Rain - Single Review: Love and War
15 Jun 2023 // by Kev Rowland
It has been quite a while
since I last heard from Wellington-based singer songwriter Cathy Elizabeth, and
back then Rain was seen solely as a studio project with Cathy being accompanied
by Thomas Te Taite, who provided all the instrumentation including digital
drums. Now they are a full band who have been performing live, and it is the
first time they have recorded as such, with Thomas now, just providing acoustic
guitar (plus engineering and producing etc.
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Lost Vessels - Single Review: All This Time
01 Jun 2023 // by Kev Rowland
I must admit I was not that impressed when I first saw Lost Vessels play at Crushfest, something they later admitted to me was the worst gig of their career, but since then they have improved in leaps and bounds. This has been noticed by others on the Auckland circuit as they are getting more opportunities with better support slots, and I was not at all surprised when they won the Ding Dong Lounge Battle Of The Bands in November last year.
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Unwanted Subject - Single Review: Sons of Savages
28 May 2023 // by Kev Rowland
I have caught Unwanted Subject in concert a few times over the last couple of years, and while they have been getting better each time I have seen them, I must admit that nothing prepared me for this, which right from the off is a monster. I have never heard them quite this is aggressive, nor as polished, and this multi-sectioned single sounds almost like a different band as they have pushed their metal roots to the max in this metalcore beast which sees them mixing and blending different genres to create something quite special.
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Gig Review: Stray Dogs @ AUX, Auckland - 26/05/2023
28 May 2023 // by Kev Rowland
So it was back to Ding Dong Lounge on a Friday night for one of their infamous Emo nights, which tonight was a three-band bill with Stray Dogs having an extended set, supported by Altaea and then up first we had Blindr, a band new to me. Blindr are a quartet featuring Bill Caldwell (vocals, guitar), Blake Woodfield (lead guitar), Jack Power (bass), and Charlie McCracken (drums).
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Gig Review: Turkey The Bird @ The Ministry of Folk, Auckland - 27/05/2023
27 May 2023 // by Kev Rowland
Back up to
Auckland Guide Centre in Mount Eden tonight for my second consecutive gig (Sol
suggested it was a turkey sandwich as I am at Vader tomorrow) to see Taranaki’s
finest, Turkey The Bird at The Ministry of Folk. Before that we of course had
Hoop, who are Al Baxter (vocals, guitar, harmonica, banjo, mandolin), Nick
Edgar (vocals, guitar, ukulele, flute, harmonica), Emily Allen (violin, viola),
Glenn Coldham (bass) while tonight Gary Hunt was filling in for drummer Rusty
Knox.
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This Silent Divide - Single Review: Beautiful Creature
25 May 2023 // by Kev Rowland
Here we have the latest single from
Wellington-based melodic hard rock quartet This Silent Divide, entitled Beautiful Creature. I really enjoyed
their Tall Stories EP, and they played a great gig at Dead Witch towards
the end of last year, and this would have been recorded at about the same time.
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