and another band with a female singer. This Wellington band have been around now for over a decade and they played a full on thrashy screamy brand of punk. another enjoyable set.
Finally, for me, was Carradine Choke, who appear to be the leading band in the Christchurch punk scene, and it certainly showed with the mosh pit heaving more than for any other band of the night. They played Crass meets Dead Kennedys punk. There was another band on the bill for the night but I had had my fill by 11:30 when Carradine Choke finished and I still had an hours drive home. Overall a great night with every band I saw impressing
The first night of a trifecta of gigs for the labour weekend holiday, and first up we have Wellington's Spook The Horses with, I believe, a delayed tour in support of their fourth album. This album sees the return to the heavier music and screaming vocals of their second album after the more subtle record"People Use To Live Here"
This was my first visit to Arcadia, a retro gaming parlor with bar and stage for live events. I got to play my first game of pinball in over 30 years between the first and second bands. Talking of the bands, first up was Troika, a local three piece that plays atmospheric heavy post rock. I had seen them before and have one of their CDs which I enjoy. Tonight their set was enjoyable juxtaposition of light and heavy as they ripped through their set. The lead guitar was a bit drowned out by the bass and drums, I would have liked to hear a bit more of what he was playing as he is a good guitarist had they have some good tunes.
So after my game of pinball, I settled in to watch the next band. Blindfolded And Lead To The Woods are another local band, a five piece with twin guitar, bass and drums with the inevitable growled/screamed vocals for this Death Metal outfit. I wasn't aware of them until this evening although they have two CDs out and appear to have been playing since at least 2011. Probably my first experience of this type of music live and it certainly was bloody heavy. They started their set with an almost Floydian piece of noise/drone with their backs to the audience and I thought this could be rather interesting, but then they turned around and plunged in to their relentless wall of heavy noise, shredding their guitars and appropriating the required stances. I didn't mind the wall of noise they produced but if course it wasn't easy to make out too much of what they were playing and so the songs all tended to sound similar, they had great energy. I think I prefer this music live than recorded.
Spook the Horses took the stage around 11 PM, also a five piece but with three guitarists including the singer. I was thinking how much more of a wall of noise this was going to be but was quite surprised when they ripped into their first track how much more I could hear what they were playing. The first two tracks were relentlessly stunning and had me moving and nodding to the energy as much as my battered body allowed. The screaming vocals were better than I expected and the singer is very good at that style. The middle of the short set was intense but seem to loose a little of the clarity of the first couple of numbers, but the last couple of numbers really lifted it back up, I believe one of the songs was "Inheritance" which is the closing track in the new record and it is brilliant. I do find this sort of music a little difficult to recognize the songs from the record but that one stood out. This band far exceeded my expectation of them live and really took it to the next level on several songs. Great gig.
After 20 years of tramping mostly in the South Island, Uncle Roddus finally had a fairly serious accident.
15 Trampers gathered at the start of Coral Track, just north of Arthurs Pass on a mild Sunday morning sometime past 10am. The weather forecast wasn't promising, but the actual conditions turned out to be pretty good for a day in the hills, there was a possibility of winds and rain later in the day but all looked good as we started the rather steep slog up Coral track through the stunning bush of the Arthers Pass area.
The pace was fast with this group and I soon found myself at the back as I stopped to shed cloths and take photos of the awesome views. It didn't take long to get past the bush line and after a quick stop it was on wards and upwards.through the low scrub and rocks. The ridge gets a bit more rugged near the tops with loose rock and a sharp ridge and more care was needed as we ascended. There had been some snow a few days earlier and we started to hit patches still left on the tops and when we reached about three quarters of the way to the top, the leader assessed the situation and decided there was still too much soft snow on the ridge and the avalanche risk and slipping risk was too much.
We turned around and it was intended to to drop down a scree into the Bealy River. Unfortunately Uncle Roddus had other unplanned plans to throw a spanner in the works as he stupidly ignored advise from the vastly experienced person in front of him and decided in a moment of brain explosion to carry on and step onto the dodgy looking snow that was only a couple of short steps wide. Instantly his feet slide out from underneath him and he is sliding down the snow gathering speed. Not to worry, he thinks, self arresting is second nature nowadays and duly sets himself and his ice axe into the correct position. This, though is quite ineffectual, as the snow is very slushy and no real purchase is found by the ice axe and control evaporates and downward speed increases. Free fall ensures as things become a bit of a blur, but it has become obvious that any control is totally gone and a loud scream of frustration and anger escapes his lips in the form of the famous expletive that starts with the letter F.
