WCC 5: One month, one bar, six shows.

Written by Molly McCarthy

It was with much excitement that I examined the month of March as it was laid out in my diary. A particularly good Victoria University Orientation programme combined with a couple of well-timed band tours had left me with quite the eventful schedule, if not and a little out of pocket. With six gigs by local and international acts, all performing at the San Francisco Bathhouse, the month was bound to be a stonker...

The Chills, March 2nd:
When I first saw The Chills posters plastered around campus I could hardly believe it was true. It’s not often that you get to see one of your favourite ‘80s bands without the burden of a pricey ticket and at somewhere other than the likes of Auckland’s sterile Vector Arena. But here The Chills were, all set to play at Wellington’s delightful San Francisco Bathhouse and for the low, low price of $20. Being able to dance to ‘Pink Frost’ played live instead of from my copy of ‘Nature’s Best?’, well, it just seemed too good to be true.
And it was. As I was walking home from uni, planning what I was going to wear to the show that night, I heard that The Chills had cancelled. Rumour has it they got too drunk.
At least they still know how to party.
0/5
Dirty Projectors, March 4th:
I bought my ticket for the Dirty Projectors at 4.30pm on Thursday March 4th, just half an hour before ticket sales closed for the gig. Despite having been encouraged by my flatmate to go since November, I was reluctant to fork out for the show; Dirty Projectors were a band who I’d never heard of, and who I’d (foolishly) assumed were just another ‘it’ band with an obscure name. How very wrong I was.
Following an energetic and enjoyable set from Wellington band Signer, the members of Dirty Projectors took to the stage – all six of them. It was the unique ensemble that first alerted me this gig would far exceed my expectations. The band consists of three females and three males, four of whom are vocalists. Have I got your attention yet?
For Dirty Projectors are far from any formula or sound that you might associate with indie music. Indeed, just when you think you’ve picked the pattern in one of their songs, it suddenly changes, whilst all the time managing to sound beautifully melodic, albeit in a distinctly disjointed, at times discordant and chaotic way.
The band opened with the three female vocalists providing an extended intro to ‘Remade Horizon’. Through a combination of vocal beeps, clicks and pops, the trio created a perfectly synchronised and harmonised piece of music that was hard to believe as created by vocal chords, and not by a synthesiser. This high level of musicianship continued throughout the show, which proved to be consistently energetic, incredible and ultimately unpredictable. One highlight included Amber Coffman’s bluesy solo on ‘Stillness is the Move’, but it is fair to say that any of the members could have given an entire solo set worthy of merit.
Even if you need to go to the toilet, are tired, have sore feet or want some water, Dirty Projectors keep you pinned to the spot, enthralled, entertained and guessing at all times. And that is the sign of a very good band indeed.
5/5
The Mint Chicks, Die! Die! Die! and Bang! Bang! Eche!, March 5th:
Although we missed most of Bang! Bang! Eche!’s set, the small part we did see reaffirmed just how much I like this group of Christchurch youngsters. Although their music doesn’t seem particularly catchy in their recorded work, Bang! Bang! Eche! have continued to produce live shows that are of both high energy and quality. Despite their relative lack of experience, the band easily held their own in a line-up of rock and punk heavyweights.

Die! Die! Die! are a band that I genuinely want to like. However, even with songs I enjoy and rowdy stage antics, I’ve always found that their sets are incredibly samey and could be half as long. This was the case at the San Fran, where Die! Die! Die! performed well but became extremely repetitive after the first fifteen minutes. Die! Die! Die! however, seemed to be quite the crowd pleaser.
The Mint Chicks, on the other hand, pleasantly surprised me with their show at the San Fran. In the past I found the band, surprisingly, dull and indifferent. It seemed strange for a band that sounded so lively in their recorded material to fail to reproduce this on stage. Their San Fran gig was quite the opposite– they were tight and genuine in their performance and crowd responded well. The sold-out venue rocked, swayed and jumped to all the hits; ‘Walking Off a Cliff Again’ and ‘F**k the Golden Youth’ were particular stand-outs.
3.5/5

Deerhoof, March 10th:
There is some argument that the Japanese could just be the coolest race to have ever existed. Certainly as far as food and cute things are concerned the Japanese seem to omit take the cake; Deerhoof, with lead singer Satomi Matsuzaki, are no exception to this rule.
Aptly supported by Wellington gems Seth Frightening and Grayson Gilmore, Deerhoof took to the stage with vigour, charm and a bucketful of cutesy vocals. Backed by a strong base of thrashy guitar and clamouring drums however, Deerhoof doesn’t risk falling into the dreaded ‘twee’ category, but rather combines the two sounds to produce a unique and likeable style of music. This, coupled with Matsuzaki’s collection of salutes, routines and dances, make for a very enjoyable live act. Highlights included opening track ‘Panda Panda Panda’ and the band’s impressive cover of the Ramones’ ‘Pinhead’.
4/5
Ladyhawke DJ Set, March 12th:
It’s hard to know where to begin when describing the Ladyhawke DJ Set to someone who wasn’t there. Having seen James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem) play a DJ Set at Rhythm and Vines this year, I was prepared for Ladyhawke not playing her songs. What I wasn’t prepared for, however, was how such a talented musician could possess such little talent when it came to playing other people’s songs.
It’s not that her song choice was bad – far from it. Indeed, the tracks she played included many of my own playlist favourites – The Cure, Dizzee Rascal, The Violent Femmes and Daft Punk. The problem was, that when someone throws ‘DJ set’ into the title of a show, you expect the artist to actually do something with the songs. But although Ladyhawke donned a large pair of headphones and appeared to push buttons on a mixing desk, the songs played on, one after the other, with no mixing whatsoever and very little regard for genre and tempo change. As a result, we were subject to a poorly planned representation of Ladyhawke’s various influences: her Masterton background, Ice Cube’s ‘You Can Do It’; her retro tastes, The Smiths’ ‘This Charming Man’ and her mainstream successes, Dizzee Rascal’s ‘Holiday’.
We left after half an hour when, despite our best efforts, from crumping for Ice Cube to moshing to Nirvana, it all became too much to bear. We just couldn’t do it, even if we did put our “ass in to it”.
I want to say that this was the worst $20 I have ever spent. But the show was so perplexing, intriguing and in fact, entertaining, that it was actually almost worth the incredibly steep door charge. Almost.
1/5
Minuit, March 26th:
Minuit are a band that I consistently love to see live. When I first encountered them at Big Day Out 2007, my knowledge of their music extended to having seen the music video for ‘Fuji’ on C4 a couple of times. But despite this, and the fact that I still don’t know many of their songs particularly well, Minuit are a band that impressed me then, and continue to impress with a relatively simple, but extremely effective, live act.
And I think this is purely because Minuit are a band that genuinely enjoys themselves. Front-woman Ruth Carr’s ever-bubbly demeanour is extremely infectious, and this, coupled with all the band members’ enthusiastic bopping, is bound to have a profound effect on any crowd. On top of this, Carr’s simple, repetitive and often anthem-like lyrics bring a user-friendly element to the band’s electronic music – one can sing along like a long-standing fan soon after hearing the song for the first time.
Fortunately, Minuit’s San Fran show lived up to my expectations – Carr, dressed in tiny red shorts and with blonde locks flying, led a steamy, sweaty and sold-out crowd through the finest of the band’s back catalogue. And, as I sung along loudly and proudly to the words of 2009 single ‘Aotearoa’, it struck me that Minuit are one of the only bands who can make patriotism cool. Kia ora Minuit, kia ora. 
4.5/5

Photos by Rachel Brandon