Te Anau to Wairoa!!

January 2011 Fark! It has been a long time since getting a chance to sit down at a computer to hack out another blog of the tour so far. We have been pretty streamlined in terms of the touring party. Just the 3 of us and Logan - this is the same crew as the first big tour we did back in the summer of 07/08. Here goes. Friday 7 January – Te Anau, Red Cliff Café I remember we left Dunedin in a blaze of hail and wind and showers. We were muttering all the way out of town how shit the weather is and that it was going to be better the further away we got from the place. We weren't disappointed upon arrival in Te Anau for the first LOR show of 2011 (after PHAT 11 on new years day). Callum's trumpet had also been couriered from Nelson after he left it @ Phat - hacka! We had a brilliant game of drive back after line check which Logan and I won. Red Cliff to me is one of the most enjoyable venues in NZ to play at. This time was no different. Amazing staff and bands are always looked after. It held special significance also as it is was Metz 25th. We played 2 sets and enjoyed a packed house - heaps of great cats there. Its fair to say we were very sick men the next day. Saturday 8 January - Revolver 2.0, Queenstown 

The less said about this show the better. PA was terrible. Ghetto Blaster (support act) were choice. We played pretty sweet considering the shit onstage sound and stayed in some wicked accom. I think we were all feeling the effects of the night before also. Thanks to the cats that came to the gig :) 

Sunday 9 January - Hawea, Lake Hawea Motor Inn

  A wicked afternoon show in brutal Central Otago sun. We arrived at Hawea after lunch and decided we were going to set the gears up on the lawn. A 6pm start and a 9pm finish. Metz warmed up the Sunday arvo crowd with an acoustic set whilst Kieran, Lagahn and I enjoyed some hoprocker on tap in the bar. We played two sets - at half time one of the locals came up and let us know that we'd managed to clear the outdoor bar area as our music was shit. This wasn't 100% true as we had pretty good crew of cobs supporting! A handful of excellent games of cricket on the lawn before, during and after the gig. Jesse Ryder was there and had a bat too - he hadn't recovered from his latest hammy injury. Special mention to Tusk and his fam, the mighty Fraser brothers (who bunked down at our accommodation) and various other good cats who stopped in for a sunday sesh. Monday 10 January – Fox Glacier, Cooks Saddle

Cook Saddle is another fantastic venue. Shelley (owner/manager) is brilliant. She knows how to look after the bands (all the staff do for that matter). We arrived mid arvo and began the set up. Was great to chat with various people whilst setting up and spread the word for the show later on. We went back to Shelley's before the show to get in the zone (a couple of Hotty Tottys - grouse, stones, honey & hot water). Her dogs (Zah Zah & Poppy) are fukn crack up - tiny wee grommits. We hooked back down to the venue and kicked off the show about 10.40pm. Shelley had me on the Cointreu/ciders - fukn amazing combo! Will be doing more of that back in Dunz this year ;) We played a couple of sets and finished about 1am. Such an appreciative crowd and a good buzz all round. Jason Statham (of Transporter fame) 

It was then time to pedal the merch to the locals and tourists - $280 worth in the end! We were then convinced into playing another set at 2am - this was a bit of a blur and ended up with Logan on hot cake bass and me on top of the PA speakers screaming out Shortland St character names. Was bloody great fun. I love Fox and want to play there on every NZ tour for the rest of my touring days. 

We were also allowed to leave our gear set up and pack out the next day, which is a luxury! Metz and I sat up singing and chatting with some of the locals till about 7am, good times. 

Tues 11 - Fri 14 (Fox/Auckland/Napier) 

The next few days would see us cover lots of Ks to get up to Auckland for a private wedding on the Thursday before boosting back down to Napier for the show with Mountaineater on the Fri. On the Tuesday we left Fox and got as far as Nelson at about midnight. We had a bit of scare when we reached Murchison with just under 1/4 of a tank and realised it wasn't 24 hour gas. With 130km till Nelson we were buzzing but managed to get to Richmond and top up - just. Whilst halted in Murchison, Logan saw the biggest crayfish any of us had ever seen in the pub across the road - so we all had a look. Stayed at Boof's (head of security @ PHAT) place in Nelson and had a good catch up before getting zzzs before the ferry and big drive the following day. We made the ferry around lunch time and did the traditional on board set to pay our way. The plan was to get as far as Rotorua to spend the night with Metz family who were staying with friends up there. We made it to Roto around midnight after several stops and briefly catching up with Dan Cox, Ana & wee Ty who were on the main road heading south for Wellys after their Xmas holiday. The wedding the following night was classic stuff - plenty of Aussie/Kiwi banter as the groom was from across the ditch. Logan played keys and we smacked it out for a couple hours. Great to catch up with Lyndy and Gerry also. Stayed in some sweet accommodation and made the most of hot showers. The next two nights that were to follow, we'd been looking forward to for a long time - jamming with Mountaineater away from Dunz - what an occasion! 

