By Isaac Burwell
hi, thought i’d send an amil of my views of the s-k gig here in auckland,
nz last night….
well they were amazing!!! obviously….
i made a special trip up from christchurch to see them play the 2 nights that they are playing at the kings arms, and it is already worth it from last night.
i came up alone because none of my friends are big enuf fans of s-k to pay several hundred dollars just to see them play, but luckily i met an american guy in my hostel who was interested in going….
so we cruised along at around 9pm as it said that the show (incl 2 openers) would start at 9pm sharp….and the place was pretty empty, but title tk by the breeders was on the stereo so i was pleased….i noticed the s-k girls sitting at the back of the bar having a drink, but i left them well alone and we ordered a beer and went and sat down outside.
at about 9.30 the first openers began (fake purr), and luckily by this time the bar had filled up nicely. fake purr were 4 chicks who played pretty rough…they had some really good music, but the lyrics weren’t particularly inspiring. but by the end of their slot i was really enjoying them.
next up was xanadu, an all male 3 pieice. unfortunately these guys who plagued with problems and had to abandon their set midway. but from what i heard they are very interesting….the lead guy plays a guitar keyboard thing like the guy from psuedo echo, and he was getting some crazy noises from it…..first off his first keyboard thing wasn’t working proply…so he says that he’s gunna try his
other one, out pops this normal keyboard with a guiatr strap on it…it was crazy…..but that still wasn’t really working, so he went to guitar for a song and that went well and then back to keyboard, but it was still fucked….so they left…..but i hope they get all their gear sorted for tonites gig, cause i’m very keen to hear them play when they are all set up.
by this time the venue was pretty packed, and i was suprised by how many tall guys were there. the stage is only about 1 foot off the ground and i am 6ft2, and i was struggling to see the stage from about 6 rows back.
so sleater-kinney come on at about 11.10pm to some phenomenal screams from this one girl up the front…she seemed to go on for about a minute.
i liked how they just look so normal when they walk on stage. they look as thought they’re off to work, which i spose they are, but still. they said all the usuals about how great to be here blah blah…..and then ripped into one of the songs of one beat…..i apologise, but i can’t remember a setlist order… and the crowd just goes instantly crazy….everyone up the front is dancing and moshing and shit….it was crazy.
they played everything from one beat apart from prisstina and one beat and 3-4 from hot rock (get up, end of you, burn don’t freeze (??), and another one) and 4-5 from dig me out (words and guitar, dig me out, one more hour, turn it on, and maybe heart factory??). i was hoping they would play something from call the doctor, but they didn’t…hopefully tonite they will….
the drum solo was great and the extended versions of a couple of songs also worked very well. but they just sounded so fucking amazing.
the guitars were so clear and the vocals were pitch perfect. carrie was just going crazy all the time, dancing round stage, flinging her guitar everywhere.
but i was simply amazed by janets drumming…she is amazing to watch…..she looks so calm as she is ponding out these amazing beats…..she is the best drummer i have ever seen.
people were dancing to every single song and the mosh pit was going fucking mental. carrie said after oh! that she liked eveyone dancing cause lotsa places don’t even dance in the states, and i can see why they liked it cause they were just buzzing off the crowd reaction….they really looked like they were hazing a fucking blast. the dancing was getting a bit crazy at one point so carrie had to ask if everyone would take one step back to as not to crush these 2 poor
girls up the front.
they also said that they’re gunna have to come back to new zealand more often cause of the reaction they were getting, to which the crowd also went crazy.
they played for about 80 mins and did a 2-song encore and finished with dig me out and off they walked - well actually they just sat on the side of the stage, which was nice to see.
lotsa people had cameras and were snapping away. annoyingly however, they all were using their flash, so the girls were getting blinded every 5 seconds by all these flashes going off. so maybe someone on this list has some piccies. for tonites gig i am taking my camera, but ain’t gunna be using my flash, and i’ll post any good ones.
the guy who i went with had never heard of sleater-kinney and he was blown away. he was really impressed, and i think anyone going there last night would have been hard pressed to have been unhappy. it was fucking amazing.
so all-in-all and amazing night, and i can’t wait for a repeat tonight.
and then this morning as i was walking round town i saw corin doing some shopping on karangahape road. she doesn’t look so short when she’s on stage…..explains why they were a bit tricky to see. wonder if she found anything interesting.
well that was rather long and rambling….nevermind… i’ll post another little review of tonites gig as well, but it should be a shorter spiel.
Filed under: Reviews