Gig Report: DEAD | Mean Girls | god bows to math @ The Basement

On Saturday the 18th of February, I attended Australian band DEAD's Auckland show at the Basement, which was the first time I had been there. It was an all ages show, but surprisingly there weren't many people there. It literally is a basement. There's a small bar/sitting area connected to the basement area, which is where the bands play. The bar area is pretty cool looking, as there's some pretty decent looking art sprayed on to the walls, which gives you something to look at. However, it is small and there aren't many seats, so if heaps of people were there, it could be a bit cramped.

I wasn't the biggest fan of this venue. Being from Christchurch, I didn't rate it as very earthquake friendly; i.e. I wouldn't wanna be in there during one. To be blunt, the sound in this venue was crap. I felt sorry for the bands. I was left confused as to whether this was an actual venue for bands to play live, or something you would hire out, as I'm pretty sure all of the sound equipment belonged to members of the performing bands. There was no sound person either. The mixer belonged to God Bows To Math and there were only two microphones, which were used for vocals and they were a bit dodgy. It was really hard to hear the vocals for all of the bands and one of the mics fucked out for the lead vocalist of DEAD during their performance. It made me wish I was further into my training at MAINZ so I could have helped them out.

Anyway, three-piece god bows to ath were the first band to perform. I would probably categorize them as alternative hard punkish rock. They had a left handed drummer, which was pretty cool and the second night in a row in which I had seen one. He was quite talented too, really good at rudiments/fills. The vocals were hard to hear unfortunately, but the vocalist used a mix of clean and growling vocals. I thought god bows to math were good and I would like to see them live again, at a decent venue with decent sound, such as the King's Arms.

god bows to math links:
Official Site | Facebook | Bandcamp
You can download a few of their albums for free from their Bandcamp page. They're actually pretty good and have some amusing song titles such as How To Beat Your Dad At Chess and NZ Post.


Next up were two-piece Mean Girls. They were also an alternative hard punkish rock band, but a bit heavier than God Bows To Math. Their band consisted of a drummer and a bassist. The drummer was really good; he could play really fast and was pro at rudiments. He had quite a small kit (as in not very many toms and cymbals) and an interesting hi-hat, I know there's a particular name for it but I can't recall it right now. The bass player was also the vocalist, and like the previous band, it was really hard to hear the vocals. He played distorted bass in a way in which it sounded like both an electric guitar and a bass (well distorted bass tends to do that...). But I thought it was interesting and I had never seen a two-piece like that before.

Mean Girls links:
Facebook | Bandcamp
They have two songs available for free download on their Bandcamp page.

The third and final band to perform were DEAD. They are from Melbourne and also a two-piece; the same make up as Mean Girls. I would place DEAD in the sludge punk genre. The bass player, who is also the vocalist a la Mean Girls, played bass as though it was a guitar. It was distorted and produced a sound that sounded like an electric guitar/bass hybrid (like Mean Girls once again. However, I think DEAD had a more electric guitary sound). The drummer for this band was also talented and he helped out on backing vocals. The lead vocals were growl-esque (I guess you'd call them yelling, sorta Rise Against style but more raw). Like the previous bands, the sound wasn't the greatest. It was hard to hear the vocals and the mic that the lead vocalist was using stopped working. Luckily this was solved as the drummer's vocal mic was working fine, so they swapped.

DEAD links:
Official site | Facebook
You can download a live set they did for a radio show for free from their official site.

In conclusion, I don't think this venue did the bands justice. The sound was terrible and it was hard to hear the vocals. There wasn't a very good turn out of people either, which was surprising considering DEAD are an international band and the gig was advertised on Undertheradar. However, the bands persevered without complaining and performed as best they could, which I salute them for. If it were me, I would have been pretty annoyed. I hope to see all of these bands live again at a better venue. Check them out if you're into your hard punk rock.

PS. Sorry for taking ages to finally upload this!

Gig Report: Mothra | Big Punch | Rule Of Thieves @ The King's Arms

On Friday the 17th, I returned once again to the King's Arms to watch some local bands. Headlining were prog rockers, Mothra, accompanied by fellow Auckland acts UU., Rule Of Thieves, and Big Punch. As usual, I was running late, so I missed out on seeing UU. (which I'm actually really annoyed about) and arrived part way through Rule Of Thieves' set (glad I didn't fully miss them!).

