A weekend unlike any other.
A weekend unlike any other.
Congratulations, Aotearoa. On Saturday, I believe we set some kind of record.
Over the weekend, I had a consistent nagging feeling.
It felt like I was supposed to be somewhere else, that I was missing something big, something crucial, something important.
What could it have been?
From NZ Herald:
“Accompanied by mesmerising visuals that danced across colossal screens, The Chemical Brothers’ performance was a multi-sensory extravaganza, a symphony of sight and sound that captivated the imagination.”
From RNZ:
“… the Chemicals proceeded to unleash a sensory blitzkrieg, as loud as anything heard at the festival. Their light and visual effects left many floored as the Chemicals went full-blown Piper at the Gates, mining the psychedelic routes they've taken later in their career, rather than just a run-through of their singles.”
Fuck.
Double fuck.
I should have been in Christchurch’s Hagley Park alongside 35,000 others for The Chemical Brothers’ headlining set at Electric Avenue.
At their first show here in 10 years, Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands have received rave reviews everywhere I look.
Triple fuck.
But Electric Avenue wasn’t the only event I missed.
This past weekend you could:
Don glitter paint and flared pants and head to Tāpapakanga Regional Park to take in Sampha and The Pharcyde at Splore alongside 10,000 others.
Take a road trip to Hamilton to indulge in brisket and smoked short rib at Meatstock while a surprisingly eclectic selection of artists played to 10,000 more.
Pack your tent and head to Wainuiomata for the final ever Camp a Low Hum – a festival that makes it up as it goes along – alongside hundreds of others.
Take in The National, Fazerdaze and The Beths – what a line-up! – at Spark Arena.
That’s, like, a lot.
That’s verging on too much.
Using my (admittedly pretty terrible) back-of-the-envelope math, I feel pretty confident in saying that on February 24 there were more people at more events seeing more artists play on more stages than on any other day in New Zealand history.
(And that’s not including everyone in Sydney for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour.)
And yet, there’s more.
My feet are still recovering from Laneway, Wednesday, and Sampha’s sold out Powerstation show on Friday night.
My credit card is yet to recover from buying tickets to SZA, Pearl Jam and Sleater-Kinney, all shows happening later this year.
In just a few days, Queens of the Stone Age kicks off a weekend that will attempt to rival the one that’s just been, with gigs by The Crystal Method, Mogwai, Blink-182, Dinosaur Jr and Mr Bungle & The Melvins.
I have a question.
In all honesty: how in the actual fuck can we keep this pace up?
We are in the middle of a supersized summer, one rammed with so many festivals that counting them all up blew my god-damned mind.
Remember, we still have Womad, Homegrown, Earth Beat, Souled Out and Morningside Live Block Party to come.
On top of that, Pink is about to kick off her massive New Zealand tour, where she’ll play five shows in a year in which we’ll have more stadium spectacles – Foo Fighters, Coldplay and Pearl Jam – to choose from than ever before.
Stadium shows used to be a rare event, but since Covid they’re becoming so popular they’re causing problems.
Take the case of The Weeknd.
Late last year Starboy postponed two Eden Park shows that were close to sell outs.
By now, several months later, you’d expect new dates to have been announced.
But Pink is about to play two Eden Park shows, and Coldplay’s got three booked in November.
Because of its neighbours, Eden Park is only allowed six shows a year.
Using my (bad) math again, I find that 2 + 3 + 2 = 7.
So, unless someone wants to take on the incredibly complicated task of mapping Eden Park’s seating arrangement to the one out at Go Media Stadium, The Weeknd is almost certainly going to get bumped to 2025.
And yet, there’s more.
I’m hearing all sorts of rumours, announcements waiting in the wings, concerts cancelled by Covid still waiting to be rebooked, major artists yet to make their way down under, and planning well underway for 2025 and beyond.
In no way is this a complaint.
To a live music fanatic, multiple Christmases have come all at once.
But please, can we get a breather for a couple weeks?
My credit card desperately needs paying off.
And I need to recover from missing out on The Chemical Brothers.
Thanks.
Thanks for reading Boiler Room! If you’d like to contribute to keep this thing going, the best way to do that is by becoming a paid subscriber. It’s cheap – promise :)
What you need to know…
I cannot wrap my head around the Blink-182 situation in Christchurch at all. Who announces a show nearly two years in advance, watches it sell out, then cancels it just two weeks from the show? “Unanticipated logistical issues outside of the band’s control” is the official explanation. But it doesn’t cut it, especially to the thousands who were patiently waiting. Stuff has been covering this very well.
Speaking of cancellations, I haven’t seen this announced but Eric Andre’s April show at Shed 10 has been axed due to “unfortunate scheduling conflicts”. That’s a real shame: that comic, in that venue, would have been one hell of a night.
Spark Arena is giving its security staff extra training after two 50 Cent fans from Palmerston North were kicked out of the show when they found strangers sitting in their seats. Hmm. We’re still waiting for updates on that random Limp Bizkit “incident”, a bare-boned story that led Stuff and NZ Herald in January
I had wondered what happened to Tapz, a Zimbabwe-born, Wellington-based musician who scored a big hit with his first single ‘Killa’ then seemed to disappear. His story involves a false rape allegation and a defamation case.
Do kids even like music festivals? Over in Australia, where Groovin the Moo was recently cancelled for good, a crisis is underway. The Sydney Morning Herald ($) says it’s because kids don’t want to go to festivals anymore.
Finally, there are too many concerts happening this week for me to list them all here, and many are already mentioned in this newsletter. I’m going to many of them myself, so I just have one thing to say: good luck out there. Instead, enjoy the new Kings of Leon song, which is, against the odds, surprisingly good?!?