Rock

Live Review: Ash – 30th Anniversary Tour of 1977 at San Fran, Wellington

Ash NZ Tour Poster 2026
Standard

Ash

w/ Dropper

1977 30th Anniversary Tour

San Fran, Wellington

Tuesday 15 September 2026

Ash 1977 30th anniversary tour San Fran Wellington

Ash’s debut, 1977 was was the first album I owned, given to me by my big cousin. She knew about all the cool music I’d never heard of. I listened to until it fell apart – quietly (…or not so quietly) becoming the soundtrack to my teenage years. I often wondered if a girl from Mars would appear at my window someday, and “Oh Yeah” became a roadmap for first love.

This was my fourth time seeing the Downpatrick trio: the first two during the Free All Angels era in 2003 and 2005, then again at San Fran in 2025. I also had the privilege of chatting with bassist Mark Hamilton a few weeks back ahead of the tour. We discussed their 30-year journey, their three-string bass lore, and their affection for Kiwi audiences.

San Fran on Cuba Street is a low-ceilinged room that suits high-volume guitar acts. I’m pretty sure the vibrations caused a pint glass in front of me to fall during “Angel Interceptor”! You get the full punch of the backline while being right beside the band.

Local openers Dropper gave off 2000s nostalgia, reminiscent of UK bands like Hundred Reasons. Big, explosive energy, with the bassist jumping about on stage. The drummer was giving it heaps, knocking over his funny wee roto-toms and a few cymbal stands, like Animal from the Muppets reincarnated. The singer wore a U2 shirt; it felt a bit on the nose, but at the same time it was a choice that made sense. It was a shame the vocal mic cut out during the third song. The band still sounded great, but they lost a bit of oomph when this couldn’t be resolved. They did a stellar job and I look forward to seeing them again.

Ash made their entrance to the fanfare of The A-Team soundtrack over the PA and launched straight into “Lose Control”, sounding heavy, tight, and direct from the start.

Mark Hamilton was clearly in his element, throwing his frame around on stage left with his trademark three-string bass: a setup born from being a broke teenager unable to afford a full set of replacement strings when the thin G-string snapped. It has long since become his signature style.

Before starting “Goldfinger”, Tim Wheeler paused to share a piece of New Zealand tour history dating back to October 1996. On their very first trip to Aotearoa, supporting Garbage at Auckland’s North Shore Events Centre, the arena’s fire alarm went off right as they struck the opening chords of the song. The entire venue was evacuated onto the street, and only after the fire service cleared the building could the band return to restart their set. Wheeler commented on how there seemed to be a lot more people when they started again. “ I think they just let everyone in,” he grinned.

Thankfully, it went off without a hitch tonight, rolling straight into the melodic “Girl from Mars”.

The first set delivered the full sequence of 1977. “Kung Fu” had the room shouting along to the Jackie Chan refrains “oh wah, ah ah ah ah!” while “Oh Yeah” – my personal favourite of the band back catalogue – served as the emotional centrepiece of the album run. Drummer Rick McMurray held the rhythm section in a prolonged groove, letting the crowd carry the chorus unassisted before the full arrangement crashed back in.

In the second half, they shifted into newer territory with cuts from Ad Astra, starting with their version of “Zarathustra” from 2001: A Space Odyssey (leaning right into their enduring sci-fi geek credentials), before launching into the title track and “Fun People” with noticeable enthusiasm. “Fun People” in particular stood out as a highlight: heavy, quirky, upbeat, and channeling a glam-tinged blend of David Bowie and M’s classic synth-pop hit “Pop Muzik”.

While new material inevitably brings a shift in audience familiarity compared with 30-year-old anthems, the trio attacked the songs with complete conviction, bringing their A game and a noticeable lift in the energy of the room.

The band closed out with some crowd favourites, including “Shining Light”, prompting an immediate, full-voice singalong across the floor. They powered through the title song from A Life Less Ordinary, before they capping things off with an explosive rendition of “Burn Baby Burn”.

Earlier legs of this anniversary tour saw Ash filling much larger spaces across the UK, such as Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom and London’s Roundhouse. In rooms of that scale, the communal singalong choruses of 1977 would be something to hear. While seeing the band in a space like San Fran gives a great sense of intimacy, I think a tour like this is clearly built for bigger venues, where shared nostalgia for the band can carry the trio along through the album they gifted us 30 years ago.
It was exactly what it said on the tin: an opportunity to hear the band play their debut album, a few hits, and give us a tantalizing taste of their more recent work.

