Demon Energy Rock The Park 2018
10th March 2018
Grey Lynn Park, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Doug Peters.
There is no denying that this summer has been one of dubious conditions, but The Rock radio station has obviously got a hotline to the weather deities as the sun spread it’s love over Aucklanders for the annual Rock The Park. Once again in association with the Auckland City Council and the good guys over at Demon Energy Drinks, four outstanding New Zealand bands were lined up on the bill to thrill and excite those in attendance with a mix of both the hottest new acts to have emerged on the scene as well as some true Kiwi icons.Picnics and BYO were welcomed into Grey Lynn Park, but for those that preferred to eat on the go there was a plethora of food trucks to choose from as well as the classic Mr. Whippy for an after meal treat for the kids. Amusement rides lined up along the back of the field while down the front a well laid out merch tent offered wears from those performing as well as a signing tent for the fans that desired an autograph and if they were lucky enough a snap with their favorite band.
Starting the day off at the hour of two with a hiss and a roar were local band Dead Favours; created just two years ago by the virtuoso that is Charlie Smith on drums, Dead Favours have fast become the darlings of the local circuit. Taking the stage completely dressed in black, Smith seated behind a white kit with ‘DF’ in black tape across the bass drum, they serenaded the audience in a way that only a true alternative rock band can. As Ross Larsen brought the bass, lead vocalist Jared Wrennall (formally of Grammy Award nominated band Steriogram) definitely brought the vocals, tracks such as their latest entitled ‘Better The Weather’ impressing the crowd that had arrived early to catch their set.
Still riding the high from their support slot at the recent Rise Against show at the Logan Campbell Centre, the four piece were all energy as stage smoke billowed around them, many in the crowd already having a taste for them thanks to some of their brilliant music videos such as ‘High Flying’. But it had to be said that the punters in front of the stage almost imploded as they recognized the opening bars from their hit single ‘Dig’, Wrennall’s vocals on point as he hit those impossibly high notes during the verses before unleashing that definitive rock growl with the chorus, which projects the song into the stratosphere. Throw that altogether with rather stylish guitar riffs from Kyle Wetton and it was certainly a winning combination in which to start the day off on. Dead Favours will next be supporting Royal Blood on May 1st, and that will be one show you will not want to miss.
While Brad King from The Rock was teased mercilessly on stage about the after party being at his house (The Rock even organizing for the words ‘After Party at Brad’s Place’ to be printed on the back of their singlets), the stunning Demon Energy girls brought out the t-shirt guns and delivered some freebies to the crowd in high octane style. As always the awesome crew behind the scenes quickly had everything turned over in lightning fast time ready for double VNZMA Best Rock Album award winners Villainy.
Against a backdrop of black, the word ‘Villainy’ spelled out in large white letters, vocalist Neill Fraser almost looked like a beacon in his pure white ensemble – a shock of bleached blonde hair adorning his head. The crowd pressed in closer as he raised his arms up, instantly inspiring them all to cheer. “I’ve been told I can’t swear today, so if I do, I’m really, really, really fucking sorry”, Fraser grinning at the crowd in a completely unapologetic way, that rock n roll attitude coming through loud and clear and signaling to the crowd that the band were obviously chomping at the bit to knock this set out of the park entirely. Without any hesitation Villainy launched straight into ‘Gather Yourselves’ from their debut album Mode. Set. Clear. released in 2012, both tone and pace for their killer afternoon slot being set from early on. In complete contrast – adding to the visual aspect of their performance – the rest of the band were dressed in black, and while each of the four piece held their own, it was indeed hard to tear your eyes away from Thom Watts on lead guitar, easily one of the most animated characters of the day. When he wasn’t emitting lightning bolts of insane riffs from his guitar, he was catching a whole lot of air with impressive stage jumps, at other times coming forward and planting a foot on the foldback as he made eye contact with those in the front row.
