Napalm Death, Brujeria & Lock Up
4th October 2017
The Kings Arms Tavern, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Kate Taylor. Photography by Matt Henry Mendonca.
If I was at Auckland’s King’s Arms to witness an evening of grindcore excellence last night I wouldn’t have known it, as it felt more like a house party reunion with plenty of mates congregating to see the mighty Brujeria and Napalm Death roll into town. Although this writer wasn’t there to see them personally, the evening opened out with Malevolence and Lock Up; which I was informed by some of the fellow fork-throwers in attendance that Malevolence were great as usual and that when it came to Lock Up, variations of the phrase “You missed out bro” were the caption to their performance. Settling into the evening, the anticipation for Brujeria to take the stage was, shall we say…high.
Making their very first appearance in New Zealand, Brujeria, Satan’s mariachi band appeared and captivated the crowd many of who, like me, have been waiting some twenty plus years to see them brandish their especial brand of high potency grindcore, death metal and hardcore for us; slicing us open with their machetes of brutality. No really, there was an honest to goodness machete strapped to the side of one of Brujeria’s masked men which he waggled about lustily as the set when on. Dad Bod encased in a tasselled leather jacket, our man looked like Danny Trejo up there, brutal and vibrant and yet somehow effortlessly casual as they pounded out favourites like Brujerizmo, La Migra and Anti Castro. Doing their best to teach us some Española while they entertained us, the cries of “parte hombre, parte hongo” rippled through the King’s Arms as we joined chorus on Brujeria’s ode to psychedelic mushrooms on Satongo. Passionate cries of “Fuck Donald Trump” were screamed by the assembled as Brujeria spat with ire their rightful disdain for the POTUS. That house party vibe came back with full force on the mull-tastic Marijuana with screams of “Marijuana, Si!” coming back in rounds from the ebullient faces of the crowd, to the sweaty bandana encased faces of Brujeria. Melting into their parody of the Macarena with of course, Marijuana replaced as the main component lyrics wise, it was kinda delightful to see that even in a moment of silliness, New Zealand metal fans will not participate in anything that closely resembles the Macarena. Over all too quickly, Brujeria left us with the affirmation “New Zealand mi hermanos” and spent extra time shaking the hands of the fans that surged forward to greet them at set’s end. ¡Ay, caramba!
Darkness enveloped the King’s Arms with one solitarily spotlight illuminating the stage as we waited for Britain’s fathers of grindcore metal, Napalm Death visiting us again after a two year intermission. Bursting forth, Mark “Barney” Greenway hurtled himself around the stage, whipping the mic cord, smacking himself in the head and grinding it out with reckless abandon and a passionate heart. Addressing us directly, Barney who’s speaking voice is the most cordial and civilised lilt, said “As per fucking usual, we are napalm death from Birmingham” before launching into Smash a Single Digit. For my inaugural viewing of Napalm Death I couldn’t have been treated to a more cathartic and urgent performance as the state of our world visibly leaves Barney & Co. in a state of disbelief at how the globe is beginning to resemble a flaming bag of dog shit on the universes door; but also buoyed by the fact that they have been singing odes to the themes that matter since their 1981 inception.
As limbs and stage-diving bodies tumbled in the pit and one of Napalm’s members had a dread ripped from his skull mid-performance; Barney screamed about what matters: disdain for GMO’s, ideas of anti-war, disdain for perversion within religion, slave labour within the fashion industry, even the lamentation that our dear King’s Arms will soon be only a warm memory for us gig-goers and more generally how we need to live a life that’s fair, equitable and about equality for all. With this kind of impassioned manifesto, I’m sure the seed of revolution has been planted in the minds of some this night.
As Barney grabs at his head, tearing at his hair, embodying the injustice that we all feel against this world’s slights. In his 50’s Barney is chaotic proving that if you stay passionate, stay involved and stay doing what you love, you’ll be young forever; as he switches effortlessly, seamlessly between his two vocal styles and noticing pundits in the crowd gazing up at him mouth a gap Barney uttered “Concentrate for fucks sake, please! It’s an essential fucking skill, in this game”. Tearing into the second cover of the evening, Barney advises that this track is “…from a little band from California that you might of heard of before called The Dead Kennedys, so in the spirit of friendship I’d like you to say with us, loud and voluminous NAZI PUNKS FUCK OFF!”
I’m awed; in fact I’m almost at a loss for words. I’ve personally waited so long to see Napalm Death, such an important and vital grindcore band that reinforces my belief system so completely and tells me and all in attendance that it’s right to care for those around you and to stand against what is clearly inhumane. I wish I could carry Barney around in my pocket so that when the world’s injustices get too bloody much, I can peek in at him and he can tell me everything’s OK…thank goodness then that we’ve got an incalculable back catalogue from these premium gentlemen and that yeer after yeer (sounds better in the Birmingham accent…), Napalm Death are still creating important, meaningful metal for us to live by.
Bloody wow.
Napalm Death:
Brujeria:
Lock Up:
Were you there at The Kings Arms Tavern for this brutal display of metal magnificence? Or have you seen Napalm Death, Brujeria or Lock Up perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
