Bringing a touch of Poneke vibes to Ahuriri’s Paisley Stage, The Bravo Uniform Mikes, with their partners in crime Adoneye, continued their mission of bringing the noise. And what a noise!
Local assistance was provided by Awarewolves, with their solidly melodic metal clearly having its own support base, going by the amount of branded gear on show! Unfortunately, other commitments on the night meant that I only caught their last 2 and a half songs, but these were intriguing enough for me to want to catch them again, for a more substantial encounter. Going by the amount of gigging this hard-working crew undertake, that shouldn’t be too much of a challenge!
Making their first ever pilgrimage to Te-Matau-A-Maui, Adoneye roll in fresh off the back of their overall win at the national Battle of The Bands, and based on this performance, it’s not hard to see what got them there. With their adept handling of the quiet-loud-quiet dynamic, there’s echoes of the 90's going on, calling to mind Silverchair, among others. Similarly, the complexity of the instrumental interplay harks back even beyond that, to the likes of Television and earlier Talking Heads. The involved nature of the lyrical content was somewhat lost within the sound, unfortunately, but what could be heard indicated an impressive intensity of thought. Certainly, a bit more going on than is contained within the average mainstream, aimed at your average teen! Definitely a recommended proposition, well worth catching when the opportunity comes near you.
Their departure opened the way for The Bravo Uniform Mikes, or let’s be honest here, the BUMs, to come on like a hurricane. With all the subtlety of a DM (Doc Marten, that is) in the gonads, this duo ripped open the sonic fabric and poured on through. Pottsy’s opening statement of “Let’s fuck some shit up” was amply lived up to, while Tomas’ tendency to kill drum kits required the advent of custom technology in the form of the “Drumstopper 5000” for the sake of the safety of the venerable Paisley Stage kit. Blasting through a quickfire set, the BUMs built further towards their mission of creating a base of support in this part of the country, a mission that sees them making regular trips up the road and will be sure to build a buzz (or at the very least a ringing in the ears!). A rendition of Folsom Prison Blues that could just about blast through the walls of that institution broke up the original content. Content that included the recently released, and perfect opportunity for an audience sing-along Motherfucker, which would’ve done Samuel L proud! Loud and proud, that’s the BUMs way! And a whole lot of fun too, that’s for sure.
But all fun must come to an end, and such was the case tonight- a satisfied, if slightly shell-shocked, audience heading out in to the Ahuriri night, fully entertained, and looking forward to next round. Any one of these bands, go and see them if you can, you won’t regret it!