Electric Six, Auckland NZ, 2023

Electric Six

1st March 2023
The Tuning Fork, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Sarah Fleming. Photography by Doug Peters.

Sold out show, Wednesday night, and a spanking good dose of rock n roll; the ultimate elixir from which to sip from to see out the rest of the week in style.

It was no surprise that tickets had been snapped up for Detroit’s Electric Six; blending together elements of rock, metal, comedy and punk their fan base is large and diverse, their debut album Fire released twenty years ago now still on regular rotation for many.

Under the welcoming and serene twinkling lightbulbs strung across the ceiling of Tuning Fork, fans were shuffling into position, many arriving early to catch the support act that had many just as excited as seeing Electric Six themselves.

RATSO are the self-styled Tamaki Makaurau garage punk band that everyone needs in their lives. Exploding onto the stage, first glance offered an eclectic array of musicians that almost looked like they had each wandered into the wrong set. But as the opening notes of ‘Shut Your Face’ hurled themselves from the edge and into the audience, the venue came alive, heads nodding and feet naturally keeping rhythm.

‘Arseholes and Bullshit’ closely followed behind, front man (and rather well-known personality around town) John Baker a swirling vortex of hair, limbs and vocals, his energy just as infectious as the music backing it. The line-up has changed a little over the last couple of months (to quote the band, they lost a Takumi but found a Bruno) but the sound is just as raw and raucous as ever, unsurprising when you have rock royalty such as Jake Harding from the D4 in the line-up.

Barely giving anyone a moment to catch their breath, RATSO kept rolling out the bangers, ‘Shakedown’ and ‘Living Dead’ soon culminating in a finale that involved Baker handing out a slew of homemade signs with fantastic slogans scrawled across them such as ‘Make Aotearoa Glam Again’ and ‘Hug Your Girlfriend’. The fans embraced them with love as they enthusiastically waved them in the air to ‘Hurricane’ while Baker hyped them up with more hair flailing and tambourine banging and Harding delivering some zesty vocals.

RATSO. If you haven’t seen them yet, what are you doing with your life?

Obligatory intermission to allow the techs to work their magic (and dry off the stage) and the audience to reset and the air was soon humming as the countdown till Electric Six appeared was on.

Arriving on stage, suited and booted, Electric Six cut quite the dapper look, their first track ‘After Hours’ from their album Zodiac anything but, the crowd instantly pogoing and throwing hands in the air.

It may have taken the first couple of tracks to get into the swing of things but once they found their stride the band sliced through the air like a freshly sharpened blade, Dick Valentine (aka Tyler Spencer) soon proving that he still has the chops to hold down a show, with tracks such as ‘Bride of the Devil’ and Rock and Roll Evacuation’.

“We’re a political band” Valentine sneered, his well curated and professionally tinged single finger guns to varying members of the front row only making them swoon more. Those who had been following their tour schedule last year, may have been expecting a slightly different set list, but Valentine and co had other ideas.

Conveying to all that they would be presenting a “mixed grill” of tracks first before delivering the album Fire in full, generated whoops of delight, many settling in for what was undoubtedly going to be a night of hijinks.

What followed was more than most could have hoped for; besides the outstanding musicianship, tracks such as ‘Roulette’, ‘Formula 409’ and of course ‘Down at McDonnelzzz’ quickly sorted the wheat from the chaff, as the die-hard belted out every word while dancing on the spot.

Valentine soon had them eating out of the palm of his hand; synchronised clapping? Check. Unified Arm waving? Double check. Banter about everything from how long the band had been in this dirty business (twenty-something years, thank you very much) to enquiring as to whether anyone had any contacts with stadiums, as Electric Six would like to play more of them also peppered the show; a discourse about how technically Tuning Fork was ‘the appendix’ of Spark Arena but they would take it, eliciting laughter from the masses.

The first set continued to lay out the goods as ‘Night Vision’ and ‘Future is in the Future’ made way for ‘(Who the Hell just) Call my Phone?’ and ‘Dance Epidemic’, the white wolf (aka Johnny Na$hinal) and Da Vè, relentless on guitars while Hyperkube Bonanza delivered percussion to rival the devil himself.
Finishing with ‘Drugs’ and the multi-lingual stylings of ‘Germans in Mexico’, which Valentine soon had the crowd roaring the lyrics to, and the first set shot by in a flash, anticipation running high for what was to come next and those two infamous tracks.

Despite a touch of fatigue setting in on both sides, both the E6 and the audience gave it everything they had for the next forty minutes of non-stop frivolity. ‘Dance Commander’ came out punching while ‘Naked Pictures (Of Your Mother)’ had many almost screaming the lyrics to the sky in joy.

But of course, it was ‘Danger! High Voltage’ that threatened to burn the venue down as the fans bounced to the beat, the band’s obvious enjoyment reflected in Valentines frozen cheesy smile as he stared down the mosh pit. ‘Improper Dancing’ was also a big hitter as those in attendance geared up for easily the biggest hit of the evening, ‘Gay Bar’ going off like fireworks on the fourth of July; Valentine even removing his jacket momentarily to casually swing over one shoulder as he delivered the unparalleled line “I want to take you to a Gay Bar!”.

Counting down the last of the tracks, (advising listeners of the numbered track one of Valentine’s favourite deadpan hobbies) ‘Synthesizer’ saw the evening end on a high, both band and fans exhausted but sated.

Hands down, Electric Six always had it and still do.

Electric Six:

RATSO:

Were you there at The Tuning Fork for this fun electro-rock gig? Or have you seen Electric Six perform live somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Setlist:

1. After Hours
2. Bride of the Devil
3. Rock and Roll Evacuation
4. Roulette
5. Formula 409
6. Down at McDonnelzzz
7. The New Shampoo
8. Night Vision
9. Future is in the Future
10. Show Me What Your Lights Mean
11. Who The Hell Just Call My Phone?
12. Be My Dark Angel
13. Dance Epidemic
14. I Buy the Drugs
15. Germans in Mexico
16. Dance Commander
17. Electric Demons in Love
18. Naked Pictures (of your Mother)
19. Danger! High Voltage
20. She’s White
21. I Invented the Night
22. Improper Dancing
23. Gay Bar
24. Nuclear War (On the dance floor)
25. Getting into the Jam
26. Vengeance and Fashion
27. I’m the Bomb
28. Synthesizer

_{Note: Ambient Light was provided passes to review and photograph this concert. As always, this has not influenced the review in any way and the opinions expressed are those of Ambient Light’s only. This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase a product using an affiliate link, Ambient Light will automatically receive a small commission at no cost to you.}

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