restful day today, took a trip to the top of brooklyn hill and saw the views from the windmill. a huge blue still day.
down to the beachfront to have lunch in the sun. the sea was calm and we watched for dolphins, but got side-tracked by great food. it was beautiful to be a bit out of the city and yukari, jj and koji all seemed to enjoy the space.
had a nap when we came home and when jj and koji got up, they went and did skipping with the children on the footpath. koji is very good at skipping.
we went down to the cross bar for sound check at 7pm; it went quickly and smoothly and then went for turkish food for tea.
blow up dolls were on first, at times sounding rock and at other times early 80s influences came out. they have tightened up considerably since the last i saw them, and a few brave audience members got the dancing going.
the users were next, popular around wellington at the moment after the release of a recent cd, this group appealed to large parts of the crowd. at times crampsish, and at other 1960s rock & roll infused trash rock, a very slight and tight set.
the audience had swollen considerably and the room was now looking really full. by the time limited express (has gone?) took the stage, the room was packed. many people who came to the tuesday night had returned to see them again. it was an impressive sight for the middle of the week. it was a hard set though; the band had several technical problems that had developed since sound check. yukari was having a lot of problems with her pedals and jj was breaking strings. but from an audience perspective you couldn’t tell that there were difficulties. the performance seemed even more intense and powerful than the previous night. yukari still has a sore throat but this did not seem to hinder her efforts.
halfway through the set, jj announced that they were going to donate a portion of the money they made from merchandise to the local anti-bypass action group. yukari, jj and koji all were interested in this local issue and felt they would like to help somehow.
the show reached its conclusion with huge energy, the audience calling for more, more. yukari took the mike and explained that all their gear was now broken and they could not play anymore, but asked the audience to remember them and come and see them when they next come this way.
a lot of merchandise was sold after the show, the tzadik album ‘feeds you’ was sold out, the single, tenzenmen albums, and t-shirts were all being bought as well. although it was hard for the band, it was a fantastic finish to such a short visit. i’m sure many will remember them and will anticipate and look forward to their return. i shall.
koji – “last night was last gig in new zealand . i was very excited for many people coming.”
jj – “i regret because our last night show was not good. i wanted to play more exciting show. so I would like to come again new zealand certainly!!! ps – we appreciate wonderful kierans family!! thank you so much.”
yukari – “they took us to go around in daytime. very happy! because I can got clean air and nice nature view! on stage, i had some troubles, but I enjoyed so much!”
1994ever 