smokin in the big smoke

so this past weekend i was up in auckland, city of sails, big smoke, "capital of New Zealand" (according to Reuters and according to Aucklanders). it was cold and wet and thundery and then sunny and then thundery and then a bit more rain and then a bit more sun... the reason kiwis talk about the weather so much is because its changing every 2 minutes literally.

saturday night i played at the Wine Cellar in St. Kevin's Arcade. i'm not an expert on saints, but i think Kev may have been saint of cute fuzzy animals. Catholics and Saintologists please feel free to correct me on this one. The Wine Cellar is like a party in somebody's student flat, with the bands playing out the back in the smoker's corner. everyone's friendly, the vibe is good, as is the mulled wine. less good is the dance music that blasted through from some other venue next door which was so loud it actually came through the microphones, but oh well. i played a long set to a small but enthusiastic crowd that had travelled from as far as Milton and Taurange to hear me play. but the weird bit was although i could only see a small crowd of people while i played outside, a whole bar inside could hear me too. its a lot easier playing to people who you can see. not very deep, but very true. especially when you play singalong drinking songs as i do.

this thursday the plastic kitchen are playing at Room 101, downstairs bodega, with Sam Prebble & the Bond St Bridge Band and Reb Fountain so come along, it'll be good times all round. b

a happy opening

so for some reason my last post only got published today - don't go to see me at happy this saturday, go last saturday (this saturday come see me in auckland at the Wine Cellar).

but also don't believe all you read - while its true that i did play at Happy on saturday night, what is less true is that i opened for american band Jessica Something Jewish and Aussie The Alps. you see for whatever reason (and i've heard a few). those bands decided to not come to wellington. so i opened for local band Thought Creature, and they no longer opened for anyone.

but despite the lack of overseas acts and hence audience, it was still a fun gig. i made lots of noise, which always makes me happy. then Thought Creature made significantly more noise, which also made me happy, possibly happier.

now i prepare to head to the big smoke to teach them a thing or two about acoustic stonk. hope they get the power on by then.

yawn and yay

yawn: saw da vinci code last night. a truly boring movie. its basically gandalf and forest gump blabbering on about some tedious christ conspiracy while an incredibly beautiful amalie looks on trying to feign interest. and everytime something exciting is about to happen, something prevents it happening and they return to talking. and anyone who's faith is threatened by a novel, is second only in the dumb stakes to people who base their faith on the words of someone who writes sci fi novels.

but yay: this saturday (10 June) Das Ben opens for American band Jessica Something Jewish, Aussie The Alps and local Thought Creature. The gig is at Happy, cnr of Tory and Vivian Streets) and probably costs something (like your soul). b