Live Music Reviews

Live review: distance final Wellington show

distance final show Wellington
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distance

w/ Serpent Dream, Sheeps, FVKVSHIMA
Valhalla, Wellington
Friday 6 June 2025

Serpent Dream

I have nothing but love for Valhalla, the treasured venue that I consider my musical home. That said, it has a notoriously sticky floor a lot of the time. Opening act Serpent Dream was playing and I was shocked to see roughly a dozen people sitting down to enjoy their tunes. It was a suitable reaction to the lovely music, but I’ve always been of the mindset that making any more than the bare minimum of contact with the Valhalla floor was inadvisable. They were a duo: Josh on guitar and some vocals, and Kelda on violin. Kelda had contributed violin to distance recordings in past and they’d always discussed playing together at some point. I’d not encountered Serpent Dream beforehand, but I came away a fan. The ethereal music left us spellbound and paved the way for a great night ahead.

Sheeps have been a mainstay in the local music scene for some time now. I remember first seeing them play when they opened for Hiboux at San Fran during their Migrations tour. I know that they bonded with distance at Twisted Frequency festival one year that they’d both played, and had been tight ever since.

Their drummer Thomas has been living in Auckland for a few years, and it hasn’t always been worth flying him down to Wellington for gigs. Pete from FVKVSHIMA had been filling in here and there, opening for Toe, and playing Newtown Festival and Cubadupa. It was nice to see Thomas back on the drum throne for this gig.

Sheeps play a interesting brand of rock that draws from the lighter side of prog and post rock, while still leaving an impression. Three guitarists play intricate melodies and frontman Dean Blackwell delivers soaring vocals that remind me of Radiohead.

[Sheeps are currently raising funds to press their album Working the Machine on vinyl. Here is a link if you’re interested: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/getworkingthemachinepressedtovinyl]

FVKVSHIMA and distance have enjoyed a long friendship. I think they both opened for Spook the Horses years ago, which was FVKVSHIMA’s first show. Sam Butler filled in on bass one time – which is no small undertaking, considering how technical FVKVSHIMA’s music is. And the bands have played together many times. They will also be playing together in Christchurch next weekend, at distance’s final show.

I’m a big fan of FVKVSHIMA, and was honored that they were happy to work with me to premiere their debut single “Kuato” last year in May. They have immense stage presence and irresistible djenty grooves. Thematically, they draw heavy influence from from post-apocalyptic and sci-fi canon. Musically, I liken them to Meshuggah and Killing Joke.

Check out their new single “The End is Nigh“, released a few days ago.

It’s a sad moment. distance are one of the best bands to arise from the NZ music scene in the past decade. It started out as a solo lockdown project from Sam Butler, but before long became a fully fledged band. They’ve easily the best actively gigging post-rock band in the country for a lot of their tenure.

We last saw them touring with Australian band Myriad Drone in February. Myriad Drone were about to release their newest record, and were selling it before the official release dates at these shows. distance had an album in the works too, and had planned on releasing it to coincide with that tour, but some delays meant that the album wasn’t ready in time.

It’s a shame, because that album is a ripper. so as not to forget (released March 28, 2025) is a masterpiece. It’s dynamic and nuanced and shows clear growth in songwriting abilities. It also clearly draws from the trio’s metal roots, with plenty of big riffs and blastbeats that are both tasty and tasteful. Without question my favourite album released so far this year, and I feel like I’m still barely scratching the surface with discovering how much it has to offer.

So yeah, it’s sad that such an amazing band is calling it a day, and that they didn’t have much to to showcase their incredible new record. But they’re ending on a high note. Sam Butler is moving to Europe. Exciting new adventures await. A shame that this spells the end of a great band, but I have no doubt we will see more from him at some point in the future.

I haven’t even touched on their set. It was great. Many friends had come together for the farewell, and you could feel a nice energy in the room. A mix of hope and support, celebrating a band that we were proud to be friends with, albeit tinged with a bittersweet sadness.