 Friday 14 January – Napier, Cabana w/ Mountaineater 

We got out of the rat race the following morning and made our way to the Cox residence to drop off Justin's amp and check out our back tyre which was looking suspect. A further inspection confirmed we were going to need a new tyre. Justin got us to the nearest tyre shop in Takanini and after a brief stop we ensured we wouldn't have a repeat of the last tour in September (3 tyres fucking out). Load in at Napier was agreed at 6pm. Mountaineater were running late so when we arrived just after 6 we got all the backline set up and good to go for their arrival. Mikey (who flew into Wellys the night before and mixed Mountaineater's first show) worked hard and had everything ready to go by the time doors opened. Always great to have Mikey on board when possible and especially in the North Island where everything is pretty foreign. The 3rd band on the bill was the Gisborne band 'Timespacer'. I didn't get to hear a lot of them as I was on the door most of the night but what I did hear was fukn cool. We played second and busted out a sharp 40min set as Cabana has to be all wrapped up by midnight due to noise issues. We played good and set it up for Mountaineater to blow everyone's mind - this they did (as always). After party at Julia's (local legend) place. She has one of the biggest collections of vinyl I've ever seen - so friggn awesome. Another daylight retirement. P.S a trip to Napier isn't complete without a trip to 'Munchies' after the gig. Metz would concur.. Saturday 15 January - Gisbourne, PBC w/ Mountaineater 

We left Napier in scorching sun about midday and set off for Gizzy. This was to be my first time in Gisborne. The Hampton brother's had been there a couple of months earlier on the Alizarin Lizard tour and raved about it. The road from Napier to Gizzy is pretty nuggety. We stopped in Wairoa on our way through and dropped off a couple of CDs to the venue we'd be playing on the Sunday night (Geoff's Saloon). Ali and Geoff are amazing people and the following night was to be one of the most enjoyable gigs we've ever played. Load in and sound checks in Gizzy took from around 4pm till doors opening before 9pm. The venue was the 'Poverty Bay Club' and we were honoured to be playing in the famous 'dome room' which is fuckn amazing. Chizzy Livingston took us down to the Gisborne Gold brewery before sound checks and we stocked up on flagons for backstage piss. A fucken outstanding drop that I wish I could drink down here all the time. I guess that will be the lure to get back to Gizzy again soon. I was again hit with the door duties and it proved to be a pretty classic night as all the locals pulled out all the stops to try and get out of paying and all the guysh came and drank with me at various points. Logan and I also struck up the mad deals whenever a bunch of people came through the door scowling at the $10 charge. There were four bands on the bill for this show and with us going on last it was always going to be a late one. One thing we've learnt over the years is if you have 3 or more bands on the bill - you have to get the first band on when you intend to and make sure the sets aren't too long. QTPI (from Dunz) were cool, I'd be keen to check them out in Dunz. Two piece (drummer and bass player). Heaps of buzzy noises and kept everyone guessing. Timespacer played again afterward and peeled out another phat set. Mountaineater then took the stage in Anaru and Chris's hometown. It was a special set and we all had moments of 'wow'. Fuk these guys just continue to deliver gold. We were on fairly late in the end (1.30am) and played a 45min set. We belted it out and had a pretty wicked ending including a full drum kit destroyor from Metz. Big mention to Wazza Stubbs who put up the lads after the gig. Mike and I headed out to the airport as he had a 6am flight in the morning. I crashed in the van and picked up the lads about lunch time. We set off for Wairoa... 