The next thought to go through his mine was, "This is it, I'm dead.!" The rocks were racing past and some sort of fatal impact seemed immanent, body seemed to even be air born for a moment but there was an almost calmness to the prospect of impact. And yet, it didn't come. Somehow, Uncle Roddus ended up in a gut, almost buried to the waist in snow in some semblance of an upright position. As some snow started coming down on top of him, he tried to extract himself from the snow and get out of the way but he was buried deep and couldn't move. Luckily the snow coming down the chute was of little amount and soon stopped. Assessing things quickly as realization dawned that he was actually relatively unhurt, he still had his ice axe and used it to dig out of the snow and gingerly crawl over to bare rock picking up the nearby walking poles that had dislodged from the side of his pack. Blood was pouring from a cut on his hand but all limbs and extremities were functioning correctly without extreme pain.
Other members of the party were seen at the top of the chute and arms were waved and loud vocal affirmations were made to attract their attention to the fact that someone was still alive down here, then it was a case of just sitting down and shaking until some of the party arrived to check on the situation. Uncle Roddus was beginning to realize how fortunate things had turned out, even to the fact that he was still wearing his hat, glasses and his cell phone in his shorts pocket was undamaged.
Some of the team arrived and comforted the injured party until the rescue helicopter arrived and winched Uncle Roddus into the chopper(perhaps the scariest part of the adventure so far(until he had to confront his wife with what had happened))
Almost didn't go to this. Had been procrastinating on buying tickets and honestly, the new album was nowhere near as good as the first in my opinion, it is good but it really didn't have the same spark of their debut and not so many hooks as well. I had tried to get a ticket for the GA section a couple of days earlier but the UTR web site had cocked up and actually had none of their allocated left so refunded my purchase. The only tickets left available were the top level seats. So I still hedged on going until I got home form work on Friday evening checked the availability of tickets and as there was not much else going on, decided to go.
The ticket said 8pm, I assumed that was door opening. I duly arrived at about 2 minutes past 8 and took my seat as the lights dimmed and the support act arrived onstage. I had tried to discover who the first act was by perusing the ticket sites but no mention was made of a support act. This was a three piece with two keyboards and the singer with acoustic guitar. I Though recognized the singers voice as they got into the first song but I missed their name as the singer mumbled their introduction after the first song. Eventually, they played a song I knew quite well, and it was one I didn't particularly like but it fell into place who they were. Pickle Darling were slightly familiar to me from the aforementioned track and it was my dislike of that track that stopped me from exploring their music further and honestly although I did not mind their 30 minute set of electro pop, it still did not inspire me to buy their record.
There was about a 40 minute break between bands, to allow the punters to spend up at the bar ready for The Beths set. They sauntered onstage just past 9pm and started in on some high energy songs from their first record. I had seen several acts at the James Hay Theater over the years and the sound had usually been pretty good, this time it was a little rough and there was a bit of bottom end booming and room echo. Looking at the speakers, I suspect it was perhaps more to do with my seating position than bad mixing, although the sound did improve as the gig went on. The band were in good form and full of energy and banter as they ripped through a considerable number of the tracks off the first album and several of the new ones as you would expect. They were tight and the lead guitarist was excellent and I got more and more into it as the gig went on. I think they were better then the last time I saw them at a much smaller venue. The audience was really getting into the gig and it was a pretty raucous demand for an encore, which the band duly obliged, with two more songs. Really glad I did finally decide to go.
This looked like an interesting little trip to a new destination for me. Tribulation Hut is an old musters hut of unknown age located on the upper reaches of the Swift River below Redcliff saddle and Cookies Flat. It was a mild and slightly overcast morning as 26 trampers assembled at the Redcliffe Stream bridge on Double Hill Rd. Flanked on either side by Steepface Hill and Black Hill(both of which I climbed in 2004) we headed through the Redcliffe Stream reserve, following a poled route through scrubby stream bed and Matagauri.
Had a break after the first 3 KM to regroup and have a scrog break, before continuing the climb up to the wide flat area below Redcliff Saddle. We reach the 5KM half way point as we followed the fence line that marked the farmland that dominates the flat area at 900M. The group was pretty spread out by now but and the plan was to have lunch at the hut and regroup there before the return trip back the same way.
The 6 bunk hut was in tidy and clean condition but has no fire as there is no wood in this area. We lounged around the grassy area around the hut for about 45 minutes before a pretty fast trip back the 10kms we had walked in. Got back to the cars at 4:45pm after a 7 hours trip.
