Te Whanganui a Tara’s favourite sons, The Phoenix Foundation broke the mould many times over to create their own unique templates that elevate the average pop song into something really special. For decades they’ve been making beautiful, lush, twee-pop with layers of inventive cleverness. Key front men Samuel Flynn Scott and Luke Buda are not the only driving forces in the band. All of them seem to have side hustles, which just adds to the complexities magic of their music.

Recently, they celebrated, and have been touring, the 20th Anniversary of one of their classic albums, Horse Power, made way back in 2002 at The Surgery, with Lee Prebble at the helm, er controls. Actually, hasn’t every classic Welly band album come from that studio? Seems like it.

But tonight’s ‘classic, normal, un-fancy gig’ at the new Meow Nui in Vivian street was more of a simple stripped back affair. It was one of two shows (the other being at Double Whammy, Tamaki Makaurau) to wrap up the year. The lead in publicity promised little, perhaps in good humour for an outfit of overachievers, who knows. The publicity reads: “2025, another putrid rotten avocado of a year will be mildly improved by the ridiculously exciting news that New Zealand’s favourite ever chumps The Phoenix Foundation are heading out on tour and releasing their first new music since 2020 (remember that shithole of a year, was life better then WTF).”

Definitely tonight was better than WTF!

The new venue, Meow Nui has had a few troubles getting itself up to speed. But props to the owners, Damian Jones and Rahine O'Rielly for pulling this place together. The former citadel was always going to be a unique space. A half circle, cone shaped with a high ceiling and floating mezzanine. It was an architectural wonder in its day.

Back in 1990 my university tutorial class all trudged down to see Warren and Mahoney’s newest design. We stood on the very same floor and watched the large circular chandelier be raised up 4 metres to the top. If I’m not mistaken it’s still there! So was the raked floor, with shallow steps down to the stage, creating a bit of an amphitheatre. Originally there would have been pews. Now they are gone, but the steps remain making it a little bit challenging in to navigate in dark light.

Work on the balcony/mezzanine is still under construction. Management kindly let me pop upstairs to take photos and I saw what looks like a huge bar build of old wooden cased radios from the 1930’s and 40’s being shaped into a bar.

Downstairs there’s not much in the way of décor, or references to the venue’s sister Meow. The original was more a living room than a bar or club, with a stage lined with old radios and law books. But the stage at Meow Nui is a blank canvas, save for a 70’s retro carpet. It’s essentially a concrete box shrouded in swathes of professional velvet curtains for sound dampening. The downstairs bar is tucked in off a side corridor and is functional but lacks character of any kind.

Still, as I say, a work in progress. Who knows what it will look like next time I return. I’m excited to see what this place evolves into. The sound tonight was brilliant (except under the eaves of the mezzanine when it smudges out and muffles quite badly. Due to the capacity crowd a few of us got that experience unless we moved up front.

Tonight opened on a moody, quiet vibe with Dream Chambers (AKA Jess Chambers).That’s a name from the past. I looked her up and found she’d worked with Rhian Sheehan and performed alongside various FMP alumni in The Woolshed Sessions project. She’s appeared on stage supporting Fleet Foxes, KT Tunstall and Bic Runga. She even wrote and toured a live score for the 1920’s classic vampire film Nosferatu. I think she was meant to do WOMAD this year, too.

Her most recent works are compositions that head well into the realms of experimentation, dreamscapes and sonic washes that are dark, disturbing, quiet, cinematic and glossy.

Chambers came out on stage and quietly started up her cosmic steampunk electronic lab of wires and switches, tweaking knobs and distorting vocals into long aching shapes of sound. None of the ‘songs’ were announced as they gently drifted into each other. But, as a good polite Welly crowd, we clapped appreciatively, despite no knowledge of what we were hearing.

The Phoenix boys were quick out afterwards and ran through a set I’d have called personal favourites. They’d not take too kindly to playing just the hits, so this was a nice mix of material from the later albums and a couple of re-visits from Horse Power and Pegasus, too.

Guru kicked off the proceedings followed by beautifully ironic Bob Lennon John Dylan and Jason (the latter two from Give Up Your Dreams).

Decision Dollars, a ballad to a hangover from 2020’s Friendship album gets a few knowing snickers from the mainly mature audience – sold out by the way. Every babysitter in the town must be busy tonight!

One of the new songs appears in the set. Released on November 28th Whistling In The Dark is a nicely cynical ditty about the state of the currently world. Spoiler alert – a bit sh*t! The band’s trademark puns find their way into this track, with irony abound: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease, while the butcher gets the golden geese, the killer gets to be released tonight.”

The follow up is also brand new. Introduced by Scott as a good reason not to go out, he curses everyone who chooses to attend events, gigs, and nightclubs on Ritual Hex. Yet more irony – I hope. The fact that he’s in a room that can accommodate up to a 1,000 screaming fans was not lost on him.

“Sometimes you gotta stay put/Never know what’s coming next/Might be a barrel of laughs/Might be a ritual hex/ You Got cursed”, he shouts, "You got cursed!” Fun song, that one.

There are a few other favs in the set, like Posh Tiger, Race Day, G.U.Y.D and an ecstatic version of Supernatural that finishes on a climax that’s nothing short of seismic.

The band hop off quickly only to return for encores – Tranquility, Damn The River and a hyper-ventilating psychedelics wig-out for Friendly Society. The latter is as endless as the recording but shows the band as the super amazing musicians they all are. On home turf The Phoenix Foundation show themselves to be plain, down to earth but also incredible players. This man went home super happy – as did the rest of the crowd.

*PS I’d like to do a special shout out to the owners Damian Jones and Rahine O'Rielly and the welcoming bar staff for their hospitality, and to the friendly Security Team who helped me get set up for the evening. You guys rock!

Photo Credit: Tim Gruar
The Phoenix Foundation Gallery
Dream Chambers Gallery

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