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Amelia McNabb. Photo / Supplied
Music of all flavours is continually bubbling away in Tauranga – and, if you’re into something with alternative spicing, then next weekend offers a banquet.
Perhaps the build-up to Loserpalooza has started. Yes, let’s begin there because the annual festival at Totara Street is back for its eighth year on June 21, running from noon to midnight, featuring no less than 24 bands from Tauranga’s voluminous alternative scene.
That scene is a big and unwieldy beast so expect everything from bands sounding like Hüsker Dü on steroids to things damn near approaching pop music. Colour me excited.
In the meantime you can scratch your alternative itches for three consecutive days, starting at The Jam Factory on Friday, May 23, when Te Puke High School punk trio Punktuation take centre stage. They sound like the sort of rebellious punks that kicked it all off 50 years ago – seriously, 50 years? – and are certainly not lacking in confidence given they cite Nirvana, The Beatles and Joy Division in their PR blurb.
They’ll be joined by established thrashers Skonk and Sewerside Rats – all three bands are Loserpaloozaring in June.
The sickest
Next night, Saturday, May 24, Totara Street at the Mount hosts a veritable deluge of Auckland bands and a couple from Hamilton, with an early 5.30pm kick-off.
For an idea of what to expect let me quote the promoters: “Festival of the sickest bands, playing the sickest sounds”. It is called, no surprises here, Sick Set Bro. The audience? Fans of “brutal screams, heavy guitar melodies, and a bit of singing is cool too”.
For the record I’ll list the bands. From Auckland we have Qualms, Kiero, Amanaki, Animal Head and Soul Stroke; from Hamilton there’s Jobsite and Static; and, rounding out the bill, from Rotorua and the Manawatu are Barracks and The Rising Tide.
None of those will be play at Loserpalooza since all 24 of the Loser bands are local. But someone who will is unique proponent of the musical shopping trolley The Beatnik Staffs. The one-man – sometimes two-man – band fronted by Zig Beatnik and his converted Countdown shopping trolley play an afternoon show on Sunday, May 25, at a venue I haven’t previously had the pleasure of mentioning: record and bookstore Round & Round at the Mount.
Zig Beatnik. Photo / Supplied
Slightly less alternative
One more show, for those who like their alternative music slightly less alternative, the latest iteration of Satellite Session is happening at the 16 Ave Theatre on Saturday, May 24, with four distinctly different acts.
Matty Buxton. Photo / Supplied
There’s Matty & The Buxtones. Matty Buxton fronts the seven-piece band and plays smooth jazzy funky pop. They’ve been touring the country and Matty writes a good catchy song. There’s also an acoustic set from Amelia McNabb, a Kiwi/Scottish singer-songwriter who recently released the single ‘Villain’.
I’ve seen the other two acts playing at Agave, the cool new Mexican spot in the Mount’s Cruise Deck. Drosan are Argentinian and play a distinctly modern brand of instrumental jazz funk, and Brazilian Camila Lenhart sings over looped soundscapes of guitar, percussion and violin.
Hear Winston’s latest Playlist: https://tinyurl.com/mr2vjbvf