Rocking it up at The Kings Arms - Robert and Jono's birthday bash
Posted: Wed Nov 5, 2008 6:40 am

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I heart Gasoline Cowboy and Pluto, so when you put them together at Auckland's Kings arms it's kinda' hard to say no really isn't it?
Here's what went down at Robert and Jono's birthday bash earlier in the year...

Getting dressed to go to a gig is never really that hard…just slap on your dancing shoes and away you go. This time I chose the uncomfortable heels so my jeans could have a break from being dragged though the booze lined floors - which after a walk from the city to The Kings Arms, proved to be a silly idea! We were greeted by a mob of smiling faces ready to celebrate the four year birthday of ‘The Rock duo’, Robert and Jono. Amongst the healthy sized crowd, I spied a few local celebrities including Op Shop’s front-man, Jason Kerrison along with Autozamm’s Mike Carpinter.

Two stages were set up for the evening’s events, and new-comers Sweet Valley High were one of the first to take to the smaller stage around the back.
The men of the crowd were treated to two hot chicks on guitar and bass tossing their hair like popular vintage superstar Blondie, while the ladies also had something to feast their eyes on. A particularly interesting get-up worn by the bands other guitarist – an old school police hat including my personal favourite, aviator shades. Rocking it up with four cover songs it was easy to get into their set and sing along…I even saw some older ladies dancing up a storm, which kind of made it feel like a good old fashioned shin-dig!

The band I was most looking forward to was Gasoline Cowboy, who the crowd surprisingly weren’t as excited about. It was almost as if these guys were wearing some kind of propellant to keep everyone at bay. All except for legendary rocker, Jordan Luck from The Exponents who was quite happy to be right up the front cheering the indie rockers on. Seeing him was like watching an older version of The Checks’ front-man Ed Knowles, clapping and swinging his hips with so much enthusiasm I thought his hip might pop out of place! The Cowboys were clearly dissapointed with the lack of participation from the audience, but it didn’t stop them from putting on a great set with two of my favourite songs, Shot a Cowboy, and C4 hit, Outta My Hands.

Just when I thought I’d been teleported to the rodeo set used in one of the Kings of Leon’s videos, I was dragged back into the rock n’ roll scene with rainbow coloured lights. Luck took to the stage and immediately it felt as though the crowd tripled in size. I’ll Say Goodbye started a mass sing-a-long taking the band by surprise, but they were happy to hand it over to the crowd making it feel like a massive rock show. Why Does Love Do This To Me had the same effect making everyone in the room take over and join in and catch the infectious enthusiasm and hand-clapping provided by Luck.
Through the whole set it was fantastic to see the down-to-earth members enjoying themselves and the antics of the audience, regularly checking to make sure everyone was having a good time. If you ever get the chance to see these guys live, don’t miss it – they’re awesome!

After such a colourful set, the lights were dimmed for the dark sounds of Pluto who performed the last set of the evening. I’ve seen these guys a few times before, but to be honest, I never get tired of them. They always put on such a great show, and this one was no different. Opening with French Grave off their latest album proved a hit making everyone clap for more.
After performing Radio Crimes and Ratatat, according to guitarist Tim Arnold it was time to give the punters some Tequila. If you opened your mouth you received a messy shot poured straight from the bottle. It was decided this was quite erotic, and he agreed to give the willing another round later on.
After the drinking session, singer Milan Borich wowed the crowd with devilish vocals in Long White Cross. Finishing up with dirty delight Perfectly Evil which included all the howling vocals that are so perfected you’d think you were listening to their albums, how can you not love these guys?!

Sadly, there wasn’t enough time for the lads to come back for their planned encore’, so we missed out on hand-clapping to Dance Stamina. I must say though - my feet were most thankful for this after a massive ho-down/rock show in the dreaded uncomfortable heels…but at least my jeans stayed clean!

Amanda Ratcliffe