I had a little bit of a hard time getting to this gig…I knew it was under the Harbour Bridge, but had no idea, it was actually at a very popular spot for fishing…alas I had no fishing gear.
So I wasn’t able to join the 2-3 fishermen, sitting on their chilly bins, with their lines in the water, waiting for the big catch. However right across from the water and the warping, curving pillars under the harbour bridge.
Infront of the giant mural of SpongeBob… Another rock concert was about to take place, from the infamous Tauranga Music Sux collective…and I was still recovering from the Tunnel gig which happened just the week before.
There seemed to be more of a classy crowd that came out for this one, not the wine sippers quiet yet, but there were plenty of beer drinkers.
This concert was a release party for the band ‘Flogging a Dead One Horse Town’ who had just released their self-titled EP…A two piece band consisting only of bass/vocals and drums, but if you only heard their music, you wouldn’t be able to tell.
And as they got started, the scattered chatter stopped, as the ominous bass took over, the sparse vocals, the thriving drums…over the course of four pieces (for the lack of a better word)…Served to scare the fish away. Even the giant Spongebob mural was pointing in the opposite direction, and we all know that fish always listen to good ol’ Spongebob.
However I was very engrossed in their eerie and dirty-cinematic sounds, to notice that the fisherman got up and left, in the middle of their set.
But the crowd was still grooving, after their set was finished, chatting with each other, some had taken a seat, while others reached out to them for autographs.
Next up was ‘Threat.Meet.Protocol’…and their unique brand of NOISE:
…I had never seen them play live before, and was convinced immediately that if ‘Flogging’ wasn’t successful in scaring the fish away, then the wild RAW energy of ‘Threat’ would’ve done the trick, but luckily by this time, there were no fisherman left to care. The musicians had given it their all & by the end of it they looked like they had just climbed the Mount a few times too many.
The crowd, which had a few stragglers who had trickled in, enjoyed a good show.
Well as good as it gets under the Tauranga Harbour Bridge, on a Friday night, with generator fuelled amps, mics and keyboard, and a couple of killer rock bands.
I definitely look forward to the Woodcock festival on Valentine’s Day…
By,
DHAIVAT MEHTA, Editor…ARTbop Alternative!
For more awesome Pix from the event, Check out…Baz Mantis Photography:
http://bazmantis.com/flogging-a-dead-one-horse-town-and-threat-meet-protocol-live-in-tauranga/