 

Sunday 16 January – Wairoa, Geoff's Saloon w/ Too Much Cuz Wairoa I think we can safely say was one of the highlights if not THE highlight of the tour so far. Crazy how the small town shows just continue to throw up the most gems. The first thing about Wairoa is the climate. We were nowhere near used to 30+ temperatures at 6 in the arvo! Ali and Geoff Hole run the Gaiety Theatre, Eastend Cafe and Geoff's Saloon complex. They are amazing people. All the locals we met are awesome. The theatre is unbelievable. We hope to play there one day. We were fed like kings upon arrival and then set to work setting up out the back of the Saloon in the woodwork shop. It was soon transformed into a venue for the evening. Local band 'Too Much Cuz' were the support act and were brilliant - a 7 piece band of brothers and sisters. We got such a buzz off their vibe and they did ours also. A great wee crowd for a sunday evening and just a magic night all round mixing with the locals and getting off on each others tunes. We played a couple of sets and hit some amazing musical points. One of the most appreciative crowds we've ever played for, they got everything we did. We were put up out the back in the backpacker house and again were able to leave the gear set up until the next day. Metz cooked an epic breakfast of bacon,eggs, hashbrowns,tomatos, black pudding & toast. None of us really wanted to leave that arvo but we thought we'd get on the mish to Ohakune. I can't wait to go back with the boys soon. Keep up the hard work Geoff and Ali and see you in a year... Mon 17 - Wed 19 (Ohakune) 

And so we made it to Ohakune late on Monday night after an event filled day of driving. The main debacle, getting stuck at the side of the road in some loose sand after Metz had pulled over after a case of the dropsies. Thank god for Randall Symcox and his 4 wheel drive - he towed us to safety. We had an epic swim in a river on the way back from Wairoa and had waterfall massages at Kings bridge. We also met a real classic dog called 'Dad' - he was all over the fetch game. We've been bunked down in Ohakune for the last few days as my Uncle and Aunty live here. We've got a ski lodge apartment to ourselves and the guysh are enjoying their own room each. We head to Wellys tomorrow and prepare for the show on Thurs night. Chur Seedy

NZ Summer Buzz Tour 2010/2011

Hello! Talk about an absolute hacka - no blog since November 2009! So here's to a new year and the start of what will be our summer tour blog. We're back in Dunedin after the first 4 dates of the mish - including getting our minds melted at PHAT 11 in Inangahua on New Years day and having a major honey leak in the van on the first night. We'll be heading to Te Anau on Friday to start the main chunk of the tour. Anyone who has looked at the poster and the dates will see that we are doing a lot of back an forth/up and down the country mishes and its not the most linear tour but that's just how it worked out this time - a bit of a clacka tho. 

 Tuesday 28 December 

The tour party for the first leg of the tour was: Kieran, Lagahn, Metz, Seedy, PD Reid and Freyor Train. We only managed to get away from Dunz around 10pm after humming and harring about what gear we did and didn't need to take (taking into account that it was likely to be very very wet and muddy at Phat so gumboots were essential for everyone). We only had to get as far as Templeton to bunk down at the mighty Biff residence. Muzz and Aileen weren't going to be home as they had been in Dunedin awaiting the birth of another grandchild. We had been totally oblivious to all the rain in the South Island and had to take quite a chunky detour as the Rakaia bridge was shut. Arrived about 4am and got our heads down for a few hours before I got the troops up at 7am for the next leg of the journey to Onekaka. 