Relentless in their attack, Villainy provided the fans with plenty of material to rock out to, and then some; because hey, this is Rock The Park is it not? ‘Ammunition’ a more than appropriate song title as once again the stage smoke whirled around the four piece, giving them the appearance of soldiers of rock taking on the world. After a punk infused ‘No Future’ and a shout out to Rock The Park, Villainy dropped ‘Give Up The Ghost’, Fraser insisting on everyone present being involved in the moment as he requested that they all get as low to the ground as they could, even demonstrating his request by coming out to the front of stage and crouching himself. As Watts churned the chord over and over, the crowd dropped everybody ready and waiting for the count, Fraser screaming “four!!” as the entire audience jumped up and bounced on the spot as if their very lives depended on it.
But Villainy certainly hadn’t finished yet, huge hit ‘Alligator Skin’ seeing the fans go wild; not to be outdone Watts matched their tenacity by playing the guitar behind his head as James Dylan on bass and Dave Johnston on drums pounded home the heavy foundations that make the track just so delectable; ‘Safe Passage’ with huge vocals from Fraser the perfect follow-up and one that kept the crowd shaking. All too soon it was sadly time to say goodbye to the foursome who had more than once turned the heat up to eleven during their set. With inflatable palm trees dotted around the stage, those that have been following the band knew exactly what they would be finishing on; ‘Tiny Little Island’ their “post-apocalyptic singalong” currently doing the rounds on the airwaves, providing audiences with a taste of just what direction the band may be heading in with their third album. And just when the fans thought it couldn’t get any better, from behind the drums poured black and white Villainy beach balls while white confetti rained down upon their heads, the combination of the two transforming a simple afternoon of rock music to a full blown concert atmosphere. In a flash a dinner table adorned with a fine china tea set and a vase of flowers appeared, the band arranging themselves around it as they took one of the most original selfies with the crowd to appear on any band page, the setting a clever little nod to their current promo photos. With a performance like that it would be wise to keep an eye out for when Villainy are next in your town!
Once again The Rock boys appeared on stage, this time with some freebies that proved to be highly desirable; ten singlets with a double pass to the upcoming Storm The Gates Music Festival the cause of much fevered leaping into the air in the hopes of catching one of the valuable missiles fired from the now familiar t-shirt gun.
Mid-set entertainment over and it was time to bring out some of the stalwarts of the rock and metal scene of New Zealand; the one and the only (mainly because the world just isn’t big enough to cope with two of them!) Head Like A Hole. To see a band with such a rich and diverse history as HLAH at Rock The Park was more than a dream come true for many an audience member, especially those of the younger persuasion who have grown up listening to their work but are too young to attend many of their shows. With swagger by the bucket loads, leader of the pack Booga Beazley was the first to appear in his trade mark leather pants complete with horse hair embellishment and an enviable forest of a moustache adorning his face. Raising his arms to the crowd he enquired as to whether they would like the rest of the band to come out an emphatic “yes” almost bowling him over. “You sure? They’re ugly, fucking ugly” Beazley retorted with a sly grin. As the rest of the band joined him the crowd jostled for a better position, not wanting to miss a second of the antics that Head Like A Hole were sure to bring. As Nigel Regan took up position in a Herzog t-shirt, the others fell into place. Looking lean and mean and ready to tear the stage apart it was if time stood still for a moment before the onslaught began.
Beazley was an inimitable whirlwind of debauchery with tongue action that would make the devil himself bow down before him, wielding the mic stand like an extension of his own form he strutted the length of the stage and back again lewdly gesturing at the audience before giving them an eyeful of his leather clad ass as he bent over and smacked it. This was true down and dirty rock n roll with all the trimmings and the crowd couldn’t get enough. “Comfortably Shagged’, ‘One Pound, Two Pound’ and the crowd were already blown away; Regan and Beazley interjecting their own brand of humour as Beazley mused about his mic stand being a little “up and down and a bit spinny” before Regan announced loudly that his “taint was sweaty”, Beazley quickly quipping back that that sounded like a lot of things in his life. A leftfield cover of Led Zepplins ‘Immigrant Song’ saw many of the older members of the audience bring out both their air guitars and mics while ‘Ritual Groove Meister’ brought the low down groove, both Simon Nicholls (ex Luger Boa) on bass and Andrew Ashton on rhythm guitar giving the track body as well as girth.
