Author: Joseph James

Live Review: Ash Grunwald at Meownui, Wellington

Ash Grunwald NZ Tour
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Ash Grunwald was the first musician I interviewed for Will Not Fade. Local author John McCrystal helped me edit the interview and I was so proud of the finished result. It gave me a big confidence boost as a writer. Ash was great to talk to and put me onto a bunch of artists and ideas that were new to me.

I saw him play that year, at Meow. I wouldn’t have even classed Meow as a proper venue back then – more a cafe that sometimes hosted folk acts and singer/songwriters. Ash pulled a modest crowd and I remember having a fantastic time. The standout moment for me was when Ash left the stage, walked into the middle of the room, and gave a powerful rendition of “John the Revelator”, just stomping, clapping and hollering. I was so inspired by this that I started a band a few years later that I modelled on this sound of stompy, chanty blues and rock.

So it was very cool to see Ash play again tonight, a decade on. Meow is now more known as a venue than a cafe, and the owners now have an even bigger venue – one of the best in Wellington… Possibly even the country – called Meownui. Ash’s popularity has increased so much over the past ten years that his current NZ tour has resulted in many sold out shows, with demand being great enough for him to play second shows in many towns. And he’s managed to make Meownui feel full on a Sunday night. He joked at one point that being a full time musician is basically living a life of poverty, so this is a pretty awesome achievement to see him have such success.

First of all, it sounded great. Meownui is an old Salvation Army church, so the acoustics have probably always been good in this building. Ash kept giving shout outs to Drew on the mixing desk, and mentioning how much fun he was having, hearing himself on such a good sound system in front of a good sized audience.

And he was was a class performer. Most of his songs have a big stompy feel, so he had us clapping along to many. And many have repeated singing parts, so he got us singing too. It was interactive and immersive. 

His set up was a bit different to last time, but the essence was still the same. Last time he had a crazy foot operated thing that housed all these drum and percussion bits. This time he had a few e-drum pedals instead, as well as a cajon box drum he sat on with two pedals attached. He has three guitars too – one being a resonator and another being a hollow body – all of which gave that classic bluesy rock sound, especially when played with a slide. 

Ash’s daughter Sunny had been tagging along on tour. She’s currently being homeschooled so that she can come on the road with him. Ash got her up onstage for a Bill Withers song and her voice was a show stopper. Seriously good, even outshining her dad. No doubt Ash is super proud of her.

Ash has a large repertoire to draw from, and wasn’t afraid to drop a handful of covers in as well. He gave a nod to Chain – the only Australian blues act to hit No. 1 on the charts. As I’d mentioned already, his daughter Sunny came onstage for Bill Withers’ “Grandma’s Hands”. He’s just as happy to draw from the blues greats like Robert Johnson or Howlin’ Wolf, as pop acts like Gnarls Barkley with his cover of “Crazy”. A good song is a good song, and we don’t need to gatekeep with genre.

He was such a pleasure to watch, clearly at home onstage after a lifetime of touring. Whether he was eeking out dolphin sounds, getting lost in the love of the riffs, or letting his dreadlocks fly about as he headbanged, he brought fun, effusive energy to his work.

I thought it was interesting that there weren’t any merch offerings available, because Ash is proving so popular that I have no doubt he would have sold plenty. I’m pleased to see his clear increase in popularity since he last came to Wellington, and seeing him again tonight made it clear why he has begun to sell out big venues.

Tickets for the rest of the dates on Ash’s NZ tour can be found at https://ashgrunwald.com/ 

Joseph James

Ranges & Man Mountain USA Tour 25: Boston, Rochester, Columbus

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Read: Ranges and Man Mountain Tour Diary Part 1

Day 4

Monday 21 July 2025

O’Brien’s Pub, Boston, Ma

w/ The Burning Paris

I’d been looking forward to going to Boston, having spent a few days there last time I was in America.

We drove through Connecticut along the Merritt Parkway, a beautiful stretch of road with many unique bridges and lush woodlands either side.

The guys all wanted to have lobster rolls. Feeling that my day yesterday had been dominated by getting a sandwich, I choose to instead go exploring the city and get some time to myself to recharge.

