SPACIFIC NEWS #97: Contents
1. The Garage :: Sleeping Dogs + Supermodel
2. o2 Empire :: The Mutton Birds
3. Dingwalls :: The Feelers
4. Selected Highlights this Month
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THE GARAGE :: SLEEPING DOGS + SUPERMODEL :: 18/10/12
Two up and coming bands are making the trip over this month to showcase their music to the UK and beyond.
Sleeping Dogs is the creation of Thomas Reid; an eccentric, classically trained pianist and self-confessed Bowie addict. Passionate music fans, their songs have been described as “extravagant, epic and over-the-top”. Last year, they embarked on a 40 date national tour following the release of their debut album “Myth Reducer” and have just finished a new album “Death of a Muse” with the help of respected UK producer Greg Haver (Manic Street Preachers) and engineer Clint Murphy (Opshop). You can check them out at www.sleepingdogs.com/
Touring with them are pop-rock quartet Supermodel, whose debut album “To the Mountains” came out last year, going straight to #1 in the iTunes charts (rock category) with the NZ Herald calling it a “mover and shaker of a release”. The band add colourful vocal harmonies that meld effectively with their intelligent arrangements and catchy choruses influenced by the likes of The Beatles, Queen, and The Strokes. More on them at www.thesupermodelband.co.nz/
Tickets are £5 +b/f from Ticketweb.co.uk (direct link is http://tinyurl.com/9d5wbfg)
From: 7pm
Where: 20-22 Highbury Corner, London, N5 1RD.
Nearest tube: Highbury & Islington
Venue website: www.thegarage.co.uk
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THE MUTTON BIRDS :: O2 EMPIRE :: 27/10/12
The (possibly) final Mutton Birds concert draws very near, bringing to a (possible) end to a 21 year old story peppered with hit songs such as “Nature”, “Pulled Along By Love”, “Dominion Road” and “Anchor Me”.
They were formed in Auckland in 1991by singer and songwriter Don McGlashan, who had earlier fronted Kiwi favourites, Blam Blam Blam and The Front Lawn. Three years later The Birds were about as big as it is possible to be in New Zealand: two platinum selling albums (a self-titled debut and another collection called “Salty”); countless music awards, APRA Silver Scrolls, and sold out shows.
Understandably In 1995, the band began to get restless and moved to London. A year later a compilation of the first two albums, “Nature”, was released to critical acclaim and was swiftly followed by “Envy Of Angels” in 1996
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Despite being written and recorded in the UK, “Envy Of Angels” was infused with images of New Zealand: “Music should taste of somewhere, I think.” McGlashan says. The critics raved about it, with Time Out saying “like The Chills, The Triffids, or the Go-Betweens… the Mutton Birds are a glorious, timeless step back to an era when angular, melodic guitar tunes didn’t need to sound like the Beatles” and The Sunday Times haling the “the classic purity of the melodies” and it’s “eloquence, economy and wit.”
The band then toured throughout Europe and Canada for the next 3 years, eventually returning home in early 1999. The band disbanded in 2002, but were reunited earlier this year for the Classic Hits Winery tour, alongside Gin Wigmore and Avalanche City.
As part of the run up to this show, their UK fanclub has been interviewing them all individually, the results of which can be found at www.areligionofakind.co.uk/. Also up there is a link to a podcast compiled from three interviews with Don McGlashan (two from 1998, the other from 2010), which tells the story of the Mutton Birds in Don’s own words. It’s quite a listen, and is as comprehensive an overview of the Mutton Birds story as you can get. ‘The Mutton Birds: A Thing Well Made’ is available free from iTunes, and there’s also an alternative download link for the non-iTunes folks.
Tickets for this show are on sale via Ticketweb.co.uk (08444 771 000) or from http://tinyurl.com/themuttonbirds.
From: 7pm
At: Shepherd’s Bush Green, W12
Nearest tube: Shepherd’s Bush or Goldhawk Rd
Venue website: www.o2shepherdsbushempire.co.uk
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DINGWALLS :: THE FEELERS :: 22/11/12
After a two-year absence, The Feelers are bringing their guitar-fueled brand of rock to the UK this November. Now into their third decade as one of New Zealand’s hardest working bands, The Feelers kick off their overseas tour at the Hard Rock Cafe in Singapore before heading over these ways.
Fans can expect to see the best live show yet from the band, who are promising a full throttle spectacle playing all the hits, old and new, such as Pressure Man, Venus, The Fear, Didn’t Want To Fall In Love, Blue Skies, Stand Up, Larger Than Life and Supersystem, to name just a few.
With 3 Silver Scroll awards for the most performed work on radio in New Zealand, 5 #1 albums, and twenty top 40 singles, a Feelers gig is like a trip down memory lane: summers spent on Pohutkawa lined beaches, New Year’s eve camping trips and impromptu backyard BBQ’s.
Tickets are £12 +b/f from Dingwalls.com (direct link http://tinyurl.com/feelers-uk)
Doors: 7pm
At: Dingwalls, Middle Yard, Camden Lock, NW1 8AB
Nearest tubes: Camden Town or Chalk Farm
Website: http://www.dingwalls.com
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SELECTED HIGHLIGHT THIS MONTH
19 Die!Die!Die! // Bull&Gate, 389 Kentish Town Rd, NW5 2TJ // 7-11 // £5
21 Nathan Haines // Ronnie Scott’s, 47 Frith St, W1D 4HT // 7-11 // £20-30
26 I Am Giant // Elektrowerkz, 7 Torrens St, EC1V 1NQ // 10-6 // £6.66-9.99
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