Is there anybody there????

NEW SHIT COMING SOON...

Birdsnest Roys/Ghost Club/King Loser

One of my favourite ever F. Nun bands, the Birdsnest Roys, reformed for one night to play with the touring Ghost Club.
The sound mix was terrible but they were great. They played a bunch of new songs so hopefully they may decide to do this again- i hope so.
Rosses- Big and Little.Knox was digging it. Seen here obscuring Barbara with some Air Guitar shredding.Promoter of the gig Leila looking relaxed.Coleen and Gazza.Denise from Ghost Club. To be honest I was kinda messed by this stage and don't remember that much.Mitchell was probably more messed than me and he still managed to strangle his guitar.
Dave's skinning up in this shot right outside the club with a bouncer lurking... I got MacKessar to take a shot but he missed the action.
Kristina and Jude meet Mr and Mrs J. Luck. Was fucken cool to see Jordan, he was looking good and is still the biggest music fan I've ever met.
Then Loser rocked the stage. I remember even less about them but i do recall they played Surfs Up In Malibu, which always rips.Celia was in extremely good form. Turned up late, arguements on stage and wise cracks all round.Muzza did sound for the last 2 bands. He should have done the first. Mofo gots some good ears.Bobbylon Picassio was holding dit down on the drums. According to Richie he did a really good job- I don't remember.
Dave and Dave.Evil Drummer Liz joins the conversation. Mitchell's sliding.
Phil and Renee recently married. They rule.Goodnight Sean O'riley.

New Years Eve '07

New Years Eve's never been a biggie for me, not since kids came into the picture anyway. Try getting a babysitter... Tobin, Cael and me accepted Daz and Rachels kind offer to go and hang with them in Piha. Lil T in full sand goblin mode.Dazza let the secret out that he had fireworks for later in the night. The kids wouldn't stop harrassing him for the rest of the day. So with safety in mind we headed to the beach and drunk ole' Daz manned the lighters.Sparklers are always fun.
Thanks Daz and Rachel for the hospitality. Also big ups to friends and supporters over these difficult past 12 months. So yeah, goodbye and good riddance to '07- Officially the worst on record.

Big Day Out '08

So it was BDO time, and once again I attacked it and hit the ground running- cause that's the best way I've found to handle an event like this. (L-R) My brother Phil, Me, and Dave. Note how me and Phil are dehydrated and Dave isn't, plus he's the only person in the stadium wearing a jacket. On ya Dave.

I spent the afternoon losing people, braincells and my marbles. First real highlight of the day came when I saw these guys, The Shocking Pinks. I'd never seen them before and they were one of the only bands I didn't wanna miss. They were great- I was stoked.

Main Pink Nick. I've heard and read interviews with him which have been some of the best ever by a NZ musician. He's serious as all hell, and not afraid to spill the beans on the craziness that makes up his life and his music.
Paul Rose was also a member of this this years BDO expidition. Pictured here earlier in the day, wearing his 1993 BDO shirt and a laminate that allowed him absolutely anywhere in the stadium in 2008. Dudes connected.

I've been to the BDO with RB for about the last 7 or 8 years. We never fail to have a whole heap of fun and goodtimes are certainly the norm. Let me explain this picture... We were in the Boiler Room listening to Havoc dj and waiting for Dizzee Rascal to start. Russell realised he'd foolishly worn a t shirt under his other shirt and had to remove it. I seized the moment and snapped this! He's had me on about showing him on the blog in these unguarded moments, but i think we'd all agree it'd be a shame to waste such a glorious photo.

Checked out the main stage over the fence and below was what we saw, Bjork going bjonkers.

It pretty much sucked so we headed up to some other stage to see the Phoenix Foundation.

Roger Shepherd wandered by. He told us that the night before he had thrown bottles onto the roof of The Kings Arms while SJD were playing. He seems normal but I think isn't... The story was later confirmed as true.

the Foundation.

James Murray was out from Amsterdam. Here he is talking to John Baker and Peter Jenner who used to manage Pink Floyd circa Syd era and now manages Billy Bragg. Official living legend right there.

Then the BDO 2008 highlight... I'd timed my whole day leading up to 9 oclock when the LCD Sound System were to take the stage. I managed this perfectly and was in ultimate position, both phsically and mentally, to enjoy this set to the max.

This is your brain on LCD...

Def peak moment was an epic version of All My Friends. Banging, bouncing, hypnotic, mashing good time.

After LCD mentalness we headed outside to see the Clean. They had their moments for sure, but were somewhat erratic. Don't know if Hamish was pissed or pissed off or what, but he certainly behaved rather strangely. We weren't done yet and managed one last mission into the boiler room to see Carl Cox. The place was crammed with derranged looking punters giving it one last big effort for the day. It was kinda cheesy but worked in a 'come on... destroy what's left of my brain' kinda way.

I couldn't see him for about half the set and thought after hearing his voice he was a skinny white geezer...How wrong I was.

It's great when you tell people you're going to the Big Day Out and they go "Yeah i went to a couple... can't be bothered anymore". WHAT? What else would you rather be doing? Going to your boring job and getting one day closer to death? Fuck dat! To me it's kinda like Christmas, and I wouldn't miss that for anything.

Cael

Lil' C keeping it real in Aoteyo square yesterday. Dude makes me so happy, and sometimes very sad. What are you gonna do?

the Mint Chicks

The Mint Chicks played their last show as a 4 piece- I was there. They really were fuckin great, as in all time fucking great. For a band that has a pretty mainstream, young following, it was the most hardcore, original, f'd up shiv I've heard in a long time. It was this dudes last gig with the band. The rest of them are relocating to Portland in the U S of A.


I think they'll do fine as a 3 piece. The 2 bros running the show are ambitious, clever bastards and that shit goes along way.

The guitarist Ruban rocked it on the PA stack. I was standing right next to it. For a second I thought it would fall on me. It didn't.
A great show- Give 'em a taste of kiwi!

Sasha Coshercot and Dave after the show. 2 rock gods with a Nth side connection... Dave radly hooked up tickets to the show and once again secures 'Curtains'. Word.