Posts by Mike O'Connell
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Worth a mention - go see if you can, Jerron ‘Blind Boy' Paxton who played in a packed out show at the Naval Point Yacht Club in Lyttelton last night. Well worth making the (long) hike. Sam Neill did!
As luck would have it, he didn't play Auckland on Thursday – luck as in he lost his voice on the flight over and has rescheduled for Monday night at the Tuning Fork. Plus Bodega tonight and tomorrow in … Havelock North.
His voice wasn’t in top shape (blame it on the German flu he said!) but more than enough to get him through, helped along with Glenfiddich ! Amazing performer. Multi-talented – the voice, piano, fiddle, banjo, harmonica, acoustic guitar of course and, oh, the banter… you’ll get the lot!
The banjo at times was eerily reminiscent of W Africa and the desert blues. Look out for old standards like Diga Diga Doo (opening number, on the piano) and Tiptoe through the Tulips plus his hilarious singalong ‘shaving cream’ song.
You’re in for a treat - y’all have a great time y’hear! This one's great, he did it last last night, Railroad Bill:
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Hard News: Friday Music: The Beatles'…, in reply to Russell Brown,
it's sort of Madchester
...with a VU makeover to make it three chords! Is that Jane Dodd on bass?
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That track, man. It’s the spawn of rock music as drone, you can drop it into a modern DJ set, it’s everything.
Absolutely. Incredible song which will never age. It set places like San Francisco alight when it came out. So the story goes, for his vocals, John Lennon asked George Martin to make him sound like the Dalai Lama!
More recently (2013),Matthew (One Man) Bannister reinterpreted Revolver as Evolver. I prefer the original any day but here's his take - Tomorrow Never Knows
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For Auckland and Wellington folk at a loose end, Aldous (Hannah) Harding plays at the Leigh Sawmill (tonight), Meow (Sat) and Whammy Bar (Sun).
Saw her kick of her tour last night in Chch. Simply divine. Look out for What if Birds aren't Singing, They're Screaming, Party (title track of upcoming album) and Horizon which she did on NZ Live with Jesse Mulligan last Friday - NZ Live - Aldous Harding. And if that's not enough, she may well throw in Wuthering Heights and Lana del Rey's Shades of Cool.
Steve Abel was equally compelling in support - who on any other night would have the limelight himself. Steve plays Leigh and Whammy shows. Here he is with Delaney Davidson's You're a Loser
And his own Sidewalk Doves from 2015 (which if I'm not mistaken uses sequences from Florian Habicht's 2011 Love Story)
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Two of my albums of 2015 were those by Anthonie Tonnon and Nadia Reid. Happily, the pair of them next week launch a national “urban folk” tour with Darren Hanlon
Can't wait for this, they're at Blue Smoke in Chch on Saturday 5th. I happen to be in Auckland this weekend. Much to choose from incl. Doprah album release party at Golden Dawn and Andrew Keoghan at Q Loft.
What really attracts are these two daytime events: the Rice & Beans Festival at Silo Park, 12-6, Sat. And the Myers Park Medley, 12-5, Sunday.
The latter includes performances by personal favs Delaney Davidson (rolling out his Manos del Chango) and Tami Neilson. Have just seen Tami in Chc this weekend gone at Nostalgia and the Hilltop. She was smokin' hot.
Now she's doing a superb cover of the Willie Mae 'Big Mama' Thornton version of 'Hound Dog'. Needless to say really, Phoenix Foundation also a polished performance at Nostaligia under what was a hellish, Bleaching Sun - they were buoyed along by the cricket events of the day methinks!
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Here's Willie Mae and Hound Dog (audio): -
Hard News: Mt Eden: Not a closing but an…, in reply to Bart Janssen,
ND if you have time Piha/Murawai blows away most visitors and you can stop in at some wineries on the way back. But you need the time.
I think we have the time - thanks Bart and everyone else for the travel tips! Our trip north for a long weekend at the end of the month now has a lot more structure to it. Looking forward to trying the new cycleways and a ride to top of Maungawhau. Cheers!
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Hot of the press, new from Pussy Riot. Pretty powerful commentary on the current Russian political landscape. Putin sure as hell won't like it. Quite infectious, here's Chaika
(English subtitles can be toggled on and off) -
Hard News: Friday Music: Festive and Unconflicted, in reply to Eediot,
Your link didn't work. Here's Boogie Wonderland
Maurice was childhood friend of Booker T Jones. And i though, what the heck... -
Hard News: Friday Music: Jean's Laneway, in reply to TracyMac,
I don't do it often, have to really psyche myself up fro a late night. I do remember a time in the Flying Nun in-tandem touring band heyday of the 80s when bands would finish 10pm on a Thursday,then squeeze in alternating three sets finishing 11pm on a Fri and Sat.
The start and finish times are so damn random these days especially when an extra act not on the bill gets slotted in meaning more agonising standing around or buying that drink you really don't want to buy. I think there was a thread recently where there was a discussion about touring bands playing an early set then coming back later for the late set to cater for the range of ages. Most recentl, on NY Eve Eve, Die! Die! Die! did this, They played a 4pm matinee (all ages) and then a 9 or 10pm show at the Darkroom.
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In the lead-up to Laneways, I see Delaney Davidson is doing a show tomorrow evening in Aotea Square. Delaney and Aldous Harding BTW played a superb show last weekend at the Wunderbar. One set each of six songs, each covering one of the other's (she did Eastbound, he did Merriweather).
And then six as a duo including Roland S Howard’s I Know a Girl Called Johnny’ and the Badfinger/Nilsson ‘Without You’ ... left you wanting more. Delaney was kept on a 'short leash' - his often lengthy free-form extended mixes were reigned in to 3-5 minutes but no less compelling.
Someone at the gig grabbed a lot of footage and has been uploading individual tracks. Here's what many thought (me too) was the highlight track of the night, the guitar-less ‘What if the Birds Aren't Singing, They're Screaming’