'It's just banger after banger – the setlist writes itself.'
Nineties tribute acts from Aotearoa are going off like a bomb.
In 2013, Alex Newfield had a brainwave.
He and his Christchurch friends had been plugging away in bands for years, writing original material, trying yet struggling to create something that connected.
They all had jobs and families and their free time to devote to music was shrinking.
So Newfield, a guitarist, pitched his mates a different idea: a one-off tribute concert emulating their favourite rock act, Rage Against the Machine.
They knew the American rap-rock band’s songs intimately so their rehearsal time would be minimal. “It was one night, a tribute show, just because we can, for our own thing,” Newfield says.
They picked a date, booked Churchills Tavern, and put together a setlist of their favourite Rage hits. Newfield thought: “If anyone shows up, that’ll be a bonus.”
They did show up. More than 150 people crammed into the venue. With moshpits bouncing, it became the happiest, rowdiest, and biggest show any of them had played.
“People absolutely thrived. Sweat was dripping off the walls,” says Newfield. “So we knew at that point we had something.”
Sabotage Theory have now been playing together for more than 10 years.
They’ve added a second singer and their show consists of two sets each night: one playing Rage’s rebellious rap-rock, the other as Seattle grunge titans Soundgarden.
Next Friday, their nine-date nationwide tour hits Auckland.
It is, Newfield happily admits, their biggest tour yet.
And they’re not the only ones.
It turns out tribute bands like his are, well, going off – like a bomb.
“I'm surprised it's taken you guys in the media this long to notice,” Newfield says when I call him at work one afternoon.
As the grunge revival continues at pace, with 90s acts like Limp Bizkit, Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam selling out the country’s largest venues, things are also happening for bands that mimic those well-renowned groups.
Tribute acts and covers bands that attempt to emulate artists who may have died, or don’t tour anymore, are packing out venues up and down the country.
Right now, you can buy tickets to see acts pretending to be The Eagles, Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Madness, Elton John & Billy Joel, U2 and – you guessed it – The Beatles.
But it’s the 90s that’s in most demand.
“What we have seen since we started is a massive increase in 90s tribute bands,” Newfield confirms.
It’s true. A Pearl Jam tribute act from Australia recently toured to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band’s second album Vs, with an Alice in Chains tribute act playing in support.
Competing Hawke’s Bay-based bands Temple of the Grunge and Blinding White Lights regularly perform mashed up songs from Seattle-based 90s acts.
The Superunknowns (a Soundgarden covers act) and Tom Grant Disciples (Nirvana) tour together regularly.
Meanwhile, in July, a UK covers act billed as ‘the world’s number one Nirvana tribute band’ and will perform at Galatos, with tickets costing $60 – almost as much as a visiting act playing their own material.
There are more – lots more.
“There’s a Tool band in Wellington, a System of a Down band in Auckland, there’s Slipknot in Tauranga and us and Deftones down here,” Newfield says.
He believes it’s an age and stage thing, a 90s nostalgia boom taking off in a post-Covid live music era where there seems to be no ceiling on live entertainment.
Timing is everything, says Newfield.
“We came out with Rage at just the right time, when people were starting to go, ‘I can’t see those bands anymore, I’d like to go see them in a live musical environment,’” says Newfield.
He believes they can run and run, “just like the Foo Fighters and The Rolling Stones and all those guys who keep going round and round in circles … old music’s not going anywhere”.
So Sabotage Theory take their job seriously, watching Rage and Soundgarden performances on YouTube, buying the same gear to emulate their sound, and tinkering with their setlist to make it as fan-pleasing as possible.
As Tom Morello, Newfield even pulls out his guitar plug and uses it on his guitar strings to ape the Rage guitarist’s warped signature sound. “People’s eyes light up,” he says. “It blows their hair back.”
They’re not trying to be Rage or Soundgarden, he explains. “We like to think that we can give fans as close as an experience as we can [to the real thing] in a dark dingy little club down at their local pub.”
As for the setlists, Newfield says that’s easy. “It’s banger after banger – they write themselves.”
Will they ever perform nude just like Rage did at Lollapalooza in ‘93?
“We have discussed it,” quips Newfield.
“We might save that for the last night of the tour.”
Sabotage Theory perform at Galatos next Friday; tickets are available here.
Thanks for being here! I’m six months into this newsletter experiment and am loving where it’s going. If you’re enjoying it too, consider becoming a paying subscriber. That’s three newsletters a week for just a cup of coffee a month. Bargain!
Everything you need to know…
Fred Again’s headline-dominating New Zealand run is all going to plan – except for a sold out Wellington show beset by problems. That’s according to The Post’s critic Conor Knell, who details an out-of-control crowd lacking in security. The UK dance titan is in Auckland this week for shows at Spark Arena on Tuesday and Wednesday. My fingers and toes are crossed I can get into one of them.
Things are supposed to quieten down in winter but that doesn’t seem to be happening with a bunch of big shows being announced. L.A.B is the latest, confirming concerts at Hamilton's Globox Arena on June 29 and Christchurch Town Hall on July 6. I’m still waiting for more Splendour in the Grass sideshows to be confirmed too. Turnstile, The Kills and and Future, surely?
I did not have this on my 2024 bingo card but Tadpole – yes, fucking Tadpole! – are making a comeback with a string of 10 opening dates for Devilskin. They’ve got a new singer with Emma Dilemma replacing Renée Brennan. If anyone missed it, I covered Tadpole’s battle to get their masters back for The Spinoff.
RNZ has a great interview with Delaney Davidson about the release of his 10th album, which may be his last. “I realised the album format is something we're all so used to, and I'm not sure why we're hanging onto it so hardcore,” he tells Music 101. “Is the 10th album I do the last actual album?”
Finally, I’m really enjoying the new David Dallas album ‘Vita’. Recorded while he was renovating his childhood home, and named after his childhood moniker, it’s a reunion between the reclusive local rapper and his former Frontline bandmate, the producer Nick ‘41’ Maclaren. You can tell they really enjoyed making this one.
Got a tip, some advice, a piece of gossip, an anecdote or something to get off your chest? Contact me at iamchrisschulz@gmail.com. I’d love to hear from you.
That new David Dallas album is brilliant. I'm really enjoying it too - thanks for the heads up last week!