Boston is a great place. It has the benefits of a big city, having decent public transport and lots to see and do. But it still felt clean and open, with lots of cool old buildings and greenery. And the weather was ideal.

Ranges. Mark on drums, Tim on guitar

David from Man Mountain

There was another post-rock gig in Boston that night, with a lineup of Pelican and Glacier. Surely this affected turnout for our gig. But somehow, even though the turnout wasn’t huge, this was the show that had netted the band the most money on tour so far.

I don’t have too much more to say about Boston. I was exhausted and in a low mood and not really present much that night.

Day 5

Tuesday 22 July 2025

The Spirit Room, Rochester, NY

I woke up feeling significantly better. It’s amazing what a decent sleep can do to improve one’s mood. We set off to Rochester, to the north of New York state.

It was a reasonably long drive but didn’t feel it. On the way we stopped in at The House of Guitars. It’s was a music nerd’s dream. There was a music shop selling instruments, dotted with memorabilia. Rare instruments, many signed by famous musicians. Downstairs was an old recording studio. Through the rabbit warren was a record shop with thousands of records and CDs and t-shirts piled haphazardly. Photos and signatures of bands who stopped by adorned the walls.

The House of Guitars

Mark works for Gibson, painting guitars. He struck a conversation with the staff and turns out they had a lot of mutant contacts. They gave us a tour of the place. They were showing us a stage where in-store performances happen, and mentioned one that Zakk Wylde had done there. Then he dropped the bombshell that Ozzy Osbourne has just passed away.

It was such a weird coincidence. Mark and Chuck had just been talking about Ozzy on the drive there. And last tour, Mark had been talking about recording with Steve Albini the day that we’d heard that Albini had passed. And I remember that Tom Petty died when I first went on tour with Ranges. So we need to stop touring in order to protect these famous musicians?

One of the funniest stories from House of Guitars was about when adult model Jenna Jameson had come to do an in-store signing to promote Jackson guitars. The line was out the door and around the block, with more fans queuing up to meet Jameson than there had been when Green Day had done an in-store signing.

Most of us bought a t-shirt or hoody. Mark picked up a new cymbal at a very good price.

Rochester had an interesting feel. Lots of big stately looking buildings, like the Kodak headquarters and a few sporting venues. But it was fairly quiet and not many people around.

Spirit Room

The venue, Spirit Room, was a cool space. There was all kinds of weird and wacky decor. Lots of taxidermied animals. The statement piece was huge cast of an elephant head that had featured in The Greatest Showman film, as had a taxidermy ostrich. The bar had a drink offer that involved pulling a tarot card from a deck, and then the bartender would make you a cocktail that corresponds with the chosen card. I was sad to hear that the venue was in it’s final days, with the landlord kicking them off the premises in the near future.

We went and got barbecue before the gig. The portions were big and tasty and everyone was having a great time.

Barbeque

We finished the night with a trip to Taco Bell. The Man Mountain guys had recommended the Baja Blast drink, and Tom could not get enough of the “Obama Blast.”

Ranges. Mark on drums, CJ on guitar

Day 6

Wednesday 23 July

The Spacebar, Columbus, Oh

We started the day with a visit to Niagara Falls. I was surprised to see that it didn’t cost to go to, seeing as many American state parks and attractions do charge for entry. It was pretty impressive. The falls created a lot of water spray, and rainbows were being formed in the mist. Canada was on the other side of the river. We walked around, seeing various falls from different vantage points.

Niagara Falls

We got to Columbus early and browsed a few shops – a record store and a curiosity store that stocked a lot of items similar to what we’d seen at The Spirit Room the night before.

Ranges and Man Mountain had played The Spacebar together back in 2017. They were surprised to see some of their stickers still stuck up where they’d placed them, all those years ago.

It was largely as I remembered it. One of the staff mentioned covid and it made me realise how fortunate we are to still have spaces like this, after years of the live music scene coming to a halt.

We ate Skyline Chili. Spaghetti with chilli. I’m not quite sure what makes that different from spaghetti bolognese but it tasted good.

It was a good sized stage, with lots of incandescent lights hanging and giving a nice glow. Both Man Mountain and Ranges played well.

