I am so excited for 2025 in music. Looking forward to finally seeing Fontaines DC. Will be interested to see what other gigs Eden Park manages to line up. Hoping the St James refurbishment can finally start so we can get this thing reopened. Very curious to see how the Oasis reunion goes and whether it can last the distance. Hoping we finally get the long promised new albums from Frank Ocean, D'angelo, and Michael Stipe, and Silicon.
The next couple of months are maybe the most stacked my gig schedule has ever been. IDLES and Chaos in the CBD on back-to-back nights at Town Hall, then Nia Archives, Laneway, Amyl & the Sniffers, Electric Avenue, Jpegmafia, Gardens Fest in the Domain (likely adding on a second day there if the Groove Armada teasers are true 👀), Fontaines DC and Shihad all in quick succession, and even then there's maybes like Denzel Curry, Dua Lipa and Synthony that would all be highly desirable round 2s for me.
Haven't even had a chance to consider actual new music releases for the year yet because this show season has been so much more front of mind, although I'm awaiting the right time to sit with this new divisive Ethel Cain record. I think I'll need a rainy day before I get into that
I think this ended up as a concerted (ha) effort to make up for last summer which pretty much only consisted of Foo Fighters and the bFM fundraiser show, now I've tilted way too far in the other direction oops 😅
Here's hoping you can nab an Amyl ticket somehow! Seems crazy they've been going this long and haven't made it to NZ before now
Went to Golden Lights yesterday. Had a really great time! But one thing really pissed me off. Paid $5 for a bottle of water at the bar and they removed the lid! This made purchasing a bottle of water completely pointless and I ended up pouring it out and throwing it away because it was too annoying to carry around. Tried buying another one from a food truck but they said they were told they had to do the same thing. What is this lunacy! Would love for you to investigate.
Hey Hope! Yep I have experienced this madness too and I believe it is because if the lid is removed it's less likely it can be turned into a moshpit missile when filled with water. It's the same reason you can't walk around with a bottle of beer - it has to be poured into a plastic cup.
The most ridiculous thing I saw was at Travis Scott, where punters had to decant their own drinks into plastic cups that were laid out on a table. The queues were ridiculous...
Glad the show was good! So many dance parties on at the moment - are you going to Fisher tonight too? That's a huge double-header...
We did wonder if that was the reason. But still doesn’t make a lot of sense. A can could be thrown and do a fair bit of damage. But I guess people will be less likely to sacrifice their alcoholic beverages they paid $12.50 for.
That’s ridiculous! And so much unnecessary plastic.
No Fisher for me. One is enough haha. Christchurch show looked good though!
I got on to KNEECAP last year thanks to a mate - was hoping to get down to Welly but I'm shocked it sold out. I didn't know about the film but it seems strange (but great) that Irish hiphop is selling out venues in NZ!
My summer is tinged with a bit of fomo as every gig or festival i wanted i check out, there was something else (fun) happening in my life - so while I miss out at least I'm still doing something cool.
But still.looking forward to getting to Shihad at Black Barn and The D4 at Totara St (might even throw sme words on a page after that one).
Not music but managed to get tickets to Aunty Donna in September in Auckland which will be fuking fun.
I just checked for tickets in Auckland and it’s sold out there too - dammit!
I think the Shihad shows will be real interesting. I know their final show is in Wellington but in Auckland they’re headlining Spark Arena for the first time and if they manage to fill that venue I think there will be something special in the air.
Will you go check out The Schizophonics? They’re playing down your way next weekend and I highly recommend 🕺💃
Feels like both the right and wrong time for shihad to bow out - obviously still incredibly popular - maybe it's better to go out on top. Hoping to catch the Schizophonics - they're playing under the bridge which I've never been so - meant to be a bit of an institution
Also very excited for Aunty Donna! This one coming up will be show number four for me, but they're great at finding new ways to keep theiir shows hilarious. Gonna be cool to see how they command a bigger room like the Kiri Te Kanawa this time around
Hi Chris - I have listened to Wax Mustang's new EP non-stop since it released on 12 December 2024 and am looking forward to seeing KNEECAP in Wellington in March
I am so excited for 2025 in music. Looking forward to finally seeing Fontaines DC. Will be interested to see what other gigs Eden Park manages to line up. Hoping the St James refurbishment can finally start so we can get this thing reopened. Very curious to see how the Oasis reunion goes and whether it can last the distance. Hoping we finally get the long promised new albums from Frank Ocean, D'angelo, and Michael Stipe, and Silicon.
