Written By Wolves
8th June 2018
Neck Of The Woods, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Molly O’Brien. Photography by Mark Derricutt.
Despite a perhaps lackluster turn out of stragglers, Friday nights company left Neck of the Woods brimming with smoke cannons and talent from Auckland’s very own. Following the downfall of the city’s long beloved alt-rock/metal venue Kings Arms Tavern, multiple bars have stepped forward to pick up the pieces – Neck of the Woods choosing to do so through accommodating captivating theatrics that would usually only be found in big bucks mainstream tours; bringing the big time to $15 underground gigs.
A slow but steady stream of leather jackets and black jeans trickled down the staircase, most arriving fashionably late while others nursed craft beers. Judging by the sea of merchandise not many were about to approach their first Written By Wolves experience, but there for familiar catchy melodies, crowd sing a longs and a pure, strong sense of hometown pride.
The night truly kicked off with Smokefree Rockquest 2017 winners Minimal Silence, (originally hailing from Howick College), who proved themselves earlier this year by taking the stage at Storm The Gates festival alongside greats such as Limp Bizkit and Suicidal Tendencies. The trio of youthful metalheads provided a powerful punch of hard rock, punky vibes and, (arguably most importantly), throwing around enough hair between them to stuff a hearty decorative pillow. Vocalist/bassist Logan Anderson opened the pit wide with a sweet yet concise, “This is our favourite song, so fuck you”, covering a Highly Suspect track while smoothing over a beautiful car crash of genres to appease every corner of the room. Guitarist Sabastian Munro set the bar high with a cliché rockstar guitar smashing – although the act fell a little flat due to the eclectic selection of early 2000’s pop intermission music already fading in.
Written By Wolves came in strong and fast with a tribal crescendo of drums, manipulating heartbeats with bass while illuminated by an impressive LED backdrop. With a stage presence reminiscent of Oli Sykes, (Bring Me The Horizon), and Bert McCracken, (The Used), frontman Michael Murphy conducted the crowd with charisma and a surprising level of authority for a man in a headband. Surprise guest appearance Times x Two brought the bounce with a strobe splattered Jay Z rendition amongst other genre defying covers lead by Written By Wolves, such as Sia’s ‘Elastic Heart’ and ‘Cinema’ by Benny Benassi. Between audience and musicians lay an almost visible ebb and flow of energy feeding the other on, all voices becoming one and the feet of either party barely connecting with the floor – a force strong enough to inspire drummer Karl Woodhams to briefly abandon his kit to join the dance party.
New Zealand has always been bursting with musical ability but the type of versatility displayed tonight is what will survive the rollercoaster of the scene – the type of tunes with taste tidbits for each and every walk of life. Although Kings Arms Tavern will be missed dearly by us all, it’s comforting to see shows still finding homes; and even more so homes that have the potential and pull to be bigger and better than ever before.
May the hard rock resurgence begin.
Written By Wolves:
Minimal Silence:
Were you there at Neck of The Woods to witness this magnificent hard rock gig? Or have you seen Written By Wolves perform somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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