So I was off topic at uni when I saw that Kane Strang was playing at Whammy bar in the back room. Capacity was set to 100 people so I quickly stopped what I was doing reading some bullshit about Kant's theory of morality and booked two tickets. My French Canadian friend couldn't make the show so I rolled along to the show with my dad who loves music too although a man of the law.
We actually turned up really early at 8.50 pm, foolishly thinking the show would have run on time, things never do haha I took some photographic images in my mind of the merch table got ticked off the list by the swag Mermaidiens who were also preforming releasing their new record ...
the reminded me off how much I love Wellington the city that stole my younger brother from me but Wellingtonians sure have a great sense of humour cool accents and a lightness to them. It's probably the wind that makes them the way they are, which is terrible if your a guy with long hair you look like a right idiot fighting your hair so that you can see walking down Cuba st haha!) All the maidens t-shirts looked glistening and beautiful and their vast selection of stickers were creative colourful and trippy.
To burn some time me and the old man went next door to the Winecellar and had a quick drink.
I saw two of the guys in the talented band New Gum Sarm helping behind the bar, and since I am not drinking (makes me sound like a seasoned alcoholic haha please no alcohol in that drink!) being sober does actually have its perks believe it or not NZ as you can usually score free drinks every now and then if the bar staff like you ;) Naturally I played it safe with a Lemon lime and bitters and was very impressed with the scale of the drink that only cost a measly $4 the sprite or whatever it was in it seemed a bit flat though, made me sad for a second then I hooked into it. My dad lived dangerously and scored himself a Fejoa cider that tasted like there'd been some bad fejoas in the brew, there's always one. He couldn't finish his drink so I had a few gulps (I can drink less than one standard drink a day yolo) I actually felt pretty wasted walking up the arcade stairs to see Kane Strang preform, I joked to dad how we swede super sober and then come back to a gig ten minutes later wasted, with people wondering what the hell happened. Dad had a good laugh "three gulps of Cider and I'm wasted
In the newly renovated Whammy (aka one flea bomb later ;) we took a seat at the back of the room and let the edgy dangerous millenials of Auckland fill up the room. The coal black room started to swelter and heave with the people cramming in like sardines, standing room only. Out of my right eye I saw Kane slip through the crowd like a deadly camouflaged snake and head straight to the bar pushing through punters with a decisiveness that conveyed this is a man who knows what he wants. A very good thing as being assertive is a great character trait which I believe is reflected in his floating woozy music that conjures up pictures of flowers swaying in the Dunedin landscape, and yes thats what he wants you to hear! :)
Dressed in a yellow jacket and wearing a shirt with a t-shirt underneath Kane lead his band mates to their places and proceeded into flying death roll of a rendition of "She's So Appealing" with a direct almost grunge aesthetic that felt loose and visceral. The drummers arms rose high and sung across each part of the drum kit like a virtuoso, the lead guitarist loyally played all Kane's melodic lead lines over the rhythm guitar with the bass player looking and playing like a man fresh out of prison with a new lust for life. Kane was the Steve Job's of the band literally playing through all the members like conductor playing an orchestra by simply guiding them with soaring vocals and beautiful glimmers form his much loved electric guitar. The song's of the set blend together from the first song and the happy couple started kissing and all the people in the room morphed into one psychedelic blob of tripping matter bouncing together. Before you knew it the band were preforming their last song "Magnolia King" that really was the cherry on top for a sweet sundae of a show that transcended the crappiness of the world, thank god for Dunedin.
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