Gig Review: Dougfest 2 - Night 1 @ Last Place, Hamilton - 25/10/2024
WTFIADF? After the sellout inaugural event in 2023, Dougfest returned to Hamilton’s Last Place and being only a few door sales away from being sold out, everyone in attendance was in for a treat.
Our fantastic hosts of the evening were Thief & Zard, and they sure knew how to start things up for the night before us. Screaming absolute nonsense with some sprinkles of details of the night into their microphones, the crowd were not only pumped but laughing their heads off.
Being the first band on the lineup it can be hard to make stiff bodies move. This was not the case for Auckland’s Late to Chelsea, as they came out all guns blazing. To kick off your set by exclaiming “we f@#*ing suck” is a bold move. I can confirm, they did not suck. From driving punk energy to laid back desert rock moments, this started the night on a high.
Throwing in a Ska-punk cover of Men at Work’s Down Under and the most aggressive rendition of The Offsprings Pretty Fly For A White Guy was a great way to give the cluster of people some familiarity to really shake their bones loose. Loud, loose and fun Late to Chelsea smashed through their set clearly having a blast while doing so. It became a collective energy between everyone in attendance which would continue through the night.
Journeying up all the way from Christchurch, Stonechild were the second band that took to the stage. A 3 piece that made a whole lot of noise and gave us a performance and a half. Only 2 songs in, Stonechild’s set almost came to an end as frontman and guitarist Dom managed to break the headstock of his guitar in a Kurt Cobain style moment of onstage mania.
After being given a guitar to finish the set the chaos continued but not without more technical difficulties, the borrowed guitar would cut in out, and was nowhere to be seen for their final song. Both the crowd and band were unphased by any of it, the show went on with mosh pits being started on command. This was punk in its purest form, and was the sort of performance that leaves a lasting memory.
At the halfway point of the line up were the only hometown band of the night, Edible. With a very distinctive sound, they almost sound nostalgic to any 2000’s pop punk fan. Compared to the previous bands they kept things a little more tame on stage. Not that this lost the interest of the crowd, as the overall performance had a raw emotional energy to it that connected with a lot of people.
A cover of Steriogram’s Walkie Talkie Man was thrown in the mix which lit up the room. How each song was performed with ease showed the great musicianship between the four of them. Edible finished up their set with a great cover of Rage Against The Machine's Bombtrack which made the masses bounce around.
Things were taken back up to a high octane pace when Cootie Cuties took the stage. The Auckland 5-piece instantly connected with the crowd and had them bouncing everywhere. At one point someone had a bit of a tumble and the band and moshers made sure they were okay, which shows how much care was in the room.
With passion and aggression the band had onstage it was clear they were not messing around. With a hard and fast punk attitude mixed with anthemic lyrics, synth layers and some obscure changes, this made for a uniquely familiar sound.
On the headlining duties for night 1 of Dougfest was Auckland’s beloved Coridian. Starting off their set with their anthemic track Rite of Passage, I knew this was going to be one hell of a send off of the evening. Being the longest running band of the night, there was not a single moment the band didn’t execute without precision throughout their entire set. As the sonic goodness graced the audience they let loose for one last time for the night.
A personal favourite track of mine Seed II was a few songs into the set, a track which has such a driving groove and morphs into a heavy, progressive ending which these 4 talented gentlemen absolutely killed. The blend of the powerful vocals from Dity along the Raven brothers on instrumental duties is a sound that is so refreshing to hear, with thought provoking moments as well as headbanging ones. The power and passion each of them played with during each song was incredible to witness.
While introducing their song Coexist, Dity softly exclaimed “that we haven’t been doing too well with that”, addressing the issue of so much divide around our planet which resonated with a lot of the audience. With such diversity within not only their set but within each song, each moment was interesting and kept you sucked into the music. Finishing up the set with Seed they put it all into the finale. The mosh pit opened up one last time as the end of the set came.
So to answer the question, WTFIADF? I believe Dougfest is the event New Zealand's local music scene needed. Showcasing the musical talent from around our country in one place, will always make for a special night. Thank you to the bands for giving each performance your all. And to Doug, thank you for bringing this idea to life.
Photo Credit: Kenny Peng
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