We stopped at a pizza joint on the corner. Last time we’d been there I’d been quite drunk and Jared had carried me out, quoting Lord of the Rings: “I can’t carry the ring for you Mr Frodo, but I can carry you!” Bryan was delighted to see that the pizza joint had The Fellowship of the Ring playing on the TV, purely coincidentally.

After the gig we had a great time celebrating the last night of the tour. Man Mountain had a ridiculously hot chip coated in a chili seasoning that had been sitting in their merch box for years, with nobody brave enough to try the challenge. I ate a good portion of it, with David and Tim also having some. It was punishingly hot and painted our tongues blue.

L-R: Chuck (sound tech), David, Tom, CJ, Tim, Bryan, Mike. Front L-R: Jacob, Mark, Me (Joseph)

We traded merch, signed each others’ posters. The bar was selling a pineapple cider that was popular. We took a group photo together on the stage, before heading downtown to take another with an Arnold Schwarzenegger statue.

We’re all heading to Indiana for Post Festival after this. Ranges are playing on Saturday. Man Mountain played the festival last year, and are coming as attendees this year. It’ll be a nice way to cap things off, without the big drives and exhaustion that can come with touring.

Joseph James

Ranges & Man Mountain USA Tour 25: Chicago, Cleveland, Brooklyn

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Read these first if you’d like some further context for this tour blog:

Ranges USA Tour 2017

Ranges Eu Tour 2018

Ranges UK Tour 2024

Ranges Sin album review

The people in the Ranges van are:

CJ Blessum – Guitarist and owner of A Thousand Arms record label and printshop

Mark Levy – Drummer

Tim Moens – Guitarist

Tom Verryken – Bassist

Chuck Goodwin – Sound engineer

Joseph James (me) – Roadie and photographer

Day 1

Friday 18 July 2025

Bookclub, Chicago, Il

w/ Outrun the Sunlight

First day of tour!

I’d been hanging out with CJ for the past few days. We’d driven a looooong way from Montana to Chicago with the gear and merch. Then we swapped CJs truck out for a tour van with 8 seats and space for the instruments.

CJ and I at Dinosaur Park, South Dakota

Last night we picked Tim and Tom up from the airport. It was their first time in America and it was great seeing their reactions to everything. They kept pointing and saying it was like things they’d seen on TV.

We spent the morning grabbing some breakfast (CJ and Tom got chicken and waffles, Tim and I got a pile of fried potatoes, eggs and avocado), stocking up on snacks and drinks for the van, and setting up at Fort Knox Rehearsal space. The problem with half the band living in Belgium is that the guys don’t get the chance to come together and practice. So they booked a practice space to get used to their gear, play through and set, and iron out the kinks.

At the rehearsal space. Chuck on the faders

I had used a trimmer to buzz my head and most my beard the night prior, leaving a small moustache similar to Mark’s. The guys were cracking up and how Mark and I both looked the same. Mark just took it in his stride and said it was a good look.

Bookclub was a cool venue. It wasn’t the easiest to find because it didn’t have signage. The staff were all super friendly and made us feel welcome. The venue had three levels. The upper level was the green room, that we didn’t really use. The ground level had a bar and an enormous TV wall where they played live footage of the bands on stage. And downstairs was the live music space. The stage was an interesting shape, almost a diamond with a mini catwalk jutting out the front and a pillar in the centre.

Van Mountain

Man Mountain arrived and it was fantastic to see the guys again. I’d met them when they’d toured with Ranges on their 2017 tour, and they toured again with Ranges a few years later. I remember they had a pillow with Nicolas Cage’s face on it, and had drawn John Travolta’s face on an inflatable beach ball (a reference to the movie Face/Off, also featuring Nicolas Cage). I bought them a small laser engraved wooden token with an image of “Saint Nicolas” burnt into it and hung it from their wing mirror. They proudly showed me their vehicle – Van Mountain – complete with a custom license plate and some enormous truck nuts dangling from the tow bar.

After soundcheck, Tim and I went for a walk down to Wrigley Field. The Cubs had just played a game and the bars in the surrounding area were pumping. We each got a Chicago style hot dog and walked around.