Ash 1977 30th anniversary tour San Fran Wellington

Review by Paddy McCann

Photos by Joseph James

Live Review: Public Service Broadcasting at Meownui, Wellington

Public Service Broadcasting Au Nz Poster
Standard

Public Service Broadcasting

w/ Coast Arcade

Meownui, Wellington

Saturday 2 May 2026

It’s only been about three weeks since I last saw Coast Arcade play, but I’m not complaining. These youngsters are fantastic. They have a great pedigree of influences, including Biffy Clyro, Velvet Revolver and I think I spotted that bassist Leo Spykerman had a Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream tattoo on his arm.

Meownui is known for having a decent sound system, and Coast Arcade sounded huge. I loved the segments were they would just jam out in the breakdowns, full of energy.

I find it funny how fashion trends come around, and that it is once again cool to baggy clothing. But maybe I should hold off commenting on things that betray my age – a few days ago I had to wince when I read one of my reviews from 2015 review where I referred to an “older crowd” as aged 30+… 

I remember regrettably having to turn down an offer to review Public Service Broadcasting last time they came to New Zealand in 2018. They were playing in Auckland, and I couldn’t feasibly make the trip up because already I had a flight to Belgium scheduled for next day to roadie for the band Ranges on their first European tour.

So I made sure to grab a ticket when I saw Public Service Broadcasting were returning. At first they were booked to play the smaller Meow, but sales were strong enough that they upgraded to this larger venue.

They play interesting mostly-instrumental music that features audio samples drawing from historic archival footage. As their album title Inform-Educate-Entertain would suggest, the audio content often lands within such categories. They cover topics like the space race, and the Welsh mining industry. Their most recent album, The Last Flight, is a concept record inspired by the story of heroic pilot Amelia Earhart.

I’ve always been a sucker for post-rock with vocal samples. Maybeshewill were one of my first loves in that respect. Brave Arrows are another that springs to mind. The new Overhead,the Albatross album is one of the best records to come out in the past few years. My dear friends Ranges have used samples a fair bit earlier in their career – and I even loaned my voice to a recording of a Rudyard Kipling poem that they wrote an album about. One of the standout moments of dunk!USA was The End of the Ocean using a clip from The Walking Dead. 

Maybe I shouldn’t lump Public Service Broadcasting in with many of these moody bands, because their music can be so lively and upbeat. But it fits in my mind, so I’ll roll with it.

Clearly missing the baggy clothing memo from Coast Arcade, the members of Public Service Broadcasting looked more like academics. All four bespectacled members wore ties, with lead Willgoose Esq rocking a bowtie. They were arranged in a semicircle onstage, flanked by a video projection screen.

One punter heckled “I love bow ties!”, earning a grinning retort from Willgoose: “congratulations on being a person of distinction and taste.”

I was pleased to see the drums close to the front of the stage, taking me back to Tortoise when they played San Fran, or seeing Maserati at dunk!fest 2023. Wrigglesworth, the drummer, was phenomenal. I was seriously impressed. Some of his playing reminded me of Blink 182’s Travis Barker, the way he used different parts of the kit to create complex beats. But he was subtle about it, completely locked in to the music. He had complete command of his instrument and I was awestruck so many times throughout the set.

Next to Wrigglesworth was JFAbraham, who predominantly played bass, but actually used a variety of instruments throughout the night. He was the person who would work the audience the most, walking out in front of their semicircle arrangement to wave, indicating for us to clap along to sections, or conducting us by lifting the neck of his bass. The best was when he had us chanting “Go!” to the song by the same name.

I had a hard time figuring out what Mr B was playing. He had a laptop and some items with knobs and buttons balanced upon a flat guitar case on a keyboard stand. I gathered that he was doing some visuals because he came out with a camcorder a few times to get live footage of his colleagues for the screen. It’s not until the end of the night, when introduced, that I realised that I was right – he was the visuals guy. A part of the band, but not one of the musicians. He used a mix of archival footage and rendered animation to tie in with the themes of the songs.

And then we had Willgoose, playing the toe-tapping guitar parts. You can tell that he’s a giant nerd, given the topics of his music, and his professorial attire, but he brings such an aire of delight to everything that he could never be accused of being stuffy or boring. Here he was, bringing history to life in such a novel and infectiously exciting way.

