Public Address | Cafe | Cracker: Dinner and a Show (Everybody’s Bar & Bistro/New Order)

Grant McDougall

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 11:21:06 +1300

The sound / acoustics issues and quality of ther gigs aside, you lot in Auckland and Wellington should just quit whining and just be greatful these bands make it to your cities.

I don't expect big names to come to Dunedin and at best only a few of them bother…

Samuel Scott

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:25:00 +1300

Ha, well I don't think you need to do research...music is either compelling or not of course. I had such a different experience to a bunch of my friends at the Fleet Foxes show last month. I thought it was well below par, other people felt it was a religious…

Damian Christie

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:45:03 +1300

Pixies have never had any banter. ..

...New Order however…..haven’t they always been notoriously shonky live?

You're probably right Samuel, and I'm probably guilty of not being better researched for what I should expect. My New Order hopes were raised by various people's accounts of great gigs/that BDO gig etc,…

Sacha

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:30:39 +1300

the bigger cups ran out

how hard is that to manage. #sheesh

Craig Ranapia

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:30:36 +1300

I loved the New Order show, but was horrified when I went to get a beer and the cup wasn’t big enough so I had to stand at the bar and chug the 1/3 of the bottle that didn’t fit in the cup.

Yay! Big score for effete losers who…

Damian Christie

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 14:58:20 +1300

Was that happening all night, or did I go at an unfortunate time between cup supplies?

It happened from the time the bigger cups ran out, which seemed to be about 1/4 way through the show, until the end, as far as I could tell. Ordering three beers, and being…

JacksonP

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 14:15:20 +1300

I'm sure it's been debated here before, but the whole 'you can't be responsible for a plastic beer bottle, let alone glass, while in our concert arena' seems moronic.

I've been to daycare centres with more relaxed catering policies.

Rageaholic

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 14:06:15 +1300

I keep telling myself I will never go to Vector again, because of the sound, bar, and general unpleasantness; but what's one to do when it's the only way to see New Order, Radiohead, etc?

I loved the New Order show, but was horrified when I went to get a…

Tom Semmens

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:27:29 +1300

oddly enough, they’ve now switched to Heineken and Monteith’s Pilsener, at a mere nine dollars a bottle.

Looks like it is not just POAL that has to make a 12% return to the SuperCity.

Jonathan Ganley

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:03:14 +1300

When they performed pretty much my favourite tune ever, ‘Ceremony’, early on, I found a wave of excitement. Which was tampered by Barney forgetting the words to the second verse and instead just repeating the final verse twice. I mean, it’s only their debut single. They’ve only been performing it…

Samuel Scott

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:00:02 +1300

Pixies have never had any banter. I think not putting on a show is their way of putting on a show. I found it stark, cold and thoroughly entertaining. The Powerstation show was amazing. I must have watched 10 or so Pixies live concerts (on you know TVs and shit)…

James Butler

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:39:09 +1300

I must never have sat in one of those dead spots them.

TBF, I think they're mostly a problem for unamplified music. Strategic speaker placement can do wonders.

Steve Barnes

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:57:26 +1300

A complicating factor there is that “pourage” rights are a non-trivial source of income for many events. The big guys can bid large for the right to serve drinks and then serve any old swill they like.

Well, I figure it like this, if they only want me for my…

merc

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:19:27 +1300

Excellent.

nzlemming

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 16:07:09 +1300

I must never have sat in one of those dead spots them.

nzlemming

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 16:04:29 +1300

The Welly Town Hall is built for sound, whatever the genre – I don't think there's a dud seat in the place. Not as impressed with the Michael Fowler, though I saw a rocking Dr John gig there a few years ago, and Ry Cooder last year (I think) was…

nzlemming

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:59:46 +1300

Scene 3, about half way down ;-)

merc

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:55:18 +1300

They are next to each other. I wonder if this has caused remand rates to increase by 200% in the last two years?

Sacha

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:52:01 +1300

the Remand prison nearby.

merc

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:35:24 +1300

Isn't Mt Eden Prison already a PPP?

Russell Brown

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:34:47 +1300

That makes me feel so much more unreassured about the proposed PPP Charter Schools, Prisons and probably Hospitals and ACC coming down the pike…

Uh-huh. And it's not like there aren't plenty of case studies that demonstrate the risks of such an approach.