Bookclub in Chicago

We arrived back at Bookstore during Man Mountain’s set. They’re class musicians and I loved watching them play again after so many years. There’s a lot of subtlety and nuance to their music, and the new songs from their upcoming album were great. I also thought about how last year I’d played Borderlands 3 on Xbox, which featured a Man Mountain song.

I’d suggested that they sell beard combs at their merch table, so was very pleased to see they had some, along with CDs and pins and stickers.

Man Mountain at Bookstore, Chicago

Local prog rock act Outrun the Sunlight are great. I spent a lot of their set standing side of stage, watching the drummer in awe. It’s pretty complex sounding music and you can tell that they’re masters of their craft.

Mark had some friends turn up, and I actually remembered them from the 2017 tour. He wanted to head out to bars with them but I didn’t want to be in such a crowded, noisy space so I hung outside and called my girlfriend back in New Zealand who I hadn’t spoken to in a few days.

On the way out of town we stopped to see a fountain which had sadly just stopped 5 minutes beforehand at 11pm. Everyone nearby had love heart lights that indicated KPop stars Black pink had just played a concert nearby. Tim really loved seeing the Chicago skyline, which was a stark contrast to the buildings in Belgium.

Traffic was a nightmare, even that late at night. We were running low on gas and a lot of the gas stations had their entry blocked or were hard to access due to one way streets. Eventually we found one, which appeared to have a huge party onsite. Loads of people sitting around in deck chairs and blasting loud music. This is after midnight. So weird. We fueled up quickly and then drove off to our accommodation about an hour away.

Day 2

Saturday 19 July 2025

Dunlap’s Corner Bar, Cleveland, Oh

w/ Seeress

It was a fairly long drive to Cleveland. We didn’t have time to look though the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but stopped in to check out the gift shop anyway.

Walking to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The drive through the city felt a lot different to the insane traffic of Chicago, more spacious and green, with some neat old buildings.

Dunlap’s is a cool space. Joe who ran it was telling me how it is the second oldest bar in the area, started just after the prohibition ended, under the name Pacino’s. It was basically a residential area, and it was pretty funny watching the locals hoon past with insanely loud vehicles. It must have been a local spot for it because the same people drove back and forth along the same stretch, in all manner of crazy vehicles. I’m guessing there was a swimming spot nearby because lots of families went past with swimming costumes and towels. And we saw a beaver cross the road!

Dunlap’s Bar

The stage in Dunlap’s was only big enough to fit a drum kit, so the guitar and bass players set up on the floor in front of the stage. There were a few dim lights and a disco ball that made photography difficult due to low light, but it helped create a cool mood in the space.

Man Mountain was up first. It was really nice catching up with them again, and they kept saying over and over how happy they were to see me after so long. I really love seeing them play. Their music is so comforting and they’ve really honed the dynamics of their songwriting. I asked if they would use the floodlight I remember them using in 2017, and they laughed and said they’d retired it after a bunch of complaints from people who were momentarily blinding by it at their shows.

Tom on bass during Ranges’ set

I wasn’t so keen on Seeress. Man Mountain had packed away some of their lights so it was really dark. The music just didn’t do it for me.

Man Mountain went off to check out a house from A Christmas Story, I guess that’s an iconic film here? We went to our accommodation for much needed sleep ahead of our early start.

Day 3

Sunday 20 July 2025

Gold Sounds, Brooklyn, NY

w/ Another Demon, Precious Blood

Mark is from Brooklyn, so we all knew this would be an interesting day, being a homecoming for him. He’s been so involved in the music scene on so many levels over the years, so he seems to have a connection with almost everyone.

We had an early departure for a long but beautiful drive to NYC. Lovely to see big trees and rivers in Pennsylvania. Certainly nicer than the grassy plains or concrete jungles we’ve encountered this far. A lot of the scenery reminded me of my time in New England when I lived in Maine for a few months.

Everyone was on good spirits and the banter was free flowing, despite the lack of sleep.

Gold Sounds, the venue, opened at 2pm. We arrived at that time, only to discover that we should hold off loading in because there was a matinee show on that afternoon.

