Saturday, November 10, 2007

The Veils November 9 2007 San Francisco Bath House, Wellington

Near the last minute (Friday morning, really) I decided I wanted to see the Veils. I own no albums by them and my knowledge of their music was limited to their songs on their and a couple of songs I heard on National Radio's Saturday music show. I had previously thought I'd be able to get a ticket at the door but did a youtube the morning before they played and was amazed at how many hits their clips tend to get so I bought a ticket before they played which turned out to be just as well because there were no door sales.



First band up were The Lookie Loos from Hamilton. The played hooky type Brit-pop with a singer with an English accent to boot. A couple of their songs seemed heavily Beatles influenced. They played a solid set and I wouldn't turn the radio if one of their songs came on. I made a Lookie Loos Youtube Clip



The Veils were up next. I took a picture of their setlist which was on the sound desk.



Some of The Veils songs I'm familiar with remind me of Nick Cave but I found a lot of their live material reminded me of 90's Brit-pop band Suede. The band really impressed me live and their music is truly great.
Here's a youtube clip I made of The Veils playing The Tide That Left and Never Came Back at this show.



And Advice for Mothers To Be



Lead singer, Finn sat for their slower clips which can be evidenced in the photo below.




Definitely a band worth seeing live.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

5th Threat, Not Quite Right, Ghost Echoes Bar Mode, Palmerston North, November 2nd 2007

I drove down to Palmerston North to catch this show at Bar Mode hoping I'd be able to see No Love Lost. However it turned to be Wellington band Not Quite Right who were playing which disappointed me.

The turnout to this show was disappointing but I don't think any of the bands are well known in this neck of the woods despite the fact that Not Quite Right seem to be playing almost every weekend two hours away in Wellington. They should be arrested for overexposure.

There were about three people at the show when Auckland band Ghost Echoes started playing this band are a punk rock band who put the emphasis on rocking. I was impressed by their girl drummer. They also make good use of two vocalists. Their between song banter is something they can do without as their music stands up without it. Here's a rough youtube clip I made of one of their songs.



Not Quite Right played next. They played a solid start but they played the same first song as every other time I've seen them. They really need to change their setlist. The drummer really pummels his drums and tends to dominate the band's overall sound. I taped their first song but since it's already on this blog in another post there's no need for another.

5th Threat were the headlining band. So they played last. I'd never heard them before as they have no songs on their myspace site other than a Youtube sports video clip. One member of the band stripped right down which gave me a Blink182 type vibe. So I wondered what the hell I was doing there.
Bands playing naked is really nothing new. Early Head Like A Hole did it regularly. Palmerston North punk band Motorsheep also used do it occasionally. I expected the band to be one of those NOFX-type melodic punk bands that appeal to kids who rebel against convention by wearing their baseball caps sideways. They do play melodic punk rock. They also have two vocalists but the Maori guy's vocals stand out far more than the white guys. Below is a part of their set (Sorry, for the slightly more than usual distorted sound)



Ghost Echoes are probably the only band from this line-up I'd be excited about seeing again.

Beastwars - IV

After over a year off for various reasons, we have returned solely because we wanted to review the new Beastwars album. I really w...