Sacha

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:32:26 +1300

PPPs don't tend to provide those ways
unless you narrow the beneficiaries to other interested parties than punters and ratepayers #ideology

James Butler

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:28:28 +1300

Meanwhile in Wellington, folks who know about such things say the sound in the Town Hall for the Bon Iver shows was the best they’d ever heard. And that’s with a nine-piece band and all.

Wellington Town Hall has one of the best general-purpose acoustics in New Zealand, apart from…

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:27:36 +1300

kick 'em in the private sector....
And as I note above, PPPs don’t tend to provide those ways.
That makes me feel so much more unreassured about the proposed PPP Charter Schools, Prisons and probably Hospitals and ACC coming down the pike...

Russell Brown

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:19:00 +1300

However venues that size do not form a genuine market responsive to bookings. Need other ways to make sure the significant money invested in them is best spent in the interests of citizens and other interested parties.

And as I note above, PPPs don't tend to provide those ways.

Russell Brown

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:17:58 +1300

Here’s the thing: I’m still planning on forking out $130 tomorrow for a show there, and I’m sure it will be pretty much sold out, so why would they bother?

Well, yeah. You could see that as one of the perils of the kind of public-private-partnership through which Vector was…

Sacha

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:15:10 +1300

the problem with allocated seating is not being able to do just that (a great tactic in more free-form venues)

Russell Brown

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:10:14 +1300

It’s a huge pity the Workers Beer Company doesn’t have an NZ equivalent. There’s probably a rule in the Sale Of Liquor Act banning good beer from being sold at a major event.

A complicating factor there is that "pourage" rights are a non-trivial source of income for many events.…

Sacha

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:10:07 +1300

if I was promoter whose livelihood ultimately depended on happy punters

Richard Stewart

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:09:54 +1300

I always try to park myself in front of the desk ; you'd hope the sound engineer can at least control what is sounds like there?

Mark Cubey

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:59:54 +1300

Meanwhile in Wellington, folks who know about such things say the sound in the Town Hall for the Bon Iver shows was the best they'd ever heard. And that's with a nine-piece band and all. A gig that even impressed Simon Sweetman ...

Rich of Observationz

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:55:29 +1300

It's a huge pity the Workers Beer Company doesn't have an NZ equivalent. There's probably a rule in the Sale Of Liquor Act banning good beer from being sold at a major event.

James Butler

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:45:19 +1300

I gather it’s entirely fixable: install the proper acoustic panels.

But as you say, the company that built and manages the place should have known and done that in the first place.

Here's the thing: I'm still planning on forking out $130 tomorrow for a show there, and I'm sure…

Russell Brown

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:39:26 +1300

Which begs the question – why are so many venues that have “live music” in the brief from the get-go acoustic disaster zones? Yes, I know it’s tricky but if I was promoter whose livelihood ultimately depended on happy punters…

I gather it's entirely fixable: install the proper acoustic panels.…

Russell Brown

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:36:55 +1300

The Specials were announced yesterday to play Shed 10 in April. I really enjoyed their gig here in 2009, but seriously hope they’ve go rid of the Green Heineken bartops, and World Cup paraphernalia.

All the fittings have been shipped to London for use in Hyde Park during the Olympics.…

JacksonP

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:27:15 +1300

Yes, I know it's tricky but if I was promoter whose livelihood ultimately depended on happy punters...

The Specials were announced yesterday to play Shed 10 in April. I really enjoyed their gig here in 2009, but seriously hope they've go rid of the Green Heineken bartops, and World Cup…

Craig Ranapia

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:21:26 +1300

As ever at Vector, it literally depends on where you stand.

JacksonP

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:06:49 +1300

Why it was so much better I can't really say, but it goes to show that no matter how good the band or it's repertoire, the 'x factor ' which makes a good concert great can't be manufactured.

Well, not being able to go to all three (!!!) I can…

Richard Stewart

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:43:01 +1300

”

I went to both the Pixies Auckland gigs, and the Powerstation was more rewarding simply because it's a better space. But neither of them had the level of atmosphere or intensity that was present at their Christchurch show later in the year. Why it was so much better I…

James Butler

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:34:50 +1300

here’s-this-album-in-order-track-by-track

wasn’t that the whole plan for that tour?