Wednesday 29 December - Mussel Inn, Onekaka 

I discovered our first disaster this morning as I went to load in our bedding etc into the van. I opened the boot to find honey dripping from the back door and all over the bumper and towbar etc. A very sticky sitch. Metz had brung a massive bucket of honey for the tour - good for maintaining voice on tour (hot honey drinks etc). However someone had left it on its side and it had leaked all night. The photo was taken after we'd used hot water to wash away alot of the honey. It definitely doesn't do the spillage justice. After this debacle it was my turn to drive and I got us as far as Springs Junction before succumbing to 'the dropsies'. Metz drove the majority of the mish before Kieran did the Takaka Hill mission. None of us can be trusted to not fuck the break pads on the down hill descent (Lagahn especially has a chequered past when it comes to this). We arrived @ The Mussel Inn about 3.30pm (only half an hour behind our aim) so a bloody good effort. Most bands/musicians/people in general will tell you that the Mussel Inn is an unbelievable venue and they are spot on. We love getting the chance to play there and hope we always will over the years. We booked the whole tour around this date - what a great place to start. We were greeted upon arrival with a round of famous 'Captain Cookers' - Manuka beer. PD Reid made his sound engineering debut at this show - and he did a bloody awesome job! We'd also lined up Oli Cameron 'Oleh' to play support for the show as him and his fiancee were up in the area travelling round. After a brief line check it was time to tuck into amazing food and then some backyard cricket before preparing for the show with some vocal warm ups and a few beverages. Oleh kicked off the night in style. We were all blown away with his set - really cool stuff. It was soon decided that he would join us for our show in Motueka the next night. We played a pretty cool couple of sets to kick off the tour and were feeling right in the zone after drinking Mussel Inn beers all evening. PD had a great monitor sound on stage. Great to also see some familiar faces in the crowd including: Sammy Asshole (on a hitchhiking to Auckland mish!), Mel Ronson and Kat Ramsay (Penguin Club, Oamaru). Thursday 30 December - Hot Mamas, Motueka We arrived in Mot around 3pm and began the set up. We were to debut the record decks on tour this evening. Kieran had them all set up and good to go for a dj set at the end of the night. After set up was a famous Hot Mama's munch of pizzas, salads and fries. We couldn't finish the munch (even with Metz onboard!) so saved some for later on. Back to Lou's place (manager) to chill before the gig. Oleh kicked off the evening again - and we retained a few of the previous nights crowd. Again he was a great way to get things going and we'd be keen to play more shows with him in the future for sure. We played two sets this evening which is often the norm at Hotties. However tonight it may have been a better idea to push on through as we had the vinyl set up our sleeve later on. We had built up a wicked crowd in the first set but lost a few peeps in the second. We even had a couple of PHAT 11 tix to give away as we realised we still had our comp tix left. These were snapped up by some keen folk on the d-floor. Overall a wicked busy night in Mot. PD Reid did a great job on the sound again and even tried his hand with the delays which was choice. Great to catch up with Nell (owner Franks Cafe in Greymouth) and Parrot (Barrytown Hall) both places we are playing later in the tour.The DJ set was classic - we had the remaining crowd grooving to Average White Band and MJ. However Bryce (owner) had had enough by the time Ice House came on. Friday 31 December - The Commercial Hotel, Murchison We made it to Murchison around dinner time so loaded in all the gear then had our munch. This show had been booked pretty much 10 days previous so was very last minute! Stoked Syliva (manager) had taken a punt on us hackas. Everyone we've talked to that had seen Murchison on the poster has made various comments but most a long the lines of 'what the fuck are you playing Murchison for?! It turned out to be really cool night. After set up Lahgahn and I had a game of road cricket until the ball was lost under the venue after a spanking cover drive from gunn. We spun some records before the gig until about 11pm when we kicked off. The minutes ticked away really fast and before we knew it we were counting down the new year. Rather than belt out Auld Lang Syne we smashed out some Cream - the locals were ok with this. Overall it was choice to be able to pump out our own tunes and retain the local crowd who just seemed stoked to have some loud live music on new years. We will definitely be keen to play Murchison again in the future. There were some absolutely classic locals around. My favourite being 'Mama Kearney'. She was an amazing old darl who had a dance with all of us during the post gig vinyl set. Unfortunately there is no photographic record of her as PD's camera ran out of battery at the start of the show. She will remain in our hearts and memories for ever hahaha. We kept playing the hits on the record decks till the wee hours of the morning. 

 Sat 1 January (PHAT 11) 

And so the final date of this wee leg of the tour loomed - PHAT 11. We set off after lunch after a lengthy load into the van and trailer. There were a shitload of bees around as the van still had heaps of honey around the boot door. They did a good job lapping up the dregs. We made it to PHAT around 1:30pm and arrived in glorious sunshine. It had been this way for the entire festival apparently which was great considering all the rain in the lead up days. Our set was from 2:30-3:30pm. Great to catch up with so many familiar faces upon arrival and we smashed out a set for all the hard nuts still piecing their heads together from the previous 3 nights. We had a better onstage mix than last year but nothing will beat the onstage sound of PHAT 09. After the set it was time to have some fun! In the past we've always had to leave the same day or straight after our set to get to another gig (last year all the way to Te Anau!). So we rewarded ourselves this year by getting hammered and enjoyed the festival for what it is. The line up for the evening after us was: Wicked Draw, Minuit, Salmonella Dub, Optimus Gryme, Concord Dawn, State of Mind & Evol Intent + heaps more after. Gryme and Evol Intent were absolutely sickening! It was choice to have the van parked in our usual spot which is not far from the main zone. After a huge night we one by one dropped and found patches of earth and spaces in the van to curl up for a couple hours sleep before the big drive back south. As usual the music stopped at 9am on the final morning. Caption: "Local grom has good time at festival in sun" We left Inangahua around midday and made it back to Dunz before midnight. Special mention to one PD Reid after what is likely to be his last tour with us for the foreseeable future. He has been awesome to have on the road since 2008 and is one of the most loyal cats around. I've got no idea who will do our door takes now! He starts his new job mid Jan. All the best bruv, hope its not the last tour... So we set off on Friday to restart the tour in Te Anau and will return to Dunz in mid Feb. Keep an eye out for us in a town near you. Chur Seedy.