Audiences in Te Whanganui-A-Tara can rejoice to the sound of a new venue, one that is already so ingrained in the identity of our city and the culture within. It’s just so fitting that The Dominion Museum Building at Massey, a structure which has seen generations pass through its doors to take their place, would cradle three mammoth musical groups in its first ever ‘rock n roll show’. Voom, Reb Fountain and Vera Ellen. Three acts of genre-defining performances representing some of Aotearoa’s finest musical creatives, past, present, and future.

After a slightly extended waiting period in the chilly Wellington evening, the cold breeze still licks at my heels through the open doors as I stand to the side of the crowd. I suppose every new venue has its teething issues, or perhaps the chills can just be reduced to Vera Ellen taking her place on the stage. The rousing Carpenter ushers in the night with its sparse instrumentation and the cry of Vera’s deeply emotional lyrics, pulled from the common lack of compassion that people tend to have for one another when we’re not afforded a view into each other’s realities. “If you saw how close I was, you would pick up the phone. If you saw how close I was, you wouldn’t leave me alone. If you saw how close I was, you wouldn’t be so cruel.”

Vera stomps and rips the stage under the thrashing of every instrument she picks up. The band is a split of visibly different personalities that charm us individually and as a collective. Many in the crowd call out to multi-instrumentalist, Sam Austin, bringing a further intimacy to the show. The setting is unmistakably home for them, shouting out random friend's names in acknowledgement to the crowd. A heartfelt call and response to and from the band.

Vera’s songs are deeply personal, and shockingly vulnerable. Lyrics that speak of conflicts between characters; some self-servant, some self-destructive. “You don’t want any part of this fistfight. I was born with love in mind”, “you don’t want to be loved, you just want to be right.” Passion and pain drip off of every word, but still maintain the space for interpretation from her listeners. Maybe that’s why this crowd insists on remaining so quiet, leaving the sonic soundscape from the ensemble untainted. Broadway Junction is tender and wrenching through Vera. She scratches and writhes through the hardest lyrics – painting an extremely self-critical portrait.

As the set comes to a close, the only necessary band acknowledgements come from Vera traversing to each corner of the stage to point and wave at every one of her musical counterparts, eliciting strong cheers from the audience. “Definitely stick around for the other bands” they joke.

And then there was Reb Fountain. Prowling the stage, a dark figure with lengthy hair draped over her face, keeping her expressions almost in total concealment. She embodies a smoky shadow of a presence that feels perfectly at home for both the most driving, heavy tunes, or the softest, tender ballads.

Her exhibit begins with the lights low. Floor toms, a haunting violin, a thumping, yet gentle bass from Karin, brings in the gloomy Fisherman. “Calling all fisherman. Calling on you. I hear you washing your nets and listening to blues”, Reb croons as illumination eases over the band and our Sharman-like frontman claims the room. With an arm extended to the crowd, slowly drifting up and down with each bar, accompanying her words and sending them adrift to us.

From her swaying, hypnotic movements through the stabbing and droning Lacuna, to a tender cradle of her heart in the poignant ballad, Hey Mom, our attention is unbroken in her presence.

Reb saves her best for last. The crescendo of the night is Don’t You Know Who I Am? A sultry and ruminative tune that she begs us to empower ourselves with. It is a song about digging deep, waking up, and beating your drum; it seems fitting that this is where she herds us with the deepest connection of the night. She bends and physically reaches downward as if to pull energy from the stage in the songs climax, scanning the gaze of every visible figure to ensure that we are heedful; “Rise up o children won’t you dance with me? Rise up little children come and set me free. Rise little ones. Rise. No shame. No fear. Don't you know who I am?”

As Voom take the stage, the audience transforms into a buzzing, jumping organism, one that I hardly recognize from the prior acts. It’s clear that there are some dedicated listeners shuffling into sight, and one of them is Vera – throwing herself around to the quartet at stage-left.

Frontman, Buzz Moller engages the crowd at every turn, jabbing fun at their age, their years of inactivity, and delivering quirky anecdotes. They move from chugging alt-pop and rock, to lulling tunes that you can’t help but sway to. Moller’s strong climbs to falsetto wash the tunes with a soothing aura that rounds off any intensity. I mean, they literally have songs called Happy, Just Bumming Around and Relax, the latter of which is such an easy-going track, it requires a whistling solo.

The fact that Voom haven’t released a song in 16 years proves just how much of an impact they have had on their most loyal fans. Buzz lets us know that they will all have their patience rewarded, having written (some, already released) a handful of songs in the last six months that are enthusiastically recited to us. One of these tracks is the hilarious, Martin Phillipps, a track dedicated to the kiwi music legend himself in the aftermath of Phillipps kicking Buzz’s cousin out of The Chills. The song is a stream of amplified, improvised thoughts loosely based on Phillipps’ travels around the world in search of his own musical idols of the past. The humorous lyrics, the backing vocals simply singing the name “Martin Phillipps” has the crowd cackling with laughter.

In a full-circle moment, Vera Ellen is called back to the stage by Buzz for the closing tune of the night, B Your Boy. Buzz has noted in interviews promoting the tour that the first time he met Vera, she was standing in the front row of a Voom gig. She was handed the mic, and what ensued crafted the basis of their relationship and obvious appreciation for one another. Voom and Vera proceed to leave everything they have on stage, bouncing and beaming through the crowd favourite. “My whole world revolves around you, girl.” A line so simple and bittersweet in a song that rips so hard it makes tears well in your eyes. It’s an earworm that I can’t get out, and a fitting curtain call to return to and reminisce in my journey home, out in the cold once more.

Looming behind the National War Memorial since 1964, the Great Hall has laid within the heart of the Dominion Museum for over 90 years, seeing hordes of graduates, exhibits, networking events, and celebrations in its time. It seems slightly bizarre that the venue has forgone hosting concerts of this kind until now, but I’m happy to report that this was one hell of an introduction.

Photo Credit: Stella Gardiner Photography
Vera Ellen Photo Gallery
Reb Fountain Photo Gallery
Voom Photo Gallery

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