I think it was the plan for the whole series of All Tomorrow’s Parties tours – Sonic Youth did the same thing with Daydream Nation a year or two before. Actually the SY gig was way better than the Pixies IMHO…

Sacha

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:26:16 +1300

don't-expect-any-conversation

Just curious – do you expect that from other types of performance or only live music? And even then, is it only certain genres?

Sacha

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:24:38 +1300

here's-this-album-in-order-track-by-track

wasn't that the whole plan for that tour?

Sacha

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:23:47 +1300

grannies shoving you out of the way so they can get their Zimmers into the mosh pit

the way of the future..

Damian Christie

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:54:41 +1300

Damian: Pixies play their first ever gig in New Zealand at the Powerstation, a venue so perfect and intimate and energising that it felt like they were actually playing in my heart — and you didn't like it?

...yeah, it really should've been good eh, all the elements were there.…

merc

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:47:08 +1300

I have to finally admit that I don't really get the internets.

nzlemming

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:44:18 +1300

I thought that was all it was about? ;-

If only people would listen...

Russell Brown

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:40:52 +1300

Which is to say, even though the sound is genuinely shit (Foo Fighters: I couldn’t even tell which song they were playing at one stage (yes, yes, ha ha) – although Massive Attack seemed to get it right)

As ever at Vector, it literally depends on where you stand. We…

merc

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:32:03 +1300

I thought that was all it was about? ;-)

Damian Christie

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:31:04 +1300

Fark, we'll never get the Standard believing our working class credentials if you keep this up, Damian.

Seriously, if you manage to hijack this thread into an angry discussion about class... ;)

Greg Wood

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:29:30 +1300

Oooh, Vector's crapness almost made me forget to say:

Damian: Pixies play their first ever gig in New Zealand at the Powerstation, a venue so perfect and intimate and energising that it felt like they were actually playing in my heart — and you didn't like it?

Er.

What?!

Greg Wood

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:25:04 +1300

Vector’s bar set-up is absurd

Completely ruins every event I attend there.

Which is to say, even though the sound is genuinely shit (Foo Fighters: I couldn't even tell which song they were playing at one stage (yes, yes, ha ha) — although Massive Attack seemed to get it right)…

Sofie Bribiesca

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:21:05 +1300

And if somebody is drunk, picking fights whilst waiting to purchase, dont sell them any more grog. We had a guy at Them Crooked Vultures who had been kicked out no less. Was allowed back in, if he purchased another ticket. Was boasting about that and generally niggling every person…

Eediot

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:50:12 +1300

"Seriously: get a decent tap beer, pre-fill the cups and separate the food and drink."
And leave the frigging caps on the water-bottles so most of it doesnt end up being kicked over on the floor. I now take a couple of bottle screwcap to gigs to get around this…

Russell Brown

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:16:55 +1300

While we're complaining about service ... Vector's bar set-up is absurd.

Not only do the poor staff have to hand-pour every beer in plastic cups as they are purchased by increasingly antsy punters, they have to wander away to fetch food from the kitchen if anyone wants to buy that.…

Stephen Judd

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:04:41 +1300

Fark, we'll never get the Standard believing our working class credentials if you keep this up, Damian. Couldn't you have gone to the pie cart instead?

Damian Christie

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:01:37 +1300

I don’t know why anyone would go to a live gig and complain that the toons don’t sound just like they do on the platters.

Yeah Craig, and as you note, that's not my point, and for the record (or rather, for anything other than the record), nothing bores me…

Sofie Bribiesca

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:41:55 +1300

I'm hoping they might have just been a couple of staff members down that night.

Sad excuse. Many hospo staff in this country are casuals. If staff are down, good management should be all over that. and chipping in everywhere if they haven't sorted out replacements. And as a new…

Craig Ranapia

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:17:23 +1300

But I expected them to be rough as guts – I’ve seen them several times before.

And while I know this isn’t exactly Mr. Christie’s complaint, I don’t know why anyone would go to a live gig and complain that the toons don’t sound just like they do on the…

JacksonP

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:06:20 +1300

I will say that the Sharapova moments in LWTUA where less than perfect.