I had wondered if they would play some of their songs that featured more singing, thinking it wouldn’t be the same if it was just backing tracks. They invited Bella Bavin from Coast Arcade onstage to fill those singing roles for a few songs. She seemed a bit shy for “The Fun of It” (possibly not her usual register?), but absolutely hit her stride and nailed it in “Blue Heaven”, clearly enjoying that one and even getting the German language parts down.

The band played a handful of other songs featuring vocals, heavily altered with effects that reminded me of Jakob Collier and his harmoniser. The German electro funk of “People, Let’s Dance” reminded me of Kraftwerk or Daft Punk and was so fun.

Their final song was a fitting tribute to great New Zealander Sir Edmund Hilary, with a song about Mt Everest. JFAbraham played some great flugelhorn in that one.

What a class act! Willgoose shared that this was the biggest crowd they’d played to, for the first time playing any given city. I had such a great time, and have come away feeling more informed, educated, and entertained.

Joseph James

This review goes out to Richard Roden, one of the teachers who made a big impact on me at highschool. We kept in touch for a few years after I’d finished school and I remember him telling me about how he’d been impressed by Public Service Broadcasting at Glastonbury.

Live Review: Ovus – Cascade EP release show at Valhalla, Wellington

Ovus Cascade EP Release show banner
Standard

Ovus Cascade EP release show
w/ LadyReign, Mammuthus
Valhalla, Wellington
Sunday 18 January 2026


Ovus are a fantastic band that sadly don’t play very often – mostly because Josh the bassist lives in Christchurch, adding a not-insignificant extra travel expense every time they want to get together. They released their wonderful Cascade EP last August, making this show well overdue. They made the most of Wellington Anniversary Weekend, booking a Sunday show, knowing that most people can still enjoy a late night gig thanks to Monday’s public holiday.

LadyReignLadyReign kicked things off. They play metalcore in the vein of bands like Reliqa and Spiritbox, with a fabulous double-pronged vocal assault courtesy of Liv and Aggie. Both singers have phenomenal, powerhouse voices with different timbres. Sometimes they tag team, taking on different verses that showcase their individual abilities. When they harmonise it sounds even more fantastic. And then Soyam on bass jumps in with unclean vocals now and again, just to add even more texture and variety. LadyReign’s music has so much personality. Sometimes groovy, sometimes symphonic, sometimes just plain nasty and heavy (in a good way).Their songs transition flawlessly with plenty of aplomb. They played a powerful, dynamic set, including a surprise Paramore cover.

Their debut single “Crowd” has already garnered over 20,000 listens on Spotify, partly in thanks to featuring on a Brazilian workout playlist. They’re not quite sure how that came about, but they’re not complaining about it either. LadyReign are working towards recording an album at the moment, but some members will be moving to New Plymouth in the future, so Ladyreign’s upcoming set at Newtown Festival will possibly be their last.

LadyReign

Kokoa Nashi had been booked to support as well, but sadly had to pull out, so we instead have stoner rock titans Mammuthus stepping in. Mammuthus have been a force to reckon with for many years, and have been playing loads of great shows recently, including their “Bring Back the Riff Tour” with Infinity Ritual, and opening for Californian desert-rock heroes Brant Bjork Trio. Jed Van Ewijk has just recently joined on bass duties. Jed also plays in Planet Hunter along with guitarist Will Saunders, so those two are well used to being locked in with each other. As you’d expect, Mammuthus deliver a thunderous set, densely filled with, uh… mammoth… riffs. Can I say that? Is that lazy writing? It’s true though. They play huge sounding songs that envelop you and compel you to just nod your head with just the slightest of stank faces.

Mammuthus Mammuthus
Then we have Ovus. This is nerd time. It’s technical, it’s complex, it involves numbers. Adam gave a shoutout to a friend in the crowd who had just submitted their PHD research. Yep: Neeeeerds. But on the other hand: riffs.

Ovus play prog-metal with a sense of humour. All four members were rocking clothing that they made for their Twisted Frequency gig a few years back: a sci-fi look with neon coloured light strips and big shoulder pads. Their writing process must be incredibly calculated, but the music is so fun. Plus Josh is swole AF, which somehow offsets the nerdiness. Even his bass guitar is swole, with a few extra strings, earning it the name “big guitar”.