On the subway in NYC

We parked up and took the subway to Manhattan to visit Katz’s Delicatessen. There was a long queue to get in. We all ordered pastrami on rye bread with mustard and cheese. They came with a side of pickles and cost over $40 by the time we’d paid for it with a drink and tax and tip included.

Then Mark took us to a bar he used to work at for a few hours before we headed back to the venue.

It was basically a repeat of last time Ranges played NYC: same venue, same visit to Katz’s.

Gold Sounds was ok. The staff were not friendly, the green room was too small to fit much gear and became dangerously cluttered. I thought that booking four bands late on a Sunday night was ambitious, but it was a good turnout. Maybe people don’t have work Monday mornings here?

Ranges set had a few technical mishaps. The cable connecting Tom’s bass cab to the amp kept cutting out, and then his tuning pedal was playing up. Tim used the mic to chat to the audience while they sorted it. All in all it didn’t affect things too much and everyone appeared to enjoy the set.

Joseph James

EP Review: Masters Of This Land – Self Titled

Masters Of This Land
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Masters Of This Land is a post-rock/electronica duo from Cairo (closely linked to another act Go! Save The Hostages!). The two members, Amir and Youssef use guitar, bass, synth, a drum machine and a sampler to create relaxing downtempo music.

An interesting bent to this band is that they use their music to satirize the Egyptian government, as well as current nationalist movements around the world (Trump and Brexit were two examples that Amir offered). I can’t pretend that I am aware of the current situation in Egypt, but Amir has filled me in on some recent history, mentioning a 2013 Military coup following from rule by a Muslim Brotherhood.

This political theme is surprising. The imagery of aggression and power contrasts sharply against the mild downtempo music.

On one hand we see some strong satire of the current regime. The Masters Of This Land eagle symbol found on the album cover is based on the Roman SPQR eagle, a symbol of domination. The EP was released on the anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, when the military first took control. Amir shared that the band name was taken from a quote by a recent post-coup Justice Minister who was a former judge. Translated, what he said was that the judges were “masters of this land, and everyone else are slaves” (reference). The band name, symbol and release date are all pointed attacks on the government through ironic mimicry – an answer to the government’s “brain-melting propaganda”, as Amir put it.

One the other hand we have the wonderful music, which doesn’t invoke thoughts of defiance in the slightest.

Tranquil notes play over rigid electronic patterns. Glitchy beats coincide with serene swells. Acoustic and electronic marry and together they create sounds of peace.

Some of the song names are interesting. “C_LORRI”, full of spacey, sci-fi noises, is named after the file name of the first photo of Pluto that the New Horizons probe sent back to earth. “This She-Wolf Is A Gift To My Kinsmen”, with its music box intro, ethereal coos (possibly an e-bow?) clucky synth parts, was the first recorded sentence in (Old) English, written in Anglo-Saxon runes. “Factory 221” was the codename of the area where the Chinese developed atomic weapons in the 50s/60s.

Writing an EP full of relaxing electronic music is an unusual method of protest, but still something I can endorse. I’m a fan of political music, and have always loved the punk ethos of using music as a vehicle to stand up against injustice. And in a weird way it has worked. OK, so this short EP isn’t going to single-handedly overthrow any corrupt governments, but it has at least made me more aware of what is going on in Egypt.

I don’t wish for any of this to be misconstrued as racist. As I said before, I am largely ignorant to the happenings of the various Arab nations throughout recent years. But I do feel compelled to share when I hear stories of rebelling against oppression and injustice.

Politics aside, Masters Of This Land features some great music, perfect for relaxing to. Instrumental projects are open to interpretation, but this one features some fascinating content if you choose to delve deep. If not, never mind, the music stands up on its own as both calming and interesting.

Masters Of This Land links:

Album Review: Tenacious D – Post-Apocalypto

Tenacious D Post-Apocalypto
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Tenacious D have long been a guilty pleasure of mine. They’re misogynistic, juvenile and crude, but at the same time I do find some of their content funny, and they know how to rock. I guess the same could be said about Jack Black, who has had gold moments throughout his acting career (namely School of Rock), but mostly boasts lemons. He’s a slightly more reliable Adam Sandler, but I still have a soft spot for his work.

