Drake's NZ tour is a 'good-news, bad-news' situation.

Plus, all the stories, links, music and news that will start your Saturday with a smile, promise.

I can’t make my mind up. For the life of me, I cannot decide if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. I don’t know if I want to go and see this sorry situation unfold for myself, or if I want to stay as far away from this train wreck as possible. I just can’t choose. So let’s lay things out, shall we?

On the one hand, it’s a big tour by a major artist and we’ve had precious few of those to get excited about lately. The Canadian rapper Drake has confirmed he’ll make two appearances at Spark Arena on February 28 and March 1 as part of his The Anita Max Win Tour, his third tour here after shows in 2015 and 2017.

That’s a good thing! All year I’ve been moaning and griping about all the artists who can’t be bothered paying us a visit and just go tour Australia now. This is a year when Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Green Day, The Killers, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Kylie Minogue and Katy Perry all did exactly that and snubbed us. That stings.

And so, with two shows, Drake has a chance to heighten our summer, to do something few artists are doing, and to follow-up a pretty impressive 2017 performance that came with pyro, props, the sun and the moon, and a stage set-up that looked like this:

Drake at Spark Arena in 2017. Photo: Chris Schulz.

The floating balls that morphed and moved around him at that show were incredibly impressive, and Ticketmaster shows there’ll be three separate stages inside Spark Arena. So the setup is going to be special again. That’s cool.

On the other hand, Drake’s had a bad year. No, he’s had a terrible year. The worst. To recap: Kendrick Lamar kicked off a long-simmering feud with Drake on the song ‘Like That,’ Drake took the bait, then proceeded to get completely and utterly demolished by a serious of songs that included Lamar’s biggest hit yet, ‘Not Like Us.’

Drake’s tail is firmly between his legs. He’s hurt. He’s smarting. He responded by dumping 100 gigs worth of data on the internet, by losing a lot of money on the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight, and by trying to sue Universal and Spotify for boosting Lamar’s Spotify stats over his. Sounds like loser behaviour huh.

And now he’s coming here. He’s coming here for a long time. Look at these dates. He’s down under for nearly a month. He’s going on holiday. He’ll be trekking around a bit. He has time to walk the Routeburn, if he wants to. He’s here so long we might see Drake at Costco stocking up on supplies. He’s hiding, isn’t he?

Look, I don’t know if I’ll go. I don’t know if I’ll pick up a ticket when pre-sales begin next week. I don’t know if I want to see what a Drake show looks like in 2025 when the star is so obviously wounded.

On the one hand, it could be awful. On the other hand, Drake has something to prove. It could be a comeback for the ages. It could be a disaster. I just can’t decide.

I think I’d just rather see Kendrick play here.

Things were a little bleak around these parts this week. Sorry about that, but someone had to say the quiet bit out loud. If you haven’t read this week’s coverage about the state of music journalism in Aotearoa, you should probably go catch up. Here’s part one, and part two.

The good news? Music journalism, it turns out, is something readers of this newsletter obsess about as much as I do. I know this because I can see the numbers. This week has broken Boiler Room records for views, comments and new subscribers.

That makes me very happy! Thank you! And welcome! That tells me there is a place for music journalism, when it’s done with the right intentions, told in the right way, for the correct reason, and put in front of the right audience.

It also underlines the purpose of this newsletter: to tell good stories, always, and to highlight others who are attempting to do the same thing and keep this dream alive.

So, to keep those positive vibes going, I’ve got a collection of good news, great music, awesome links and nice vibes to kick off your Saturday in the right way.

Let’s get into it…

• Meow Nui’s problems are behind it and it’s open and ready for business. So say owners Damian Jones and and Rahine O’Rielly in this excellent NZ Herald deep-dive on what’s been happening at the Pōneke music venue since I visited in July. Basically, consenting issues, a leak, a theft and floods. But that’s sorted and the gigs are flowing. I love this quote from Jones: “Wellington is a city that is based around people being brave and having a dream and doing something about it.”

• The Others Way is happening today and the FOMO is so real. I’m going and I have no idea how I’m going to make it around this huge, stacked festival to see everything I want to see. Ladyhawke! Princess Chelsea? Ladi6! SJD! Erny Belle! Dam Native! Check out the timetable for yourself then pick up tickets here. Plus, Rolling Stone NZ has compiled five acts you need to see. It’s too much! Help!

• I’ve been asking for a throwback rock festival to call our own for ages. We finally have one: Paradise City is headlined by Alien Ant Farm, Drowning Pool and Blindspott, and it’s happening at Trusts Arena on February 5. That’s not all, 90s fans: Everclear has announced several January sideshows, The D4 is planning a huge summer tour, and (Hed) P.E. (remember them!?!) will play three February shows. (The Offspring, however, will snub us, as will Kasabian.)

• Pitchfork is so back! This week, the critic Alphonse Pierre gave Kendrick Lamar’s stone cold instant classic GNX a 6.6 out of 10 review. Just 6.6! This recalls Pitchfork’s halcyon days, back when the Chicago-based music titans savaged The Fragile (2.0!) and Lateralus (1.9!). It’s just … wrong. But it also feels …right?

• If I was to ask TV on the Radio to tailor a setlist exclusively for me, it would include the songs ‘Wolf Like Me,’ ‘Could You’ and ‘Young Liars’. That’s exactly what they played when the reunited Brooklyn band delivered a joyous Tiny Desk Concert this week. As good as this 20-minute set is, it can’t replace an actual Aotearoa show. That’s coming. Isn’t it? It has to be. Please. Make. It. Happen.

• Eden Park has been granted consent for 12 shows a year. Will we get that many? Can we sustain a dozen stadium shows a year? Dunno! It seems like a stretch when only Luke Combs is booked between now and Metallica. (I am in the middle of putting together a huge deep-dive on this situation; so stay tuned.)

• PSA: JB Hi-Fi has 20 per cent off all of its vinyl this weekend – including the new album from The Cure, which is what I’m heading there to get later today. (If you’re wondering how they’re able to price vinyl that cheaply, I asked them.)

• A new posthumous album from The Chills called Spring Board is on its way and Stuff reports it includes a who’s-who of Aotearoa music. It’s described as “a dedicated reimagining of his earlier unreleased songs that became his artistic farewell, a lasting legacy, and a reminder of his huge, under appreciated talent,” and is due for release on February 28.

• Earlier this year I set out on a mission to find the person with the biggest vinyl collection in Aotearoa. Somewhere in Pōneke, I found Chris and his secret stash of 50,000 records. While he didn’t want his full name or location revealed, he has allowed his collection to be filmed for a short advertisement. So, without further ado, here’s Chris and his absolutely mammoth collection of precious records discussing the simple joy of putting on a record at the end of the day … I hope you get the chance to do this yourself this weekend.

If you’re heading to The Others Way, please come say hi! Otherwise, have a great weekend and see you back here next week. This is a free edition of Boiler Room. If you’d like to have the full experience, you’ll need to upgrade your subscription …

Bonus beat.