Sam Austin has a really understated power in his presence, standing strong with a wide stance, holding his big bass guitar and delivering thunderous tones. As a drummer, I always love seeing Levi play. He’s a metal drummer in gazillion bands and I love seeing how he tastefully incorporates his metal chops into a style that doesn’t always ask for it. He has a deft ability to push the music in creative ways.

And then we have Sam Butler. The sonic wizard. distance has always been his project. He looked the part, his long curls hiding his face as he did his best shoegaze impression. But now and again you’d get a peek at his smile. He’s humble and a bit shy on stage. He made a few slip ups pressing the wrong buttons on his pedal board, and he sheepishly confessed that he’d made a terrible error choosing to take his shoes off and play in his socks [see prior entry for Valhalla floor: very sticky and gross]. But we all know that he’s incredible and we love him and his band and all the great contributions they’ve made to the music community as a band and as individuals.

It was fantastic. New lighting that I hadn’t seen at Valhalla before helped set the mood. Kelda from Serpent Dream jumped up onstage to add violin to one song, just as Toby has added sax at distance gigs in the past. The new songs are awesome and the older tracks wrapped themselves with warm familiarity. An end of an era for sure.

Tickets for distance’s final show in Christchurch next Saturday, with FVKVSHIMA, Ragweed and No Broadcast: https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/gig/96239/Distance-Final-Show—w/-Fvkvshima,-Ragweed-and-No-Broadcast.utr

 

distance links: https://lnk.bio/distancenz

 

Words and photos by Joseph James 

Live Review: The Flatliners at Valhalla, Wellington

Flatliners NZ banner
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The Flatliners
w/ Departure Party, No Sector and Dimestore Skanks
Valhalla, Wellington
Thursday 27 February 2025

Departure Party started the night off with his one-man folk punk crusade. His vocals reminded me a lot of Laura Jane Grace from Against Me!, especially the Heart Burns record I have, which is more of a solo affair. Heartfelt, impassioned punk vocals sung/shouted over acoustic guitar. Half way through the set he decided that he didn’t want to be onstage, and stepped down into the audience to continue without microphones. He consulted his notebook for a few moments before belting out his final few tunes under a single spotlight. It was a cool moment to create better intimacy, like when King Brothers had done the same thing at Valhalla a few weeks ago.

Next we had No Sector, the most hectic band of the night. Punk is a varied genre at the best of times. What do the Sex Pistols, Ramones and Clash have in common, sonically? Out of the four bands on the bill tonight, No Sector best fit my perception of what punk sounds like, with breakneck speeds and frantic venomous vocals. Later in the night Flatliners singer Chris Cresswell mentioned that he was surprised to see his old friend Leo in the band, who he’d worked alongside at his very first job and hadn’t seen in about a decade.

Dimestore Skanks always bring the party, and tonight was no exception. All seven members brought plenty of energy, skanking and shouting and generally having a blast. Dimestore have been a staple for many years now, and it was more than evident that they are well seasoned performers. They’d joke about being out of breath and unpracticed and in need of a break, but they sounded fantastic and had everyone dancing throughout their fantastic set.

Canadian punk rockers The Flatliners formed in 2002. This is their first time coming to New Zealand. That said, Cresswell also sings in Hot Water Music, who played here a few weeks ago. They’d been touring along with Hot Water Music in Australia, but I’d heard that seeing how this was their first time coming here, they wanted to come under their own banner to make up for the wait. They’d just played in Hamilton and Auckland, with Wellington being the last night of a long tour.

People were pumped for this show. Valhalla was packed. Looking around, it was mostly guys from late 30s to mid 40s, hairy in face and not so much in scalp. And a decent smattering of Canadians as well. It was mostly what I term the “Chicks That Scream” crowd – named after the promoters who usually bring the Fat Wreck style punk bands to New Zealand year after year. We saw people with shirts emblazoned with bands like Lagwagon, Strung Out, Hot Water Music, NOFX, Menzingers and the like.

