Why Do Bands Now By-Pass Christchurch?

Going straight for the jugular perhaps the easy answer is: because Christchurch crowds are too ‘fickle’ (the pc word for ‘shit’)?   

Worse than Dunedin, come on?  

Now one of the benefits of me having a messy desk is the ability to dredge up old copies of the Groove Guide, Penthouse mags from the 80’s etc.    

I found 4 of them, Groove mags as opposed to Penthouse of which I only discovered 2, from this year and decided I would do a completely unscientific study as to what percentage of N.Z bands graced Christchurch on their N.Z Tours.  

Auckland punters got all but 100% of the bands. 

Wellington just over half at 60%. 

Christchurch was 40% and Dunedin not far behind at 35%. 

Rider: I did fail School Cert maths.  

So Christchurch is definitely no longer seen as a must-do ‘destination’ for N.Z bands doing the traps.  

Perhaps it never was, but traditionally it was always one tare above Dunedin gig wise. 

Increasingly bands today are opting for Dunedin, Unknown Mortal Orchestra springs to mind, over Christchurch.  

Bands are signalling N.Z Tours that is better framed as North Island Tours.    

This death spiral trend (less crowds mean less visits, means less venues willing to have bands versus a local DJ) is replicated with overseas bands. 

I spotted in the latest Gig Guide that The Hard Ons aren’t making the trip across the ferry, picked New Plymouth over Christchurch and the Japandroids are appearing in Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin, no Christchurch.   

Just an hour ago via the Cheese On Toast Facebook link a band I’m getting into, The Drones are crossing the ditch. Peoples of Wellington and Auckland will no doubt enjoy them whilst I can but look on in envy.      

This is all a sad indictment of Christchurch music-fans malaise, people here have no one else to blame but themselves.   

The post-earth-quake stupor continues to see people of all varieties sitting-in front of televisions and computers wasting their lives away.   

There is an old saying that is apt here: Once the rot sets in.  

 

 

   

  

R.I.P JON LORD: DEEP PURPLE IN CHRISTCHURCH 1975

The first album I ever purchased was ‘Deep Purple in Rock’. The year was 1972, the price was a staggering NZD 7.99 – which probably coverts to NZD 50.00 in current terms. I still have this album 40 years later. I also managed to see DP live in 1975 at QE2 Stadium here in Christchurch. This was a controversial concert which had the local Press’s ‘Letters to The Editor’ deluged with complaints about the noise. Deep Purple was the first major concert in the stadium which had hosted the Commonwealth Games the year prior. The band arrived into Christchurch in a 707 ‘freighter’ chocker on a Sunday with what was then amongst the world’s loudest sound systems. Almost certainly ‘the’ loudest PA to ever land in Christchurch. Anyway rather naively the bands speakers were set up facing into the cavernous main stand from midway across the grass infield. Aided by the ever present easterly wind and the ‘shell’ of the stand, the band could be heard clearly all over the city that Monday evening (17^th November 1975) My parents could hear them playing in Burnside which is approx. 10kms east of QE2. For those like me with tickets in the said stand the sound was deafening. How deafening? Well the next day I had to go home from school because I couldn’t hear a bloody thing! My mates cousin drove me to the concert and on the home journey none of us bother to speak because we weren’t trained in lip reading! Local residents to QE2 wanted further concerts banned, but settled on the reduced sound levels. Footnote: QE2 Stadium was decimated by the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake and is due to be demolished sometime shortly.   The doco gem below was from the concert they did in Auckland a four days previous to Christchurch. Set-list of the N.Z Tours songs here.  

               

Re-live the ‘Old’ Christchurch in Music Videos

The centre of Christchurch is officially munted – still a red zone – an on going demolition site.

The scale of the earthquakes destruction is too much for the human mind to comprehend, with entire blocks of buildings now reduced to an empty plot, landmarks gone.

Re-calling what was where is mostly now left to old photos and videos.

So as a novel memoriam I gathered-up some random music-videos featuring Christchurch in her former glory as the background.

Try not to get all goose-bumpy.  

I’m open to other suggestions.   

I've added this one for effect..........

KIWIANA SELF MUTILATION

Watching this You Tube on Chris Knox and The Enemy reminded me about my first ever ‘punk’ gig. Punk in Christchurch was in 1978 was, its fair to say, a fairly middleclass affair. I was mates with Mark Brooks of ‘The Vauxhalls’ through primary school and they were playing at Mollett Street (footnote: the old of Mollett Street venue has recently been pulled-down, yet another victim to the earthquake on the 22nd) one Sunday night. Yes, Sunday and it took a lot of persuading to get the ‘green light’ from the folks to take mums car into town with school the next day. Mollett Street was the epitome of what a good punk venue should be: compact, dingy, peeling paintwork, dubious sanitary facilities and with the acoustics of a large fridge freezer. Apart from The Vauxhalls there were two other bands on stage that night, neither of which I had a prior clue about. Another local band called ‘The Doomed’ and some crowd from Dunedin ‘The Enemy’. I remember little or nothing about ‘The Doomed’ except they played ‘Lowdown’ by Wire, but boy, even three decades later, do I remember heaps on ‘The Enemy’! Chris Knox stalking the stage like a twisted Charles Manson spreading his Kiwiana version of helter-skelter. The total ferocity of the groups sound, a bass wound up so loud it felt like they were giving you an enema (someone told me what one was like, in case you were wondering) Tribal drumming, guitar on max reverb. Then as if in some sort of black-mass ritual Knox began slashing his forearms. Talk about an eye-opener, up to this juncture in my life the only other bands I’d seen were doing renditions of The Sweet and Deep Purple in tie-die t-shirts. I think everyone in the crowd that night, 75 to 100 at best, was gob smacked and went home totally wired. The Enemy blew me away and I couldn’t wait to tell my mates at school what I had witnessed, left wondering 'if all punk bands were like this?' Sadly, no.            

The Dux Lives!

Saturday’s Christchurch Press brought a ray of sunshine to shine through the grey haze that presently permeates the lives of Christchurch live music fans.  

The headline encapsulated the article, positive news  ‘Dux owner sets up music venue’.

Dubbed ‘The Dux Live’ the new dedicated Music and Beer venue is being constructed in Addington, near the railway on Lincoln Road.

That’s a bonus as it hopefully means the ‘noise versus neighbours’ issue that haunted the last location, is mitigated some-what.

Could we see bands playing after midnight?  

Speaking about noise another great bit of gossip I spotted in The Christchurch City Draft Plan was the proposal to allow select areas of town called ‘Entertainment Precincts’ be permitted higher noise thresholds. Lichfield Lanes were one area the article mentioned as a zone where it’ll likely be fine in future to pump the volume up.

Dux De Lux owner Richard Sinke is epitome of an entrepreneurial Cantabrian we need to celebrate and embrace for bringing Christchurch back to life.

‘The Dux Live’ open in a couple of months and a more relaxed attitude by The City Council to live-music in metro Christchurch – gotta be good.    

Now here's an idea that's come of age!

Looking at this old You Tube, if a clip from October 2009 can be termed as such, I wondered if there’s not ample room in the post-earthquake dust-settling ‘new’ Christchurch city plan, to cater for such performing places? What is so friggin’ wrong with bands doing a 30 minute lunchtime gig from a city balcony or rooftop, similarly a free Friday night concert? If ‘re-vitalising’ the inner-city is more than just a convenient local-body politicians wank-term then surely The Transistors offer inspiration in bucket loads for a vibrant city centre. They’d also like their $500 back.