DougFest is back. Bigger, bolder, and heftier than the first.

Showrunner Doug Menzies no doubt worked tirelessly to bring ten bands over two nights, including some of the biggest names in alt-rock and metal Aotearoa New Zealand has on offer.

If I lived more locally I'd have attended both evenings, but time constraints forced me to pick the latter date. And hey, no complaints here! Tonight I get reformed hardcore icons Barracks, Kirikiriroa Hamilton’s local heroes Static and Achilles Complex, party-punks Pink Plates, and arguably one of Oceania's best metalcore acts, Crooked Royals. If that lineup isn’t hefty, it’s hard to say what is.

Like the previous DougFest, this one is again at Last Place, Kirikiriroa's much-loved burger joint/public freehouse/live music venue. Their smashed burgers are superb and have always prided themselves on pouring some of Aotearoa's finest brews. This weekend it included two specially created beers courtesy of Black Sands Brewing, in collaboration with Doug himself. On top of that, I noticed Last Place’s customised “Doug Dog” hotdog is back on the menu, probably for this weekend only.

Needless to say, seeing the extra effort our guy has put into making these nights his very own, DougFest 2 should be nothing short of special.

I managed to catch up briefly with the pink-maned ringmaster himself, who admitted he was tired after Part 1 of DougFest 2, but he appeared more jovial than exhausted. When asked if he gets to relax on Sunday, he replied “Nah, some mates have flown in to see this show and I’m dropping them off at the airport in the morning”. What a champion.

Revving things in high gear to start up the evening were Tamaki Makaurau’s five-piece Pink Plates. It's unapologetically raucous and boisterous punk rock, whipping the early crowd into a screaming and moshing mass.

The muscular drums, weighted with overdriven guitars are hurried along with frontman James Dalton's wild vocal style. But amidst the unbridled debauchery, the main driver behind each song is Craig Hebblethwaite's succinct yet solid basslines.

And what an enjoyable set it was! A cake was passed around the audience, the bikini-clad frontman's tasselled hat ended up in the air longer than it stayed in his head. And to wind down the 20-minute set was a cover of Elemeno P's Fast Times in Tahoe, complete with a harmonica in place of the usual guitar solo!

Oh, and that cake? It ended up all over the front of the stage, which was to be expected.

In a continuation of dressing up, the next quintet Static rocked up on stage all wearing nightgowns and eye masks. "It was the only clean outfit we had!", explained the frontwoman.

The group served up a rather unique style of alt-rock, combining emo with groove-gilded hard rock. The 2000’s-inspired guitar sounds worked perfectly with the bounding, lightly funked basslines.

Backed appropriately backed by drums, the overall vibe of Static’s music is powerful. At several points, the frontwoman's attitude-heavy vocals skimmed between passionate croons and desperate, shrieking cries, the latter of which felt at odds with the driving, hard rock instrumentation.

Nevertheless, with a sound and style that they’ve crafted for themselves, I can absolutely see why they’re Kirikiriroa's indie rock hometown heroes.

In between bands, two MCs under stage names Thief & Zard overrode the house music and attempted to hype up and generate banter with members of the audience. Their repeated chants of band names and boyish jabs at each other often went on for too long and came across distracting. But hey, many in the audience seemed to respond well to the comedy, so let’s let them have it.

The last time I saw Achilles Complex perform they were missing their vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Reece Gielen. They were hugely impressive then, and this time with their frontman back on duty, they sounded even more impressive.

Guitar master Harley Flynn provided their songs’ power by way of palm-muted, mathematical rhythms, finger-tapped solos, and growly backing vocals. Drummer Zak Cole and finger-bass maestro Jordan Carpenter worked together flawlessly to flesh out every tune, as frontman Reece picked his way through complex guitar lines and let his vocal range take the reins. Their acclaimed single Vice was presented, and the Last Place crowd relished it.

By this point of the night, Achilles Complex are undoubtedly the best showcase of musicianship so far. The members were perfectly meshed and performed as a well-oiled machine. No doubt about it, I’m already looking forward to seeing these gents play again.

Touted as their first show in 7 years, Barracks make their return to Last Place to much applause and raucous cheering. And jeering. There was endless teasing about Qualms, vocalist Jared Ipsen’s other band, who had performed at the inaugural DougFest of 2023. All in good fun!

The band’s set began with some very delicate guitar work, which eventually ratcheted up to soaring clean vocals and scream vocals, a few of the signatures of post-hardcore.

It was clear there had been a great deal of fans who had come solely to support Barracks, with circle pits forming during almost every song, and fists pounding tables.

As the set carried on, the tone became progressively more hardcore and punk oriented. Their overall sound was appropriately unpolished, and the pacing at times ad hoc, which is totally expected for a hardcore band. The chainsaw guitar sound courtesy of Tom and Martin matched with the rattling-drone from bass player Hunter was an absolute delight to the ears.

Barracks were obviously a much-loved local band, and their collective reappearance this evening showed fans’ devotion. Even one of the two MC’s spent minutes gushing about the band.

Speaking of which, by this stage, the two hosts had become more intoxicated, less entertaining, and more nonsensical. At times, even Doug had a hard time wrestling the mic from them just to get a few words in. It felt awkward but fortunately for the audience and venue, the house music played the duo off while the final band of the night finished setting up their gear.

Having come off touring Europe not long ago then playing opening slots in Tamaki Makaurau just months ago, Crooked Royals appeared not to have gathered any moss; every member fired on all cylinders. Keane diligently hammered away at his drumkit, as Matt and Jake brought their slick-and-punchy guitar lines with surgical precision. Dual vocalists Christian and Lee not only took turns taking centre stage, the two switched effortlessly between harsh, screamed vocals to lilting clean singing.

Their key hits like Ill Manor, Copacetic, Paper Warrior and more, were put on display, as the five-man band gave their all to win the hearts of Kirikiriroa.

Boy, do these lads serve up a masterclass in stage presence; the two singers take turns leaning into the crowd, and leap about like wild rabbits at every breakdown, while Matt with his spring-loaded spine, whipped his neck back and forth with each grunty guitar riff he unleashed.

For their final song, Crooked asked for as many people as possible to crowdsurf, and plenty obliged! The audience clearly couldn’t get enough of it and savoured every moment of the forty-five minute set.

What a privilege it was to witness Crooked Royals do what they do best just days before they embark on their tour of Australia with Washington DC’s metal titans Periphery. I’m sure Doug himself couldn’t have wished for a better way to cap off the two-night venture that was DougFest 2.

This bears repeating: DougFests are truly unique nights out. This wasn’t just any old event down at your local; Doug knows the bands, he’s friends with the venue and staff, has stamped his now-iconic pink flamingo logo over it all, and has customised this event to make it his very own. In fact, there was even a healthy sense of camaraderie amongst not only performers, but fans and attendees alike. As cheesy as it sounds, friends made new friends, fans became family. Even I reconnected with a mate and befriended Matt from Pink Plates, who also works at Black Sands Brewing! Choice.

Bring on DougFest 2025!

Photo Credit: Kenny Peng

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