The pit was heaving, swollen with sweaty bodies. A few songs in a woman edged past me to enter the fray. I was surprised – she was about armpit height and and entering a space of unspeakable smells and sensations. But she was a trooper, and remained there for the rest of the night, dutifully belting out every lyric along with the band. It was still funny seeing her physically recoil with disgust every time she got slammed into the back of particularly sweaty shirtless guy in front of her. 

The band was lapping it up, welcoming the chaos. Cresswell glistened the entire time, dripping wet like a salamander. He kept calling for the venue to put the heaters on, laughing at how all the bodies jammed into the venue had turned the space into a sauna. I enjoyed his disarming banter, trying to stoke a rivalry between Wellington and Auckland, or encouraging us to grunt “Ooh!” at him throughout the night, to follow our heart. Jon Darbey on bass had a king-teir beard absolutely deserving of remark. Drummer Paul Ramirez had positioned his cymbals comically high, but his playing could not be questioned, transitioning from no-nonsense beats to lighting-fast fills in a flash. And Scott Brigham brought the riffs.

There was plenty of crowd surfing and carry on like that. One punter stormed the stage to hijack a mic and give a speech, publicly thanking the band for coming all this way. It was sweet at first, but got old quickly. You could see the band were too polite (see: Canadian) to kick him off the stage. But they resumed soon enough anyway.

The Flatliners played fourteen songs, drawing more heavily from most recent album, New Ruin, and 2013’s Dead Language, but they touched on material from early in their career too, aware that most people in the audience had never had the opportunities to see those songs played live. Brigham asked everyone to shout requests all at once, obviously a bit. But I think they did stop and alter the planned set list slightly to accommodate. 

The band acknowledged that it was late, and it was a school night. But they thanked us for making the night special. I know that every band always says they love the audience, wherever they play. But you also know that Canadians are genuine and nice people, so this carried weight. They stayed back after their set to hand out picks, drumsticks, setlists, sign merch and so on, which was really nice to see in this era of bands charging the earth for VIP meet and great packages.

Thanks so much, turn on the heaters, see you again in another 23 years. Ooh!

 

Written by Joseph James

Thanks to Sticky Fingaz Tour Management

Live Review: distance and Myriad Drone at Valhalla, Wellington

Distance Myriad Drone Poster
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distance (NZ) and Myriad Drone (Au)
w/ Spiral & Their Eyes Were Flowers
Valhalla, Wellington
Friday 21 February 2025

Call me hipster, but I’ve been a big fan of distance since before their first release. I remember listening to an advanced copy of their debut EP, over time that Sam Butler sent me and being highly impressed how great he’d managed to make it sound, especially considering how it was essentially a lockdown bedroom album. But then again, I wasn’t surprised. Sam is well known within the music scene. His touches can be widely seen – mixing and recording music, designing posters and album art, filling in on bass and guitar. distance was a project that highlighted just how talented he was.

Since then, Sam has recruited a band of fantastic musicians, released a few albums, and played a bunch of shows. I’ve followed the band with great interest and was delighted when I saw this tour announced.

Myriad Drone have come over from Australia for the tour. They graced our shores last year, coming over as support for Russian Circles. There are a few cool connections between Myriad Drone and distance. Shane from Myriad Drone is from Nelson, as are the members of distance, although none of them live in Nelson these days. Shane used to be in a metal band called Zerstiren, who had a reunion tour late last year. Levi Sheehan – best known for drumming in Organectomy – filled in for Zerstiren for the reunion. And Levi also drums in distance. Levi and Shane got chatting about how they were both in post-rock bands, and next thing you know, they’ve planned a cool tour.

 

Spiral kicked the night off. They switched between mellow and intense frequently, but keeping the energy high. A lot of midwest emo and post-hardcore influences shone through, and I especially liked the spoken word sections that remind me of La Dispute. 