Rule Of Thieves remind me a lot of Deftones, which is certainly not a bad thing. They are an alternative metal band with a nu metal influence (the good stuff) and surprisingly, there aren't too many bands of this genre lurking around in NZ at the moment. Well... there probably are, I just haven't seen very many of them, as the dominating metal scene in NZ is death metal (in my opinion anyway). Rule Of Thieves are a six-piece, making use of a keyboard, which is always interesting to see in a metal band. The vocals are a mix of clean and growls, and the vocalist is a cutie too. They have an album coming out sometime this year, which I'm looking forward to. I might even pay for it. If you're a fan of bands such as Deftones, A Perfect Circle, early Linkin Park, and other alternative metal from the early 00's, then definitely check out Rule Of Thieves. But anyway, from what I saw of them, they were really good and I recommend them. Hopefully their album will be out soon and they will go on tour to promote it.

Rule Of Thieves links:
Official Website | Facebook | Bandcamp
They have a free E.P., titled Silhouettes, available for download, so check that out. (The track Champage is so delightfully Deftones-esque!).

Next up was Mothra. Kinda weird how they played third when they were the headliners. They did this last time I saw them too. Oh well, they're talented as, so they can do whatever they want. Mothra are a three-piece progressive/experimental instrumental rock/metal band. They sound very Tool-esque and I would even go as far to say that I enjoy them more than Tool. They are an instrumental band and it's hard to decide whether vocals would add to their awesomeness or detract from it. The bass is chunky, the guitar effects are cool, and the drums are solid. They all complement each other and you can tell that each musician knows their shit about their weapon of choice. The drummer is amazing (drums are they only instrument I can properly comment about). He makes good use of double kick (i.e. doesn't over use it) and can pump out some awesome tom fills. He's not too bad looking either to add icing to the cake. Needless to say, Mothra put on a great show and they have a very professional manner in my opinion. They even have a band banner! My one gripe about instrumental bands is that it is made harder to remember the titles of the songs. I did catch one name though, which was The Beginning, which has a video coming out for it soon I believe.

Anyway, check Mothra out, especially if you are a Tool fan or a fan of prog rock/metal. Surprisingly, the only music they have out on the internet is a live demo on their Bandcamp page and a few live videos. However, they have an E.P. coming out sometime this year, which is pretty exciting.

Mothra links:
Official Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Twitter

The last but not least band to perform were Big Punch, which was another three-piece instrumental band. I think I would classify Big Punch as alternative hard rock. I think their music could be very fitting on Dragon Ball Z *massive grin*. These guys were pretty talented too. The bass player was the fastest slap-bass player I have seen! I was impressed. He looked a bit like Matt off Nip/Tuck lol. The drummer was pretty pro too, and left handed! You don't see very many left handed drummers. For their last song, the front man for Prowler got up and did impromptu vocals for them. Sounded pretty good for him never hearing the song before.

Big Punch have two free tracks available for download on their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/BIGPUNCHBAND

I decided to wear my Tool shirt to this gig and some weird guy started talking to me and making bad Tool puns. Like I went to get a drink of water and he said "I notice you're drinking water, it's like that song Sober" and "Speaking of Stinkfist, this next band are called Big Punch"... Pretty funny now but at the time I was face palming inside my head. However, the guitarist from Mothra, who's a hottie (I believe his name is Hugh), said "nice shirt". Perhaps I should have talked to him. I'm such a chicken when it comes to initiating conversation, especially with attractive people. Although what am I gonna say? "Hi, I'm Julia. DTF?".

In conclusion, this was a really good gig and I'm glad I went, as there was another gig happening at the Whammy Bar that I was tempted by. All of the bands were talented and hopefully we see some more releases from them this year! Especially from Mothra!

Gig Report: Prowler | The MurderChord | The Neo-Kalashnikovs | Myth Of Democracy @ The King's Arms

Last night (being the 10th of February) I attended a gig at the Auckland King's Arms where Prowler, The MurderChord, The Neo-Kalashnikovs, and Myth Of Democracy played. They were all rock/punk bands. It was $5 entry, which I think was a pretty good price to see four decent bands.

First up was Myth Of Democracy. They are a folk punk band, reminded me a lot of Florida band Against Me!. They were a two-piece but I think the front man is the only 'official' member. So there were drums and semi-acoustic guitar. Their songs are reasonably political (as you can probably guess from the band name) but they are enjoyable, i.e. the political-ness isn't shoved down your throat.