Heaps happening right?! Feel very lucky to be able to see Idles and Fontaines DC so close together…
The next couple of months are maybe the most stacked my gig schedule has ever been. IDLES and Chaos in the CBD on back-to-back nights at Town Hall, then Nia Archives, Laneway, Amyl & the Sniffers, Electric Avenue, Jpegmafia, Gardens Fest in the Domain (likely adding on a second day there if the Groove Armada teasers are true 👀), Fontaines DC and Shihad all in quick succession, and even then there's maybes like Denzel Curry, Dua Lipa and Synthony that would all be highly desirable round 2s for me.
Haven't even had a chance to consider actual new music releases for the year yet because this show season has been so much more front of mind, although I'm awaiting the right time to sit with this new divisive Ethel Cain record. I think I'll need a rainy day before I get into that
That’s almost as busy as I am! Huge effort! Am trying to get my hands on Amyl and the sniffers tickets but both shows are sold out now… 😢
I think this ended up as a concerted (ha) effort to make up for last summer which pretty much only consisted of Foo Fighters and the bFM fundraiser show, now I've tilted way too far in the other direction oops 😅
Here's hoping you can nab an Amyl ticket somehow! Seems crazy they've been going this long and haven't made it to NZ before now
Went to Golden Lights yesterday. Had a really great time! But one thing really pissed me off. Paid $5 for a bottle of water at the bar and they removed the lid! This made purchasing a bottle of water completely pointless and I ended up pouring it out and throwing it away because it was too annoying to carry around. Tried buying another one from a food truck but they said they were told they had to do the same thing. What is this lunacy! Would love for you to investigate.
Hey Hope! Yep I have experienced this madness too and I believe it is because if the lid is removed it's less likely it can be turned into a moshpit missile when filled with water. It's the same reason you can't walk around with a bottle of beer - it has to be poured into a plastic cup.
The most ridiculous thing I saw was at Travis Scott, where punters had to decant their own drinks into plastic cups that were laid out on a table. The queues were ridiculous...
Glad the show was good! So many dance parties on at the moment - are you going to Fisher tonight too? That's a huge double-header...
We did wonder if that was the reason. But still doesn’t make a lot of sense. A can could be thrown and do a fair bit of damage. But I guess people will be less likely to sacrifice their alcoholic beverages they paid $12.50 for.
That’s ridiculous! And so much unnecessary plastic.
No Fisher for me. One is enough haha. Christchurch show looked good though!
I got on to KNEECAP last year thanks to a mate - was hoping to get down to Welly but I'm shocked it sold out. I didn't know about the film but it seems strange (but great) that Irish hiphop is selling out venues in NZ!
My summer is tinged with a bit of fomo as every gig or festival i wanted i check out, there was something else (fun) happening in my life - so while I miss out at least I'm still doing something cool.
But still.looking forward to getting to Shihad at Black Barn and The D4 at Totara St (might even throw sme words on a page after that one).
Not music but managed to get tickets to Aunty Donna in September in Auckland which will be fuking fun.
I just checked for tickets in Auckland and it’s sold out there too - dammit!
I think the Shihad shows will be real interesting. I know their final show is in Wellington but in Auckland they’re headlining Spark Arena for the first time and if they manage to fill that venue I think there will be something special in the air.
Will you go check out The Schizophonics? They’re playing down your way next weekend and I highly recommend 🕺💃
Feels like both the right and wrong time for shihad to bow out - obviously still incredibly popular - maybe it's better to go out on top. Hoping to catch the Schizophonics - they're playing under the bridge which I've never been so - meant to be a bit of an institution
Would love to hear your thoughts if you go - I was promised they'd deliver and they did! Very fun live band and crazy they're doing such a huge tour.
Got a plane that lands at 1230 from Wellington, hoping to make it straight there by kick off!
Also very excited for Aunty Donna! This one coming up will be show number four for me, but they're great at finding new ways to keep theiir shows hilarious. Gonna be cool to see how they command a bigger room like the Kiri Te Kanawa this time around
Right now I wanna hear the two tracks Canadian goth rockers Elita released last year and the Sly Chaos remix of Jaz Paterson's Jealous
Got a link for me George? Keen to listen to your recs :)
Hi Chris - I have listened to Wax Mustang's new EP non-stop since it released on 12 December 2024 and am looking forward to seeing KNEECAP in Wellington in March
I'm so confused by the KNEECAP tour - is their popularity because of the film? Should I go see them too?
Wax Mustang is right up top of my 'people I need to interview this year' list! Anyone got a hook up? He's a hard person to track down...
All 3 are in my best of 2024 playlist here!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/40gDfzxADk43XpoHqftAVu?si=tLEWPrEbTTeZmly7DVCT4w