Next up were Their Eyes Were Flowers. They introduced their music as “pretty little songs” before launching into harsh, chaotic music. The songs had structure, but they seemed messy and partially free flow. I’m not sure about the tunings, but the guitars sounded discordant with jagged riffs. It was a challenging listen. I could see that they were trying to make some kind of artistic statement, but I didn’t like it.

Myriad Drone were up next. I’d bumped into them and had a chat with them on Cuba St shortly before the gig, and they faintly remembered me from having yarns at the Russian Circles show last year. They seemed happy to see me, and were super friendly. And their music was great. They’re about to release a new album, A World Without Us, on March 8th, and we were fortunate enough to get a taste of the new songs. They sounded fantastic. 

I thought it was funny that Shane and Simon wore Russian Circles and Botch t-shirts, respectively – both bands featuring the same bassist, Brian Cook. I thought Hayley was wearing a Nine Inch Nails top at first glance, but upon inspection it turned out to be a NIN x Monty Python parody referencing the Knights who say Ni!

You know that the band should be bringing the goods when they’ve all got in ear monitors and backing tracks, so it was no surprise that Myriad Drone had a full, vibrant sound. I was surprised how transcendent some of the songs sounded, even while Hayley was going nuts on the blastbeats. I loved seeing how Shane and Jacob added their vocals to the mix to create more subtle textures in the music as well. Their set was a real treat to behold.

distance have been around for a few years now, but it feels like they’ve ascended rapidly, garnering international recognition for their quality recordings, and great slots supporting overseas touring artists and NZ festivals. Earlier this month they’d joined God Is An Astronaut on the two NZ legs of their international tour.

distance have freshly been reduced to a core trio, but the three of them collectively create such a lush, dense sound that you’d have no idea that they’re a man down. You can just tell that they know what they’re doing. Toby Leman (best known for his band Hummicide, amongst many others) came on for a guest appearance for roughly half the set, adding his sweet saxophone to the mix. He stood there statuesque, wearing sunglasses and adding a his element aspect to fantastic music. It sounded good, and was somewhat novel because I haven’t come across the use of brass instruments in post-rock music much (The Dark Third, and this Caspian video come to mind, but not much else).

The lights were fairly dim and subdued, and although distance are by no means boring, there was less of a focus on showmanship, and they let the immersive music do the talking. It was primal, captivating. Like Myriad Drone, they still had metal elements like blastbeats and tremolo riffing at times, but it never felt jarring. There’s not much that I find more thrilling than beholding exceptional musicians, masterfully commanding their instruments onstage like this.

Looking around the venue, Valhalla was reasonably full. Everyone else stood entranced. I bet they were all thankful that they’d chosen to spend their Friday night like this.

Tomorrow distance and Myriad Drone play the Paisley Stage in Napier, along with FVKVSHIMA. They’ll then head to the South Island for shows in Christchurch and Nelson next week.

distance and Myriad Drone are playing the following dates:

Friday 21 February – Valhalla, Wellington w/ Their Eyes Were Flowers + Spiral

Saturday 22 February – Paisley Stage, Napier w/ FVKVSHIMA

Friday 28 February – Wunderbar Lyttelton, Christchurch w/ Necropolis + Ragweed

Saturday 1 March – Coastal Carnage Festival 


Tickets from UnderTheRadar: https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/news/21973/Distance–Myriad-Drone-AUS-Aotearoa-Tour-2025-Announced.utr 


Links:

distance: https://lnk.bio/distancenz

Myriad Drone: https://myriaddrone.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/myriaddrone/

 

Words and photos by Joseph James

Live Review: King Brothers at Valhalla, Wellington

King Brothers Alka Silka Cindy NZ Tour Poster
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King Brothers
w/ Alka Silka and Cindy
Valhalla, Wellington
Thursday 13 February 2025

When it comes to crazy rock music, Japan punches well above its weight.