They have three free songs available on their Facebook page:
Myth of Democracy FB Page

Next up was The Neo-Kalashnikovs, which according to the Facebook event page for this gig, are melodic/new grunge/intellectual rock. I would agree with this description and if you're into softer alternative rock, I would recommend you check them out. I thought they sounded pretty Cure-esque and then when I was looking at their FB page I saw that they actually covered The Cure's Other Voices. I'm actually a bit embarrassed that I didn't realize this during the gig. I definitely need to brush up on my Cure knowledge! Anyway, they are a female fronted three-piece. Female fronted bands are always a positive in my book (just because the rock/metal/punk scene is a male dominated one). I felt sorry for the bass player as he forgot his guitar strap, so had to rest it on his leg the whole time. I felt as though The Neo-Kalashnikovs didn't play for very long. I think it was only like four or five songs.

You can download two of The Neo-Kalashnikovs' singles from their Bandcamp page for free:
http://theneokalashnikovs.bandcamp.com/

The third band to perform was The MurderChord. They were probably my favourite. They were a two-piece, consisting of a drummer and a keyboardist. I thought this was an interesting combination, one which you don't see often either. They describe themselves as 'SwingStopPunkRock', which is pretty accurate. Their songs are upbeat but retain a punk element, you can definitely dance to them though. The song topics are quite humourous too. Subjects include: puppy poo, the rising price of food, alcohol, and high heels. I thought the keyboard tone that was used was cool (I don't know anything about keyboards), kinda makes me wish I could play keyboard. The vocalist sings with quite an obvious New Zealand accent, which surprisingly isn't annoying. He isn't too bad looking either (reminds me a bit of someone who I sort of have a crush on at the moment)...

Anyway, check them out:
http://www.themurderchord.co.nz/

Unfortunately there are no free downloads but their albums are cheap. I would buy them but I have absolutely no money at the moment.

The MurderChord - I like Scotch

Give 'em a 'like' on FB too: http://www.facebook.com/theMurd3rchord

The fourth and final band to perform was Prowler, who describe themselves as 'hardcore punk rock n' roll'. I was a bit drunk a this point so I didn't particularly have my critiquing ears on, but I enjoyed them. I think one of the annoying things with these hardcore bands are the vocals but I thought that Prowler's vocals were good and you were able to enjoy and understand them. Don't really have anything else to say about them haha. Well I liked them.

They have three free songs available for download on their Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/prowlerpunkrock

In conclusion, I had an enjoyable night. All the of bands were good and the $5 cover charge was a bargain. If you're in to punk/rock, give these bands a listen - you might find something you like. 

Gig Report: Loaded Victim | King Coal @ The Dux Live

The other night (being the 7th of Feb), I attended my first gig at the Dux Live in Christchurch. I was hoping I would get the chance to go to a gig during my brief visit to my hometown over Waitangi weekend. It was free entry, which is always a bonus, and I was keen on checking out the Dux Live, as it opened after I left Christchurch. The bands playing were a little bit of a mix. American acoustic act, Addie, played first (who I missed); followed by stoner metal band, King Coal; and then finally followed by Loaded Victim, who categorize themselves as aggressive rock, which I guess fits them well. I would also consider them to be alternative metal.

Anyway, I arrived part way through King Coal's set (think it was just after the first song as they introduced themselves soon after I got there). They were the band I came to see as stoner rock/metal is my favourite genre at the moment. I thought they were really good, better than I expected too, to be honest. I thought the vocals were good (and sounded a bit sexy hahaha) and their drummer was good too (these are the only things I can make a semi-decent judgement on). He made use of one of my favourite drumming techniques too! The drag. I would suggest you keep an eye on King Coal, as I believe they have the potential to become a big part of the stoner rock community. Hopefully they will play at a future Stonerfest!

You can download King Coal's E.P. for free from their Last.fm page:

http://www.last.fm/music/King+Coal/Demo+2011

Loaded Victim were next and they were good too. I was expecting them to be metalcore-esque, basing my judgement on their name (sounds pretty metalcore-y haha) but they were more alternative metal/hard rock, as I mentioned earlier. Goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover. I thought this band was quite 'tight' (musician term for sounding good/skilled/pro). Their drummer was really, really good, I think he was probably the most talented musician in the band. Was cool to watch too. The vocalist had a really good voice. Reminds me a little bit of Jon Toogood mixed with someone else... I also think these guys have a lot of potential as well, especially as their genre is a bit more 'radio friendly' than stoner metal. I hope to see them become one of The Rock radio station's favourites one day!

