You squirmed your way into my heart

Apologies to all the blog purists out there but I'm feeling VERY lazy tonight so I gotta whole lotta 'copy and paste' goin on. I just wanted to quickly let you know about the upcoming documentary release (trailer above) called 'Gone with the Weird' featuring one of my favourite Christchurch bands Squirm.

Squirm outside Hex Central

"Squirm were a New Zealand alternative rock group based in Christchurch New Zealand. The band played from 1991–1997 and released 2 albums and one 6 track ep.

Discography

* 1994 - Whip Me Honey CDEP - 6 tracks - Failsafe Records
* 1995 - Mastermistakemaker - Album - Failsafe Records
* 1996 - Spastic Sarcastic - Album - Noseflute Records

Members

The band line up centered around

* Brett Lupton (Virgil Reality) - Guitar and Vocals
* Michael Brassell (Mike Hex) - Guitar and Vocals

and Drummers

* 1991 - 1994 Hat Myer
* 1994 - 1995 - (Darryl Kirk) Lawrence O'blivion
* 1995 - 1998 Pete Mitchell

and later bassist Vaughn Watson.

The band didn't officially split but members went off to do their own thing, Notably Michael Brassell's Hiss Explosion featuring Pete Mitchell on drums which released a couple of albums, and his other side project whitey Hiss which also had releases. Michael Brassell died of complications arising from pneumonia in February 2004."

[Thanks Wiki!]

Gone with the Weird is a documentary by Simon Ogston about Christchurch's much loved 'progressive art punk glam rock band' Squirm. (Check out the link for a great article about the doco on CHART by Vicki Anderson. This much anticipated documentary premieres at Al's Bar on Thursday night. Not only will you get to see a great documentary but both Permanence and, of course, Squirm are playing. I believe the run sheet for the night goes something like this:  
Permanence 8.30pm, Documentary 9.30pm, Squirm 10.30pm. 
Cost $10.


Sounds like a great way to spend a Thursday night.

I'll post some other events for the rest of the week later on.

Sounds Abound

January is here and with it comes a heap of musos on tour for various gigs around the country. The Big Day Out and Fly My Pretties are a couple that spring to mind. It's been a long (long) time since I last made it to a Big Day Out, and realistically I don't think I'll make it to another.  Back in 1996 I sold my 1962 Morris Mini for $300 to go to the BDO. The thing I remember most about the concert is that every second girl seemed to have blue or green hair that they'd dyed with food colouring and after a torrential change in the weather there were blue and green 'smurfs' everywhere as their hair colour leaked out and the green grass turned into brown muck. I can't remember a lot of the bands but I vividly remember Elastica and Tricky.

I'm a horder of all sorts of bits and bobs and it turns out that I still have the timetable I ripped out of the Auckland Herald and my ticket. Back then it was $62.50 and that seemed like a lot of money so I guess it's probably about the equivalent of today's ticket price of $158.

The timetable and map from The Herald January 19th 1996

The ticket

The 1962 mini I sold to get to 1996 BDO.

I'm happy to say that one of my favourite Christchurch bands The Unfaithful Ways are playing this year, but to be honest I'm not all that enthused about this years international acts, mmm that may be in part to my sheer ignorance (or my age) but I don't seem to know many of them. Shame. And the ones I do know... yawn.

Anyhow Fly My Pretties are back in town and playing out at Pegasus Bay Winery at Waipara on the 15th. I'm sure that'll be sweet. I saw FMP's slick third production in June last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. There's some other great gigs in town this week - EP releases from T54 and Second Gear Grind and English band Kitty, Daisy and Lewis are playing at Al's - so get ya gladrags on and get amongst it!

What's on this week? 

THURSDAY 13th Jan
Evening Empire, Weaponized, Lupus Lunar, Secondi & Raukus Methods (Nelson) @ Al's Bar
Slammin Bitches @ Dux
Orchestra of Spheres @ El Santo
Gypsy Fever Summer Tour feat. Niko Ne Zna & DJ Balkanetic @ Harbourlight

FRIDAY 14th Jan
Kitty, Daisy and Lewis @ Al's (Sold out)
Delaney Davidson, The Mysterious Tapeman introducing Zeno Tornado @ El Santo
Oakley Grenell Duo, 11pm Supership @ Fat Eddies
The Micheal Gordon Trio Experience @ Wunderbar

SATURDAY 15th Jan
Fly My Pretties @ Pegasus Bay Winery, Waipara
Steriogram Moving On Tour @ Al's Bar 
T54 - Drone Attacks EP Release with Magic Eye and The Guest @ El Santo
Second Gear Grind -  Grayscale EP Release with Soulseller @ Dux

Another great poster from El Santo

Bye Bye 2010

For me 2010 was romped along at a startling pace and I find it hard to believe it's nearly over. I didn't really want to write a retrospective of the year but I have posted the video of The Eastern for good reason. This wonderful band has made a big, albeit unwitting, impact on my 2010, and as it turns out the rest of my life. Oh yeah that's some DEEP sh*t right there my friends.

