Nowhere Bros Gig Guide - February Edition

2016 Summer Gig Guide - February Edition 

Fat Freddy’s Drop “Bays New Zealand Tour” – December 27 – February 7

HEAVY and LVJ – January 29 – George the Bar – Free show

Summer in the Square with the Buskers Festival – January 29-31 – Aotea Square

Laneway Festival – feat. Beach House, Courtney Barnett, DIIV, Grimes, Thundercat, Vince Staples, Leisure and more – February 1 – Silo Park

Cat Power – February 3 – Crystal Palace

James Bay – February 9 – Town Hall

WOMAD – feat. St Germain, De La Soul, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and more -February 18-20 – Pukekura Park

Splore Festival – February 19-21 – Tapakanga Park

Ragamuffin – feat. Wu Tang Clan, UB40, Macy Gray, Junior Marvin’s Wailers, Savage and more – February 20 – Trusts Stadium Arena

Death Cab For Cutie – February 23 – St James Theatre

ASAP Rocky – February 24 – Vector Arena

Simply Red – February 27 – Vector Arena

Sleater-Kinney – February 29 – Powerstation

Violent Femmes – March 1-2 – St James Theatre

Jesus and Mary Chain – March 4 – Powerstation

Madonna – March 5-6 – Vector Arena

U.S. Girls – March 7 – Whammy Bar

Sufjan Stevens – March 8 – Civic Theatre

Marlon Williams – March 9 – Powerstation

Auckland City Limits – feat. Kendrick Lamar, The National, Modest Mouse, Kamasi Washington, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Naked and Famous and more – March 19 – Western Springs Stadium

The Buzzcocks – March 19 – Powerstation

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – March 24 – ASB Theatre

Brian Wilson – March 26 – The Civic

Jackson Browne – April 3 – Civic Theatre

The Stranglers – April 13 – Pwerstation

Black Sabbath – April 28 – Vectora Arena

Iron Maiden – May 1 – Vectora Arena

Tribute to David Bowie

As I sit down to write this tribute to one of my artistic heroes, David Bowie, 20 hours have passed since news broke of his death. In that time, countless messages and tributes have flowed in from artists in every musical category you could imagine. I feel obliged to write this because I owe a lot to his passion and bravery, as he continued to experiment and redefine what popular music was, we as fans went along for the ride. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that it’s been the most exhilarating and profound experience to make the journey through his immense catalogue spanning over four decades. Every era, or shift in style that Bowie so brilliantly executed, acted as a gateway to new and exciting sounds that hadn’t been accessible to me before.

My first introduction to Bowie, as I suspect will be similar to others who were born at the end of the 1980s, was in the film Labyrinth. I still firmly remember being captivated by its spectacle, the result of three titans of creative art – Jim Henson, George Lucas and David Bowie. My sister had a copy of the original soundtrack, and I became obsessed with Bowie’s contributions to the score – “Underground”, “As the World Falls Down” and of course the iconic “Magic Dance”. That was my gateway into 1980s pop music, specifically art pop and new wave, music which is still very close to my heart.

In high school, I was introduced to Ziggy Stardust. I couldn’t believe this was the same artist, his voice was distinctly different and the crisp rock & roll instrumentation sounded nothing like the man who sang “Let’s Dance”. At the time I was only aware of a few of Bowie’s radio singles, as I moved into my 20s I started to realise his artistic contributions stretched further than I could have ever imagined. I began to approach his albums chronologically. Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane and Diamond Dogs blew me away. They still do. Thanks to these albums, I suddenly acquired an appreciation for the overtly theatrical and raucous style that is glam rock, and artists such as T. Rex and Lou Reed became mainstays in my music collection.

Then came Station to Station and the three albums dubbed as the ‘Berlin Trilogy’ – Low, Heroes and Lodger. It’s almost an indescribable experience when you encounter something so radically different and challenging, it completely changes your perception on what music actually is. That’s what happened after I heard Low, thanks to its mix of rhythm & blues, funk, rock, German progressive & experimental music (known as ‘krautrock’) and atmospheric ambient music, I’ve now tragically become enraptured by anything with an experimental tinge. I guess that’s why I love Blackstar so much. With experimental music, the journey never ends. Boundaries are continually pushed, conventions are reshaped and structures are demolished. These are all concepts and approaches which have carried over into other aspects in my life. This is the world Bowie has left me, and everyone else with. It's something I can never be thankful enough for.

Above all, David Bowie introduced me to the concept of music having a distinct artistic merit. Yet he somehow made it all accessible. He even managed to get avant-garde music on the radio! Just look at the video for “Ashes to Ashes”. Bowie took surreal, abstract concepts and not only made them commercially viable but extremely catchy, inspiring millions of people. It’s almost certain that sales of Blackstar will skyrocket, propelling an experimental, progressive jazz piece to #1. Another remarkable feat by the great man, but one that nobody should be surprised by. As a result, a current generation will be lucky enough to be introduced to his music and go through remarkable journeys just as I did, as will generations in the future.

Thank you for everything, David.

- Karl

David Bowie: 1947 - 2016

It’s the news I was not expecting, it was as shocking as it was devastating. David Bowie died. I could not believe it, I didn’t want to believe it, but then it hit me and I shed some tears, well more than some, I bawled my eyes out. He was supposed to be immortal, a part of your life that would always be there and now he is gone. There are probably only a handful of musicians who transcend everything in music, that cut across both genre boundaries and audience boundaries and had an influence that was perhaps bigger than the artist themselves, David Bowie was one of them. Throughout his nearly fifty year career he has influenced the rock crowd, the pop crowd, the indie crowd, the alternative crowd, the electronic crowd, pretty much every crowd in music. After years in the wilderness his late career comeback with “The Next Day” and “Blackstar” suggested he was revitalized and more music was on the way. Well, now we know that with “Blackstar” it was his goodbye, one last statement, one last piece of art, one last moment to show us how much of a genius he was. And what a statement it was, a dark, experimental jazz masterpiece which now takes on new meaning which at this is stage is too early to digest. He will be remembered as one of the greatest musicians of the modern age, a true artist and performer. He will not be matched as he did it all, including things that no one had ever done. There can be only one David Bowie, and it is so sad he is gone.

Rest in peace Ziggy 

- Sam 

Podcast Episode #1 "2015 in Review"

Presenting the very first episode in the Nowhere Bros monthly podcast series! In this episode, Sam & I review some of our favourite music of 2015 and discuss some of the major issues in the world of music from last year, and look ahead to 2016.

Topics covered:

• Karl's favourite albums of 2015
• Sam's favourite albums of 2015
• Disappointments & let-downs of 2015
• Music streaming
• NZ Festivals in decline?
• Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee debacles
• 2016 releases to look forward to
• Potential issues in 2016
• Holograms & tribute acts

We'll be back this time next month with another episode, so stay tuned! Be sure to subscribe to our new youtube channel in the meantime, which is still in the works. Peace!

 - Karl