Check them out too. They have three free downloadable songs on their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/loadedvictim

I think the Dux Live is quite a decent venue, it's nicer than Hornby's 'The Venue'. The bar is nice and big and you are able to order food if you like. There is an upstairs part too with some arm chairs, which looked nice. The stage was a bit small but I think this will be okay for local bands. The sound was good too. There is also a decent outside area for the smokers, however they had the door open to this area, which made it so there was pretty much no separation. This only bothered me because the smell of nicotine was wafting into the venue. Some days I don't mind it, other days I do. That night was one of the days where the smell was giving me a bit of a headache. A little bit odd when I think about it as last Saturday I went to my friends' house, where they smoke inside and I didn't have any problems with it (I didn't even get asthma! Usually I do from houses where the people smoke inside).

Anyway, the Dux Live is a decent venue and hopefully it will add more life to the limited night/gigging scene in Christchurch. King Coal and Loaded Victim are both great bands, I recommend them and I hope to see them play live again in the near future!

The Breastfeeding Controversy

Recently a television advert which featured All Blacks star Piri Weepu was pulled from airing because he was feeding his baby with a bottle. Breastfeeding advocates claimed that advertisers shouldn't be encouraging bottle feeding as breastfeeding is still stigmatised in our society for some reason. I think this is an interesting argument and there are good points for both sides of the argument, which I will talk about.

I'll talk about breastfeeding/breasts first. Many people claim that 'breast is best' and research has been done to show that breast milk contains more nutrients and is more beneficial to the development of children. In our society it is considered offensive to breastfeed in public, which is ridiculous. Firstly, breasts aren't actually sexual organs and the purpose of women having them is to feed their babies. Our society has sexualised breasts to the point where people actually think that they are a sexual organ and should only be used for sexual related purposes. Therefore, it is offensive to expose boob in public as it is a sexual object. It actually isn't illegal for women to be topless in public. As a matter of fact, there was a bit of a controversy in 2010 (I think) about women sunbathing topless on the beach. Men are allowed to walk around/sunbath topless, even if their breasts surpass the size of those of women, so why can't women? Yet another double standard concerning gender. I guess people need to be educated on the actual purpose of breasts. I'm not saying people aren't allowed to be aroused by breasts, but get over the sexual aspect of them in public and save the erection for private time.

Because of the taboo of exposing the female breast in public, many people thinking that public breastfeeding shouldn't be allowed. But why not? It's not illegal and babies do need to be fed. And it's not like women are whipping out their boobs for attention. Feeding a baby isn't sexual (although some weirdos probably think so) and is one of the most natural things in the world. We don't consider a dog feeding her puppies to be disgusting, so why should that be thought about humans? Breastfeeding is beneficial to both mother and child as it helps strengthen their bond. These breastfeeding advocates do have a point in saying that there are a lack of breastfeeding images and I agree with them in saying we need more. Perhaps this will help people get over the sexual aspect of breasts and accept mothers who should be able to breastfeed their child where ever they want.

On the other hand, it is silly how this advert got pulled. Firstly, how do we even know what type of milk was in this bottle? Breast pumps do exist. Some women aren't able to breastfeed for a variety of reasons (but would like to) so have to use formula. While research might say 'breast is best', formula still contains the essential nutrients for a developing child and they will end up perfectly normal. We could argue that breastfeeding can be damaging if you breastfeed past infancy. I'm sure most people would have seen on TV those weird children who still want to be breastfed at 10 years old. Also, maybe if we had an abundance of breastfeeding images, the women who have to bottle feed would feel upset and that they are not doing the 'right thing' by their child.  

