So So Modern, The Naked and Famous, Mean Street, Moron Says What?! and Boyfriend

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Ellen Melville Hall, Auckland

This was quite possibly the best gig of the year. Savvy Promotions always put on great shows, and I’ve been going to Savina’s gigs since I was about 14, but this was surely the best of the lot. An epic line-up, great sound, awesome stage, merch table with cheap, kid-friendly drinks, a huge score of crazy, enthusiastic kids – what more could you ask for? It was a shame The Shocking Pinks couldn’t come up, as they were surely a draw card, and the money lost on their plane tickets because Nick Harte admitted himself to hospital and was unable to play was a real shame, but didn’t seem to dent Savina’s spirit (too much), even if it dented her wallet.

The kids were there early – they know how to do it – and were relentlessly charging the stage, sitting on the stage, staring in awe, jumping off the stage and falling into eachother. It reminded me why my friends and I used to make the mission out to Okura skate parks and playgrounds to see young punks like The Rabble (before they got the van and everything changed), why we used to endure the freaky geese outside The Pumphouse in Takapuna to watch heavy metal extreme bands whose names I can’t remember, and why we used to go to every single Local Output gig put on by Savina and friends. Because kids know how to have fun. So it was good to see the lineup adequately representing youth, with the likes of the now cult band Moron Says What?! and Boyfriend, even though the latter are actually not that young.

Boyfriend’s zesty, fiery, imaginative spirit stole my heart and rocked my world yet again, I was in a trance throughout their show – they are so fucking good! Savina reportedly said, after hearing Boyfriend’s lone myspace song whilst deciding whether to add them to the bill in place of The Shocking Pinks, that there is a really good song under there. That muffled, distorted version of Surfer Rosa Parks just screams perfect mid ’90s pop/rock band to me, but they are so much more than that. The intensity of Mike and Will on guitar, bass and mini korg, and Al’s harmonious and intuitive beats just make the most well-rounded beast, with heart and soul dripping from every note. I can’t wait to see them again, organise a show with them, and one day listen to their album, as I already know it’ll be in my top 5.

Moron Says What?! next took the stage, garnering the biggest and most frenzied, enthusiastic crowd I’ve ever seen for them and most other bands in Auckland. The energy was unprecedented, and not entirely expected, but a lot of their school chums came and made it the most fun set of the night, over the headliners even. The Morons totally annihilated their songs, even though for some reason Nicole was feeling painfully nervous that night – “my hands are still shaking!” she exclaimed later backstage. Their own sound issues were unfortunately repeatedly brought to the audience’s attention, though it sounded fine where we were! Though the band has been rather disjointed of late, every time they take to a stage they totally nail their perfect pop songs with joy and (often) ease. I really, really hope that the rumours it may have been their last show are not true, they also need to record an album for my top 5 of all time, stat!

Mean Street showed off their amazing new drummer that night, after he was apparently kicked out of his former band The DHDFD’s for not being crazy enough (so go the rumours). Apparently technical and natural prowess on your instrument doesn’t equate to the importance of showmanship and debauchery to them, which is a shame, as without the epic drum skills of Alex they may lose a bit of their edge. But Alex suited Mean Street perfectly, and the band had no need to be nervous as they were, reportedly. The tighter sound they’ve acquired seemed to give Emily freedom to be more aggressive and sloppy if she chose to, as no longer were they weighed down by ex-drummer Mikey’s characteristically floppy drumming. Though of course it must be said that Mikey was great in Mean Street, an undeniably unique and outstanding drummer. With Alex drumming Mean Street is taken to a whole new level, and they totally nailed their set.

The Naked And Famous I think cemented their reputation as a strangely industrial and not entirely affable electro band also modeled on some bizarre late ’90s sound. Princess Chelsea noted to me during their set – “It’s like Elastica!” As I watched the beginnings of their set with earnest excitement and enthusiasm brewing, it never really took hold or took off, and their sound just fell flat. Watching Ableton Live on their laptop while Alisa’s voice was glitched and fucked with, kind of ruined the excitement it could have gathered – it all looked transparent and a bit fake. Once again another band that seems disjointed and still very much in their early days, so I am hesitant to judge too much now, but the amount of people hanging out backstage later in their set seemed to send a different message. They didn’t really deserve to be as high up in the bill, either.

After an impressive amount of stretching and strange back massage techniques later, the one and only So So Modern nervously stepped on stage. Their keyboards set up in a square around synth player Aidan, bizarrely reminiscent of Kraftwerk for some reason, flanked by Grayson and Mark on either side and Dan at the back, they showed how touring the world this past year has changed them. And oh, how it has. They’re now not only worldly in the sense of having seen the world, played around it, and become totally immersed in it and its vast array of cultures, but the So Sos showed how they have possibly gained a slight ego, belting out slower and more focused ballads with grunty edges that hinted at their unique old school originals. They pumped their fists, dug their faces into the keys, shook out all the nerves and cried at the top of their lungs. It was like watching a wild beast hunting its prey – a little unnerving, bewildering, and foreign (I’m not a hunter). It was strange to see them out of uniform – the band is usually suited up in matching (or at least complimentary colour coded) hooded jumpsuits – this time they were in their own unique duds.

It was strange to see them so concentrated on their gear, and their individual parts, and it was strange to feel for the very first time at a So So show (after so, so many) that they were maybe, sort of acting. In hindsight maybe it was the slower parts they were playing, that meant they had to hang onto those notes for longer. The more refined and thoughtful songs and structures that saw them introduce new, sparse and slightly irritating noise interludes between most of the songs meant their usual dance moves/freak out antics didn’t really go with this new style of music they’re now doing. It meant they’d have to hold their poses for longer or do them less frequently, as the parts were more technical and sparser, compared to their previously strung-out, beaten-up, crazy noodlings and fills.

It was of course entertaining, mostly crowd-pleasing and mostly fulfilling, although I and a large portion of the crowd was left hankering desperately for some old material. I hadn’t seen them since they had come back from Europe, having missed their now historic Auckland homecoming gig at the Michael Lett gallery because I was at Over The Atlantic’s first Auckland gig back down the road. Cries for old hits were met with a brief one song encore, and then they had to leave for the pack-up of the venue to begin. It was kind of disappointing but ultimately invigorating, as any So So show should be.

Ellen Melville proved to be the perfect venue, and I can’t wait for more insane all ages shows of this nature to happen. EMJ will hopefully be involved in the organisation of another one at some point, and will no doubt feature some of the amazing talent that played that night. It was the most fun, entertaining, well-organised and extremely well catered-for gig I’d ever had the pleasure of attending. Thanks Savina!

More So So Modern live photos

Posted by Sarah Gooding under New Zealand