Back in June I had an idea to put together a charity gig to help raise funds for the City Mission. I'd contacted a few people and wasn't really getting anywhere until The Eastern signed up in full force - banjos, mandolins, bells and all. Their enthusiasm buoyed me along until other bands and sponsors followed suit and within a very short space of time I found I had a proper event to manage. 'Can Out' was the first event/gig I'd managed and although it was thrown together in a hurry it was a great success. We collected hundreds of cans for the City Mission and had an absolute rip-snorter of a night.

I think the amazing vibe of that evening will stay with me for ever. During 'Can Out' I discovered that I really enjoyed managing events and with the redundancy of my graphic design job staring me in the face it seemed the time was right to change my career. So that's what I did. Now I'm working as an Events and Communications Coordinator and I put this change in my life down to one band saying 'yes' to a simple idea and following it through with full force like only The Eastern could. Their guts, their hearts and their passion for what's right has inspired me and I truly thank them for that.

Right, 'nuf said.

2010 is coming to a close and I hope you all have a great New Years Eve. Mine will be enjoyed romping round with friends and whanau out in the back blocks of Okuku. Bye bye 2010 HELLO 2011!

What's on this week?

Friday 31st Dec
The Ghost of The Grand Saloon with special guest Stompin Nick @ El Santo
Supercharger @ The Dux
DJ Tony Dizzle @ Goodbye Blue Monday
Salmonella Dub Live with DJ Digital (UK) @ The Bedford

Gaps filled and Round Up Wound Up

We had a pretty music focused weekend with a giggedy-gig to play on Friday and a must-see gig to attend on Saturday. We started out playing at Gap Filler on Friday which turned out to be the perfect venue for a bunch of ol' Loafers like us. The Gap Filler crew has done a marvellous job turning an empty carpark devoid of character into a lovely homely space - the quintessential 'kiwi backyard'.

The Gap filling up - Photo courtesy of Helga Von Trollop

Next on our weekend musical spree was the Roundup Grand Final at the Dux on Saturday night. I've mentioned several times how much I love this band comp. However due to my some of the other loves, (drinking and hanging out with friends) I damn near missed the whole thing. Oops! We did manage to catch Lupus Lunar who played a smokin set - and after not seeing the other bands I felt convinced they should win the competition - funny that!

As it turns out The Guest took the top honours and after chinwagging with the judges at the end of the night it seemed they were almost unanimous in this decision - which to my mind would suggest they got it right. The Guest are a group of four likely lads from good music stock. They've already had support slots with Die Die Die! and The Mint Chicks and I imagine they will become a lot more visible on the local and possibly national scene over the coming months so I hope to see them for myself soon. In fact they'll be at El Santo on the 17th with Die Die Die! Nice.


What's on this week?

Thursday 2nd Dec
JEFF the Brotherhood / Transistors @ Goodbye Blue Monday
Modern Trash Quartet @ The Wunderbar
Jam Night at Al's
Musician's Networking Session @ Dux w How to Kill from 9pm

Friday 3rd Dec
The Eastern/Unfaithful Ways/Tiny Lies/Runaround Sue @ Al's Bar
Wet Wings/Canterbury Rams/Boy Scout @ El Santo

Saturday 4th Dec
Ashei "Shelter" single release party @ Dux
Dance Asthmatics / Palace Of Wisdom / Slammin Hot Bitches @ El Santo
Bowie Night with Hairdresser on Fire DJ @ GBM
Soulseller/Dying of the Light/Osmium/House of Capricorn/Stonehurst @ Al's Bar

Gap fillers and Round Ups

Some innovative Christchurch folk have come up with a great idea to utilise some of the gaps created by the September quake. The rather euphemistic term 'gap' describing the now vacant sections where buildings have been demolished. One such space is that which the South of the Border restaurant used to occupy near the corner of Salisbury and Colombo Streets.

Gap Filler - the creative vision. Photo courtesy Gap Filler web site.

South of the Border just prior to its demolition. Photo courtesy Sarah Ripen - Stuff.

In the words of the Gap Filler creators "Gap Filler aims to temporarily activate vacant sites within the central city with creative projects, to make for a more interesting, dynamic and vibrant central city.


Gap Filler will see vacant sites - awaiting redevelopment as a result of the September 4 earthquake or otherwise - utilised for temporary, creative, people-centred purposes. Examples include: garden cafés, outdoor cinema, live music, dance on a temporary dance floor and other creative responses to sites by local artists."

I think this is a bloody fantastic idea. Show your support by attending the gigs that Gap Filler has lined up. Just check out their website or their facebook page for updates. Opening this Thursday 25 November with music from Ed Muzik and superb little 3 piece Devilish Mary and the Holy Rollers pictured above.