My second point on this side of the argument is that there are not many images of fathers with babies, so I believe this should be encouraged. A figure such as Piri Weepu is a fantastic choice for this sort of advert. He is a professional rugby player, one of the most 'manly' professions out there (especially in NZ, as we are a rugby worshipping nation). Placing him in an ad with his new baby shows that you are still a 'real man' if you care about your child and help out with child rearing. Many men think that it is a woman's 'job' to do all of the child rearing, but it isn't! Kids need their dads! Trust me, I come from a broken home. And apparently men who help out with the child rearing get more sex from their partners! (So helping out has plenty of benefits!). Another point is that Mr. Weepu doesn't have breasts that produce milk, so how can he possibly breastfeed?

In conclusion, I don't believe that this ad should have been pulled. While there are a lack of images of women breastfeeding, there is also a lack of images of fathers feeding their babies. I do think breastfeeding in public should be encouraged and that people need to get over seeing boobs in public, they are not genitals! However, bottle feeding should not be discouraged and made to be a social stigma, as breastfeeding is not possible 100% of the time. In the end it's the mother's personal choice and everyone else should accept that. Generally parents want what is best for their children.

Tara Playing in the Snow!

I finally got around to editing and uploading a video of Tara playing in the snow in July. My mum filmed this on her iPhone on the 25_07_11 and Tara was four months old.

Anyway, enjoy the cuteness! (I hope the music gives you a nostalgia boner).

PS. Here's a cute photo of Tara in the snow on 16_08_11:

Product Review: Chi Chi Eye Palette

I bought a palette of Chi Chi eye shadow about a year ago and hadn't really given it a good use until now, as recently eye shadow has become my new obsession. The palette I own contains six colours: black, grey, dark purple, light purple, mauve, and a peachy colour. I quite like the packaging for this product, as you can slide out the piece of plastic the palette is on, where underneath there is a mirror and a double tipped applicator brush.

At first I was a bit disappointed with this eye shadow as it didn't seem to stay on for a long period of time nor was very thick (I wear slightly heavy eye makeup), which was due to the brush it came with. I find that the brush only puts on a light coat, which doesn't stay on your skin very well. I now use a... well I'm not sure what it's actually called... a small makeup pad on a stick? Well that, and it works much better than the brush. The makeup pad allows you to put on a thicker coat and shape it better too.

Anyway, Chi Chi eye shadow does the job and there are heaps of colours/other palettes to choose from. The colours look nice too, especially the dark purple. However, I wouldn't consider this eye shadow to be a long lasting one. It's good to wear for a few hours but will start to come off, in particularly in creases, and especially if you're doing more 'active' activities, such as dancing in da club (lawl) or if it's hot; i.e. sweat is this eye shadow's nemesis. If you're gonna go out for a night on the town, I would suggest you take it with you as you're most likely going to need to touch it up. I wore the black on a night out on the Auckland town recently (the time I stayed out till 3am on the day of Big Day Out) and I looked like a mess at the end of the night. I didn't really get the chance to fix up my make up. A lot of it had faded off. However, yesterday I wore the grey and it stayed on quite well. But all I did yesterday was drive my dad to the airport and then do some shopping. So I would suggest Chi Chi for 'day wear' and maybe a slightly 'better' brand for 'night wear' (I used Rimmel black last weekend and it stayed on fine).

The texture of Chi Chi eye shadow is good. It's neither thick nor crumbly. It's not irritating on the skin either. It comes off easily with makeup remover and you can get most of it off with plain water too. The colours are also a little bit glittery, so this is a bonus if you want a bit of extra sparkle or whatever. I would consider this to  be a 'thin' eye shadow, so you need to do a few layers if you want a 'heavy' look. You also need to be careful if you need to itch near your eyes, as it can rub off quite easily.

In conclusion, I would probably give Chi Chi eye shadow a 7/10 rating. It does what it's supposed to do but is prone to fading, especially after a long period of time (as most makeup does). You can also get eye shadow from most other brands for the same price, which is ~$17, however you get six colours per Chi Chi eye palette, rather than the usual four. Give Chi Chi a try if no one else has the colours you want and don't mind going to the bathroom every couple of hours to do a touch up, or if it's on sale. You can buy Chi Chi cosmetics from Farmers. Chi Chi doesn't test on animals! *thumbs up*

Here is what the palette I own looks like on me:

Chi Chi Black Eye Shadow. Was dressed up as a zombie for a party.

Chi Chi Grey Eyeshadow

Chi Chi Dark Purple Eye Shadow

Chi Chi Light Purple Eye Shadow

Chi Chi Mauve Eye Shadow

Chi Chi Peach Eye Shadow