Villainy, Auckland NZ, 2019

Villainy

27th July 2019
Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Molly O’Brien. Photography by Chontalle Musson.

Tonight I learned that for the price of a spare $50 and a free Saturday night, you too can experience a miniature Homegrown delivered to your eardrums at the local Powerstation without dealing with pesky grabone seats to the other end of the island.

Boasting the seasoned age of fifteen, Gisbourne surf punks and Smokefree Rockquest finalists Sit Down in Front opened the night with a level of confidence and presence beyond their experience. Punk giants Fidlar sprung to mind immediately in terms of both vocal style and theme, with songs such as ‘Confessions of a Pie Thief’ and ‘First World Problems’ – a track about regrettable haircuts and a sorry lack of dipping sauce options. Recording their first album at fourteen is impressive in itself, let alone encouraging an enthusiastic singalong to a beautifully abrasive cover of the Ghostbusters theme song. My hope for punk in Aotearoa has returned knowing it is in the hands of such youth – in the repeated words passed through crowd chatter, ‘bloody good job’.

Dead Favours followed with an energetic set cut from a similar cloth to fellow kiwi alt-rock band Written by Wolves and although partially hindered by the sound quality wavering, Dead Favours thoroughly amped up the crowd with well received originals and a fiery cover of Queens of the Stone Age’s ‘Feel Good Hit of the Summer’. Only three years deep into this particular musical adventure yet their fans made their presence known – a likely trust and following earnt from members previous years in Steriogram and production from the likes of Tom Larkin, (Shihad).

Formed in 2010, Villainy was quick to reach top of various New Zealand music charts with their first two albums Mode. Set. Clear, (2012) and Dead Sight, (2015), both winning Best Rock Album at their respective New Zealand Music Awards. Their much awaited third album ‘Raised in the Dark’ dropped earlier this month followed by a six show kiwi tour ending in their hometown of Auckland. The exasperation of fans waiting four years for another appearance feels easily excused after vocalist Neill Fraser confirmed that the band wrote over a hundred songs before choosing what would reach the final ten song tracklist – spending a year honing in on the quality and sound of their next emergence to the masses.

Emerging dressed monochromatically, Villainy immediately battled to match the thunderous volume of crowd chants as they began with the new albums namesake single ‘Raised in the Dark’ – a combination of hearty, heavy riffs with catchy, singalong lyrics – where the bands communal wide taste in music, (from Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean to Dead Kennedys and NOFX), shone through. Accentuated by confetti, inflatable pool toys and streamers Villainy kept the ball rolling through an almost 90 minute set, delivering on each nook of their discography.

If nothing else, tonight the Powerstation was simply a vessel for kiwi excellence in the medium of rock n roll.

Were you there at the Powerstation for this energetic Kiwi rock gig? Or have you seen Villainy perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Setlist:

1. Raised in The Dark
2. Wannabe
3. Ammunition
4. No Future
5. Gather
6. Beggar
7. Syria
8. Ghost
9. Mode. Set. Clear
10. The National Guard
11. Alligator Skin
12. Tiny Little Island
13. Uncomfortable
14. IFXS
15. Dreams
16. Another Time [encore]
17. Cut [encore]
18. Safe Passage [encore]

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