Josh Ovus

All three bands tonight manage to impress with their musical abilities, but being a drummer, I especially love watching Jig play drums in Ovus. I was always in awe watching him play when he was in Adoneye, but his technical abilities shine even more in this context.

It was a solid turnout – especially for local bands on a Sunday night. It reminded me of the times that instrumental metal heavyweights like Intervals and Plini played Valhalla. I guess that’s fitting – seeing how Ovus opened for Intervals in Auckland on the same tour. It was a class performance that seriously impressed. Such complex music can feel inaccessible at times, but everyone in the audience looked to be having a total blast.

Adam Ovus

What a fantastic night. Three awesome bands, great turnout, and a great success for a band that really should play more often. It felt like a celebratory homecoming, and I would really love to see more from Ovus in the future.

Joe Ovus

Words and photos by Joseph James

This review originally featured slightly abridged in the first edition of SoundCheck, a new music magazine focused on the Wellington music scene. They aim to offer monthly issues of the mag, along with monthly live gigs.

Check them out: @SoundCheckMagazineNZ

Live Review: Biffy Clyro at James Hay Theatre, Christchurch

Biffy Clyro Futique Tour AU NZ Banner
Standard

Biffy Clyro
w/ Coast Arcade
James Hay Theatre, Christchurch
Monday 13 April 2026


There’s something surreal about seeing a band perform when you’ve listened to them thousands of times. Biffy Clyro have been my favourite band since I was a teenager. The first music magazines I ever bought – which happened to send me down the path of wanting to become a music writer – included a Rock Sound magazine featuring Biffy Clyro on the cover. I’d never heard of them but I did really enjoy the track that was included on the CD sampler that came with a mag. I heard another track on a Kerrang sampler that I acquired later in the year, and that was enough to sell me on wanting to get my hands on the album Puzzle.

I’ve been a Biffy diehard ever since. I’ve got most of their albums on vinyl, and a bunch of pretty rare stuff too. This is the third time they’ve come to NZ, and it’ll be my third time seeing them play.

Image: Bevan Triebels

This is my first time coming to James Hay Theatre. What a fantastic venue! It was nestled in as part of the Christchurch Town Hall complex. Nice and intimate, with a standing section at the bottom and two seated sections above, it appeared that the view of the stage was fantastic no matter where you were situated. The sound was great too.

Image: Bevan Triebels

Young Auckland band Coast Arcade kicked things off. After achieving success with Rockquest during their time at highschool, members of Coast Arcade formed the band in recent years, and are already seeing successes. They released their eponymous debut album on CD and wax last October, and have support slots with Play Lunch and Silversun Pickups coming up. Tonight was a dream come true for their drummer Thom Boynton, having been a huge fan since childhood.

I saw Ben Johnston and Mike Vennart watching and nodding along from side of stage during Coast Arcade’s set, and Ben had great things to say about them later in the night. And rightly so – they had big energy and plenty of head banging moments, following in the footsteps of their anthemic heroes. A cover of Velvet Revolver’s “Slither” also showed how tight they were – they’re asking for tough comparisons when playing the songs of rock royalty.

And then we had Biffy Clyro. It’s eight years since they last played in New Zealand, and they’ve released four studio albums in that time. This tour has been a long time coming. I was positively fizzing.

The precursor to their set was a stop/start electronic percussive ostinato played loudly over the speakers. Dilating tempo signaled something was about to happen, before the lights dimmed and the band came onstage.

Biffy Clyro’s sound has changed over the years, but as soon as I heard the drumming into to their most recent album opener, “A Little Love”, it unleashed some long engrained Pavlovian response. There’s no doubt whatsever that those drums sound like Biffy Clyro. I was moving and grinning from ear to ear.

My inner teenager was positively giddy. Hell, old man me was giddy. It doesn’t get much better than this. The irresistible bounce of “Who’s Got A Match?” took me right back to being 16 again, listening to Puzzle on my cheap CD walkman and marveling at these weirdly complex songs that the Scottish trio had written. I felt the same sheer awe and joy watching them play those songs in the present moment, right in front of me. 

Image: Bevan Triebels

It was a two tiered stage. Ben Johnston was at the back with his enormous drum kit. Singer and lead guitarist Simon Neil stood to his side, belting out the vocals. Simon was topless, both Scots were heavily tattooed, and soon to be covered in a glistening sheen of sweat. The stage lighting was fantastic, with red and white blinders pulsing and flashing.