In recent years I’ve seen the likes of Guitar Wolf, Shonen Knife and Otoboke Beaver, but King Brothers are by far the best I’ve seen.

I saw them when they came with The Vottones in 2018 and honestly, that show made a huge impression on me. They came back to NZ in 2023 but didn’t make it to Wellington, and I was busy touring with a band of my own, so I sadly I couldn’t see them. 

But late last year the legend Austin from Your Enabler Presents put the announcement out. King Brothers were coming back! I made sure to purchase a ticket as soon as possible. It’s already an incredibly stacked year for gigs, but this is the one I’ve most been looking forward to.

I arrived at Valhalla a few songs into Cindy’s set. Scott Brown was in The DHDFDs, who played with King Brothers last time I saw them, and have toured with King Brothers extensively. I guess this is his new band – I couldn’t find too much info about either. Cindy was certainly a great way to start the night, with high energy, unfiltered rock music. Seeing a sweaty, topless, heavily tattooed drummer is a great start. Stubbies also add a special je ne sais quoi to the performance. It was frantic, fast paced music with attitude. My favourite part was when the guitarist climbed up to the storage area on the side of stage just to jump back down. It was like Eddie Vedder behaviour, but with vocals that were marginally easier to understand.

Alka Silka were on next. The first thing to note is that their lead instrument was accordion. This gave an odd folk vibe to otherwise raucous punk/rock music. The punk ethos ran strong, with their activism, music and DIY merch. Two members had prominent patches on their clothes decrying the genocide in Palestine. And they had some great quirky merch, with lots of DIY designed shirts, badges, some 7″ records and the like. I had a great time listening to their music. The accordion was interesting, as was the frequent use of cowbell in the drumming. It was almost like circus music with blastbeats. They shared vocal duties, with lots of chanting and shouting. “Okinawa is a small island with a big voice”, they offered, about their homeland. Well the big voice came through loud and clear.

And then we had King Brothers. They brought the drumkit off the riser to the front of stage to be closer to the audience. Will the soundtech was busy putting all the microphones back in place after the move and I mentioned to him that he needn’t stress too much about it because they wouldn’t be staying put. He laughed and nodded, saying he could tell that King Brothers were pretty restrained during soundcheck and he was expecting more, but he had no idea what the full extent would be.

The trio were all dressed in suits. They started off with drums front and centre, and the two guitarists flanking the drums, each standing atop their amps, riffing away before jumping down to commence their set.

Marya on guitar and screams had gaffer tape around his waist in lieu of a belt and his hair had greyed since I last saw him, but his energy hadn’t dissipated one iota. He screamed into the microphone before throwing it into the audience. He’d beckon and signal that he needed it back, before immediately throwing it back out. It was we were playing fetch with him. Audience members would take turns screaming into the mic as well, but I wonder if they were happy about it when Marya began licking and slobbering on it, putting it into his mouth. He also picked his nose and ate it to continue the gross-out tactics. The other two musicians were just as intense in their playing, but Marya was the star. 

Roughly half way through the set they dismantled the drumset and reassembled it in the middle of the audience. They signaled to Will to turn off the stagelights, relying solely on a worklight they’d stuck on a mic stand for illumination. Well that, and a dozen or so phone lights. It was such a spectacle, everyone needed to film some of it. It was almost too wild to believe. Marya beckoned us closer before pouncing, and began to crowd surf around, doing arial donuts around his bandmates who were now performing in the middle of the room.

It was an incredible night. Three amazing acts that all had their own flavour, but delivered memorable sets full of crazed energy. I highly recommend getting along to a show if you get the chance.