What's on this week?
Friday:
Gap Filler 
2pm - Cello duo My Checkered Career Music
9pm - Film screening - Christchurch filmmaker Zoë Roland's Myth, Memory & Melodrama, packed with heritage footage of old Christchurch! (Runtime 27 minutes)
Stomping Nick's Album Release Party @ El Santo

Saturday:
RDU Roundup GRAND FINAL @ The Dux 
Grand Final set times!
8-8:30pm - Sandfly Bay
8:45-9:15pm - Valdera
9:30-10pm - The Guest
10:15-10:45 - Mmdelai 
11-11:30 - Lupus Lunar

If you've been watching you'll notice I've successfully predicted 3 of the finalists. Without knowing how all the bands will go on Saturday night I think Lupus Lunar will be hard to beat. LOVE that band! The Roundup grand finals are always a amazing showdown of bands playing their hearts out - and I for one LOVE that! I'll be there with bells on. I'm not even gonna post what else is on in town cos I don't think it'll matter, well not to me anyway.

Summer cutey tooties

Summer, my favourite month, is here! Ok, if you a complete stickler you'll know it's not 'official' until December 1st, but I tend to go on how warm I feel. And since I've been feeling warm all this week I believe Summer is here. Further proof is that my garden is cranking out some lovely goodies at the moment. Spinach, lettuce, celery, broccoli and spring onions are all there for the taking. I'm gonna have to wait a couple of weeks for the snowpeas but it'll be worth it.

The main garden

Snowpeas, nearly ready.

Summer always makes me think about the type of music I enjoy over this season. Strangely I don't feel the same way about particular musical themes for the other seasons, mmm I digress. My sounds of summer include guitars playing under trees, music pumping in the garden and sounds that don't distract too much from the important things like beer drinking. Actually anything with a general happy and exhuberant vibe about it works for me. Oh and cute. Don't know why but cute seems important. And speaking of cute, whilst searching for a nice little summer tune I found this wee cutie which fits perfectly into my summer soundscape.





What's on this week? HEAPS!

THURSDAY
Dukes supported by The Unfaithful Ways (LOVE this band) @ Al's Bar
HaYne go to Teletubbyland w/ Needless Cane & Dakota's Fanny @ Goodbye Blue Monday

FRIDAY
Jessie James and the Outlaws 'Price of Gum' album release @ Harbourlight Theatre
Phoenix Foundation with support Dear Times Waste @ Al's bar
Delaney Davidson with special guest Bad bad Evil @ El Santo
Von Klap Skanky Party @ Goodbye Blue Monday

3rd semi final of Roundup feat. 5th Day of May, Three Blind Mice, Sandfly Bay, Spacecake @ Dux 

SATURDAY
El Santo's 1st birthday party with The Eastern, Stompin Nick, Bad Evil, Bruce Russsel T54, Sexy animals and more!!! @ El Santo
Jessie James and the Outlaws 'Price of Gum' album release @ GBM
4th semi final of Roundup feat. Duchess Swift, Laon, Mmdelai, Von Voin Strum @ Dux
Fat Sally @ Al's Bar 

SUNDAY
Chris Gudu and Band (Afro jazz) @ Al's Bar

Ya gotta know when to hold 'em know when ta fold 'em...

As the great Kenny Rogers says, if you're a gambler "ya gotta know when to walk away and know when to run...." I'm not much of a gambler myself and therefore have little need to know when to walk away or when to run, but I have been doing ok with my bets in the RDU Roundup comp this year. It's true I'm only betting against myself, and now that I actually think about it, with nothing to lose I think that is absolutely NOT gambling... Mmmm... this train of thought is completely destroying my gambling theme for this blog.  Ah whatever... any excuse to play some Kenny Rogers AND The Muppets! Yay Kenny! Yay Muppets!

Anyways so far in this non-gambling game I've successfully picked Lupus Lunar and Sandfly Bay to get through to the semi's so now that all the Semi's are sorted who's my (monopoly) money on for the final?

These are the Semi final line-ups:


Semi Final 1 – Thursday 11th November, 8.15-11pm
8:15 Gearloose
9:00 Lupus Lunar
9:45 Coate
10:30 Bad Mouth

Semi Final 2 – Friday 12th November, 8.15-11pm
8:15 Valdera
9:00 The Guest
9:45 Masters Of Our Universe
10:30 Madfaces

Semi Final 3 – Friday 19th November, 8.15-11pm
8:15 5th Day of May
9:00 Three Blind Monkeys (formally The Sam & Eric Show)
9:45 Sandfly Bay
10:30 Spacecake

Semi Final 4 – Saturday 20th November, 8.15-11pm
8:15 Duchess Swift
9:00 Laon
9:45 Mmdelai
10:30 Von Voin Strum

My picks for the final are:
Semi final 1 - Lupus Lunar;
Semi final 2 - Valdera,
Semi final 3 - Sandfly Bay,
Semi final 4 - Von Voin Strum.

And what would I know? Fuck all. This isn't exactly an educated guess, in fact it's mostly just that second part - guess. Is your guess as good as mine? Only time will tell.