I did admire his backhand though.

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 09:46:36 +1300

Ne Worder...
... trying to eek out a living on past glories
At a scratch one might eek a mouse
but one would always eke a living...
;- )

Though Linger makes a good point for skewed context...

Russell Brown

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:59:43 +1300

The harsh reality is that New Order are now in Rolling Stones territory: people go to see them because they were once great, as opposed to still being great.

Nah. I was totally going for Barney’s droll Manc humor. Wish it’d been me who called out for ‘World In Motion’,…

Russell Brown

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:57:05 +1300

No, it’s that at a proper level of volume, you can’t hear anyone talk unless you’re the person being spoken to. People shushing is another reason not to go to granny rock gigs.

I felt it was loud enough for me to put in my earplugs (which greatly improved my…

mattgeeknz

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:51:37 +1300

With Radiohead's Auckland tickets going on sale tomorrow, it feels appropriate to link to their cover of Ceremony.

Radiohead – Ceremony (YouTube)

JacksonP

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:40:55 +1300

Sorry to interrupt the broadcast, but like Russell, I really enjoyed it, and given I had the flu at the time, I had every right not too.

For anyone who cares, here's Temptation, which was my highlight on the night.

As for Radiohead, this guy at the New York Times…

Conrad Heine

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:37:20 +1300

Of course, when I saw Radiohead, in 1997 (at a very exclusive secret performance in a gymnasium on the outskirts of Reading) they were top of their game, at their peak, and far, far better than they are ever likely to be again, since, or ever. Did I mention how…

nzlemming

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:59:27 +1300

That and the grannies shoving you out of the way so they can get their Zimmers into the mosh pit

Rich of Observationz

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:00:10 +1300

No, it's that at a proper level of volume, you can't hear anyone talk unless you're the person being spoken to. People shushing is another reason not to go to granny rock gigs.

Richard Stewart

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 18:39:13 +1300

It certainly seemed like they were just going through the motions some of the time. Loved the visuals, and 586 made up for the rest of the show for me.

The biggest complaint was people talking all the way through. IS it me or is this rudeness on the rise?

Grant McDougall

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:35:03 +1300

The harsh reality is that New Order are now in Rolling Stones territory: people go to see them because they were once great, as opposed to still being great.

andrew r

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 16:44:03 +1300

Not the best I've seen them maybe, but actually I quite liked them. That a band can write Ceremony and then several years later write True Faith and pull them both off live ..even at the outer reaches of middle age, is kind of cool.

Tamara

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:08:46 +1300

I went to Everybody's a couple of weekends ago and I agree the decor is superb. We had excellent service so I'm not sure that it being early days completely explains what happened with your meal. (I had lunch at Depot last week, which has been open for ages, and…

Damian Christie

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:34:15 +1300

Thanks Stewart – and yeah I did enjoy it, despite how it might have sounded. The pork was amazing, and hearing good songs played badly was still better than sitting at home. I know what you mean about service etc, although a good waiter will always note that you have…

Stewart

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:31:00 +1300

Re the service – I've often found that new places take a while before the service really kicks into gear. It seems to take a few months of 'getting familiar' between staff, kitchen sections, front/back of house, etc before it all meshes and things get all seamless and fluid. (It…

Rich of Observationz

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:12:38 +1300

Aren't all wrinkly bands like that? They were good and innovative 20 years ago, but now it's all about topping up the bank account.

(Peter Hook was awesome when he DJed at Ink a few years ago, but that was doing something different, and for very little money).

Damian Christie

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:09:05 +1300

"But I expected them to be rough as guts"

Rough I can handle. Disinterested, not-so-much. And to me the second makes the first less forgivable.

Russell Brown

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:04:29 +1300

Let’s just put it out there to start with. New Order weren’t very good.

That’s going to sound like heresy to some, and I’m sure others will emphatically state that they thought they were bloody fantastic and they had the best night ever. Of course it’s possible to have a…

linger

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:04:00 +1300

eek out a livingthere's them rock-stadium yelps again.

Public Address

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:04:00 +1300

Discussion from blog post.