I mentioned Mike Vennart earlier. He and Richard “Gambler” Ingram have been part of Biffy Clyro’s live act for many years, both having also been in legendary prog band Oceansize back in the day. (Vennart also has a metal side project along with Simon Neil entitled Empire State Bastard.) Vennart was on left-handed guitar, Ingram on keys.

I was hoping that they’d play a range of material spanning their back catalog, and maybe even a few special additions for NZ audiences, seeing how they’d never played here when releasing most of their albums. However, they have a fill-in bassist, Naomi MacLeod, stepping in while usual bass player James Johnston addresses some mental health and addiction issues. I imagined that Naomi had only learnt and rehearsed the songs that they’d selected for the standard set list of the tour so would have understood if they didn’t deviate from that.

Image: Bevan Triebels

Looking at Setlist.fm, I see that they did play the same songs they’ve been playing this far on tour. But it was still a great selection and I wasn’t left wanting. Nothing from their early albums when they were signed to Beggar’s Banquet, but I have no complaints.

Biffy Clyro have been around for a long time now, so have become veterans of the stage. We still got tastes of the human element though. It seemed like they got excited and sped up during “That Golden Rule” and “Bubbles”. And the Simon’s tortured scream during “Goodbye” had his voice breaking slightly in a way that I just love.

Image: Bevan Triebels

One criticism is that the backing tracks were too loud and borderline ostentatious at times. Yes, lovely string sections make ballads feel more emotional, but they stood out too much in the mix and took me out of the moment at times. I thought this made “Space” feel a bit like bad karaoke. But that didn’t stop half the crowd singing along with their arms in the air.

And Biffy Clyro know how to do ballads. “Machines” was the perfect antithesis to the garish rendition of “Space” – just Simon and an acoustic guitar, later joined by Ben on backing vocals. No need for backing tracks there, just pure magic. And who could deny the power of “Mountains”? Or “Many of Horror”? The unifying power of the ‘woahs’ in “Biblical”? Truly transcendent. 

But my heart lies with the riffs, with the songs that compel us to move and thrash about. There is few things in life that make my heart sing quite like the riff in the later half of “Different People”. The frenzied, acerbic riffing of “That Golden Rule” leaves me breathless. “Bubbles” had the crowd bouncing with effervescence. The bombastic intros of “The Captain” and “Wolves of Winter” take no prisoners.

One moment that stood out was the outro of “Two People in Love”. I hadn’t paid that song much attention until now, but I really loved how the band sat on the motifs, building beautifully, first with twinkling piano, then adding fresh layers of guitar and crashing cymbals as the song grows and grows with captivating wonder. It sounded huge, ready to engulf us all.

Image: Bevan Triebels

This is a band that isn’t afraid to mess with us, to show off a little. Just listen to “Living is a Problem…” A few minutes of seemingly random stabbing that launches into choral harmonising and erupts into big choruses. As if it wasn’t technical enough, Simon derailed it during the bridge, the mad conductor holding the band hostage as they entered a passage that was somehow even more chaotic than the recorded song that we all know. He paused, slowed it down, sped it up, added weird distortion and just enough tension, before finally letting it resolve, the band following along flawlessly.

If I had to describe Biffy Clyro in one word it would be: anthemic. They know how to write a song that rouses you and makes you feel. Big riffs, big choruses, big energy, big singalongs. Plenty of dynamics and loads of fun. This gig was everything I’d hoped for and more.

Mon the Biff!

Image: Bevan Triebels

Review by Joseph James.

Photos by Bevan Triebels.

@triebels_photography
[email protected]

Thanks to 818 and Live Nation.

Image: Bevan Triebels

 

Coast Arcade

Biffy Clyro

Live Review: Ash Grunwald at Meownui, Wellington

Ash Grunwald NZ Tour
Standard

Ash Grunwald

w/ Simon Donald
Meownui, Wellington
Sunday 24 August 2025

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 Grunwald Meownui Wellington

Ash joined onstage by his daughter, Sunny

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. [Post edit: I’ve since learnt that Ash will have merch at his other shows, but a contractual issue meant that he couldn’t sell it at Meownui.] 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/ 

 

Words and photos by Joseph James