King Brothers are playing the following dates in NZ:

Thursday 13th February – Valhalla, Wellington
Friday 14th February – Double Whammy, Auckland
Saturday 15th February – Palace Tavern, Tauranga
Sunday 16th February – Harbour View Hotel, Raglan

Tickets: https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/index.php?task=searchall&q=king+brothers 

 

 

Words and photos by Joseph James

Live Review: God Is An Astronaut at Max Watts, Melbourne

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God Is An Astronaut

w/ Solkyri & Treebeard

Max Watts, Melbourne

Saturday 8 February 2025

Following the early days of post-rock, Godspeed You! Black Emperor laid the groundwork for long cinematic compositions that experimented with sounds and guitar, drums and bass moved on from being a lead plus rhythm section. It set a tone for hundreds of bands that would explore the possibilities in this universe.

One of those who joined that school in the early days was Irish trio God is an Astronaut, who played in Australia for the first time ever this last week. A good crowd turned up to see the band who, for many, was their first introduction to post-rock and songs without words.

First support was Melbourne heavy post-metal quartet Treebeard. Sprouting from the covid years they have strengthened their performances in leaps and bounds. Strong, hard riffs were the order of the day and there is melody carrying those riffs along, creating impressive dynamics and interplay.



One track in particular (I think it was called Snowman), served up it’s crescendo in an impressively unique way. Rather than getting faster or building to the lift in volume, the song walked along peacefully, then in an instant, with no increase in speed, our eardrums were hammered with thunderous, deliberate drums, bass and riffs. I knew something was coming, but I had no idea it would be this. They closed the set with some splendid harsh vocals – another welcome surprise. What a glorious set. Get another guitar and hold those riffs over a little longer and Treebeard will be unlike anything you’ve heard.

Solkyri were up next. A Sydney band formed about 14 years ago, I remember how impressed I was by the range of emotions they could convey live. They have over those 13 years developed a tightness and skill level in performing that matches their inventiveness and range of sound. Kicking off with the beautiful No Thoughts/No Dreams I found myself uplifted and smiling. Turns out you can start a post-rock set at other than full blast and still get the crowd’s attention. Half way through their five songs we were treated to the wonderful joy of This Can’t Wait, one of the first tunes they penned. I’ll never get tired of this.

Just when you thought the happiness would continue, they unleashed I am the Motherfucker, which slowly builds to an assault on your brain. The emotions you’ve been feeling are torn away for the melancholic, cautious, despairing intro, soon followed by the pleasure of being smashed against a wall of rocks. Take that!


But they end on another lighter note with Pendock & Progress, having covered their catalogue and provided a perfect sampler

And now the headliner. I met some folks who had travelled from Perth to catch the show, including one who has followed them all over the world, seeing them now 18 times. That’s an indication of the love the Astronaut fans have for the trio. They were very well rewarded, with a band on top of its game. Well written tunes, a flawless sound, and that special something that happens when you perform this often for so long.

The band has written many shorter tracks of around three minutes, and more than a few are introspective glimpses of life. Tonight though, the longer tracks had time to breathe, and there was a slow build of the tempo and volume over the first three songs- Odyssey, Echoes and Falling Leaves. I did get a feeling the crowd were not fully invested and the applause was subdued, but that all changed as the boys broke into All is Violent/All is Bright. From then the crowd came alive, the crescendos grew and the cheering was much more spirited.


When Apparition hit that second half we really got a taste of the harsh, angular riffs and chords these guys can knock out. The tension and harshness cut through the air and smacked you on the face before settling down to rest.

The rest of the night followed in a similar vein with gently paced melodies and riffs walking through different rooms, playing with four and eight bar building blocks, sometimes landing gently, others not so much.

The sound mix was good, the snare cracked good and loud, and guitar and bass each chased melodies and riffs, sometimes grabbing each other around the neck before releasing their grip to stop the screams.

When all was done and the crowd filtered out it was great to see all three bands chatting to punters and relaxing. I’d noticed less of that over recent years so it was lovely to see.

Oh and Nick, I forgot the two words you wanted me to use in this. Sorry mate 😊

 

Gilbert Potts

 

Tickets for the rest of the tour: https://www.birdsrobe.com/shows/god-is-an-astronaut-australia-and-new-zealand-tour-with-special-guests-solkyri-amp-treebeard