On a quiet easter Saturday when most townfolk were out enjoying the semi-sunshine with their families or looking for easter eggs at the National Jazz Festival…
Tauranga music sux had their fourth birthday at the incubator, unofficially titled ‘Jizz Fest’…There wasn’t as much raucous from these guys this time around, as they are known for in tunnels, under bridges, and when getting kicked off islands.
But it was a nice chill afternoon. A community event suited to a birthday. However there was no cake involved, a few beers perhaps and some awesome Solo acts (whom I had never seen before) brought the Rock N’ Roll ambience:
ZIG BEATNIK
The opening act, which set the tone (no pun intended), Zig was mostly an instrumental act with a guitar and a few effects, long and atmospheric pieces with beautiful transitions between moods and throwing in some improvised lyrics and a few tongue-in-cheek repeated lines which were thoroughly entertaining
GREG MALCOLM
One man, 3 guitars…The sound was very pink Floyd/Jimmy Page esque with long journeying pieces which were super trippy! And the audience was mesmerized not only by the sound but also by the performance, with two guitars on the floor, and a violin bow in his hand…and still maintaining the trip of the sound. Fascinating stuff.
EDWARD GAINS
This dude was getting us back to a more traditional song style, I loved his voice which conveyed the emotion behind the lyrics to a very heartfelt effect. Me being a word man, I enjoyed the lyrics and his delivery very much…taking me from sad to uplifting. A great mix..
Unfortunately I was not able to stay to see PUMICE…
All in all it was a really cool afternoon, the crowd was the usual, familiar faces of TMS at the historic village. There were a couple of humourous moment when a few wanderers were walking through looking for jazz festival events…and stopped by to see what was going on anyway, even if it only was for a little bit. But no there was no jazz this afternoon….instead of Saxophones, there were electric Guitars….
HAPPY 4th SUXDAY – TAURANGA MUSIC SUX
By:
Dhaivat Mehta
(Editor – ARTbop alternative)
Dhaivat Mehta is a film-maker and performance poet, and a member of the Tauranga Writers…Involved with many aspects of local creativity! As an organizer he was responsible for last year’s National Poetry Day event “Caught In The Act” He also raps and does spoken word under the stage name Archaeo
Photography By:
Baz Mantis is a Tauranga based photographer, recording artist and film maker who has been the chief photographer for ARTbop Alternative since 2014. Alongside his passion for experimenting with visual imagery in multiple genres, he is also a musician and hasreleased an album and several music videos as The D-Day Saints, which features 7 guest vocalists from around the North Island. In between photographic assignments, Mantis is busy writing and recording new material for the Saints as well as crafting the sequel to his 2012 underground cult horror/comedy film Chair Evil, and he has a website @ www.bazmantis.com