Post-Apocalypto is their fourth full length album. Like The Pick of Destiny, it is a soundtrack. It follows a YouTube webseries that has played out over the past month, featuring the songs and snippets of dialogue from the show.

Both Black and partner Kyle Gass are comedic actors, so writing funny songs with narrative suit their strengths. I’ve seen them play three times, and although it can feel slightly forced, the story arc that carries through their shows is fun, and allows them to play with theatrical flair.

The narrative for this record doesn’t quite work though. I still enjoy the skits from their first record, which were silly stand-alone pieces. But the skits on this new album are just snippets from the web series used to advance the story. This should help to provide context for those who haven’t watched the series, but there isn’t enough to fill in all the plot points of the story-line. I think they would have been wiser to have an all-or-nothing approach, and should have left the snippets out, instead of sprinkling an inadequate amount throughout.

Post-Apocalypto (the web series) was a painful watch. Like I’ve said, I’m a fan, so forced myself through it, but didn’t feel rewarded for my efforts. I hesitate to call it an animation, but more a selection of Black’s hand-drawn stills to give visual reference for the audio. It’s a sci-fi series that explored Tenacious D trying to survive in a (you guessed it) apocalyptic wasteland. Along the way they adopt a three-headed dog, battle genital monsters, fight Nazis and travel to space.

Tenacious D have always been crass, but I was shocked at the many gratuitous sex scenes. But then again, it’s exactly what I should have expected – it was just visual this time. It’s a political show too, with The D taking shots at Trump and Nazis. I guess the timing is appropriate, with approaching elections in America, but only time will tell how fast these political and pop culture references will date the album.

The songs are short. It makes sense, they fit within short episodes. And The D have plenty of short, furious songs with impact. But still, this entire album lasts half an hour, and that’s with skits padding it out. They could have at least fleshed out a few of the songs so that the album lasted longer. The title theme offers plenty of potential for extension, but feels incomplete as is.

And they’ve done their fair share of ballads in the past too, but almost all of the songs on this album are ballads, leaving me wondering what happened to the band that once won a Grammy for “Best Metal Performance”.

It’s not all bad though. Black’s voice acting shines through. You really feel for Terminator’s lament in “Robot” (despite the odd Arnie-esque accent). The redneck Nazi’s sound so thick that you really want to believe that they’re all really that dense.

“Hope” is arguably the best of the ballads, and most rousing. The D explore new musical horizons with “JB JR Rap”, rapped in a hoarse voice and complete with an autotuned section. To be honest, most of the album is Classic D, albeit shorter and less rocking.

The D have a long history with Foo Fighter Dave Grohl. Grohl has drummed on all of their records to date, and the trio have featured in a number of each other’s videos. The first time I saw The D live was opening for Foo Fighters at Western Springs in Auckland, where the crowd jumped up and down enough to trigger minor earthquakes [It sounds absurd, but it’s true!]. Black has also guest starred on one of Grohl’s Probot tracks, “The Warlock“.

As you’d expect, Grohl’s drumming is on point. He’s long been known as a powerhouse drummer since his Nirvana days, and has collaborated with such a range of rock royalty that it has almost become a meme. You can hear unmistakably in the title theme – a rehash of an old unreleased bridge (Rolling Thunder) that the band cut from their song “Rize of the Fenix” (off their last record). “Daddy Ding Dong” also has Grohl written all over it, one of the few stand-out rock of the soundtrack that venture into metal territory, as does “Woman Time”, with awesome Dio-esque vocals.

In short: Post-Apocalypto not a great album. Just as their other soundtrack, Pick of Destiny doesn’t compare well to the other albums, this one feels weak too. It is entirely in keeping with the Tenacious D brand, being puerile and budget, but doesn’t rock enough. Only the most loyal fans will appreciate it, and I doubt even they will revisit it after the initial listens. If you’re interested in it, at least watch the web-series so that you can hear the songs with context. I hope this isn’t the end of The D, but if they do release new music in the future, they’d be best to write without a constraining concept.

Tenacious D links:

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/tenaciousD

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tenaciousd/

Website: https://www.tenaciousd.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealTenaciousD

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tenacious/