‘Cornbag’ prompted a singalong with a chorus to rival most others, Beazley yelling “scream for me Los Angeles” in the middle of the track, both his tongue and wit as razor sharp as ever. But it wasn’t just all about the classics (even though not a single soul was complaining about hearing tracks like ‘Fish Across Face’ live!), latest single ‘The End Of Life’ released just last year quickly demonstrating to all that HLAH aren’t going anywhere anytime soon and that they are just as hard and heavy as ever. In a final run that included ‘Wet Rubber’, ‘Hootenanny’ and “one for the ladies” (Head Like A Hole’s epic cover of the Bruce Springsteen ballad “I’m On Fire”) the boys finished on ‘Glory Glory’ – a fist pumping anthem of a song that had many in the front row almost purging their voice boxes with everything they had.
By now the park was packed, the atmosphere one of rather heady good vibes. A final interlude involving Thane Kirby on the decks playing a medley of everything from Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ to Shihad’s ‘Home Again’ and a rather dubious air horn made from old train parts signaled the last set of the day to be performed by none other than The Datsuns.
Hailing from Cambridge and bursting onto the scene almost eighteen years ago, the four piece that would have easily slotted into place in the 1970’s have an impressive six albums under their belt, their last, Deep Sleep having been released in 2014. Vocalist Rudolf de Borst cut a fine figure in a red Slade t-shirt, his weathered bass slung across his hip; lead guitarist Christian Livingstone almost channeling a young Jimmy Page in skin tight bell bottom jeans and a black and white striped shirt. Regaling the crowd with ‘Gods Are Bored’ it was unfortunately a little noticeable that the sound mix wasn’t quite right, Borst signaling to the sound desk several times; but as the four piece moved into tracks such as ‘Sittin Pretty’ and ‘Freeze Sucker’ the sound levelled out, the audience having the time of their lives as a wall of hair moved in time to the intoxicating richness. The Datsuns are a band of few words, preferring instead to let their melodic wonder and stage presence (the same presence that saw them awarded ‘Best Live Band’ by NME) do all the talking that they needed.
As ‘Girls Best Friend’ rolled off their tongues like the end of a zig-zag paper, Borst smiled at the crowd “Thank you very much, what a beautiful day! Remember to pick each other back up when you fall over, look after each other!” a well placed sentiment that the crowd took on board wholeheartedly. ‘Caught in the Silver’ wrapped the crowd up in sweet bass lines; big hitter ‘Harmonic Generator’ tearing that sweetness apart with it’s raucousness that worked the crowd into a frenzy like no other, especially when Borst decided to go for walk along the top of the crowd’s hands. The instrumental diverseness of the band was also displayed in full as Phil Somervell took over the bass guitar on a couple of tracks such as the brilliant ‘Helping Hands’, freeing up Borst to fully get his rock god persona on and strut with the microphone.
Second to last track for the day ‘Stuck Here For Days’ saw Livingstone lose himself to the wonderment of his own guitar work, his breathtaking solo seeing many of the crowd pause from their frenetic dancing to take it all in. But of course The Datsuns took it out in style, ending their set with the in your face ‘MF From Hell’ – the track still just as blistering as it was when it was released sixteen years ago on their self-titled debut album. Drenched, exhausted and happily sated, the fans who had packed out the front of the field vocally saluted The Datsuns as they waved their goodbyes and sauntered off stage; another Rock The Park successfully done and dusted.
How can they top it next year? We’ll just have to wait and see now won’t we?
Dead Favours:
Villainy:
Head Like A Hole:
The Datsuns:
Were you there at Grey Lynn Park for this huge day in the sun? Or have you been to Rock The Park on a different year? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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