Wimps

So just like last festival there were a few shows that I don’t know much about, didn’t really get into from the brochure and weren’t on my priority list. But somehow, an opportunity to check some of them materializes and you just can’t ignore things like that. Michael James Manaia fits in that category.

Before the play, I had no idea who John Broughton was, neither new that New Zealand took part on the Vietnam war – both researched and learned since then. Reading the programme, I couldn’t tell what was the tone of the play and just sat there waiting for what was next. One thing that indicated that I was up for something good is that this play is directed by Nathaniel Lees (you might know him as Captain Mifune, from the Matrix Trilogy), and he is a most respected actor on the kiwi acting business.

When Te Kohe Tuhaka set foot on stage, I still didn’t know what to expect for a while. That good looking man, that scary face, that almost empty stage. But he made it very clear on the first few moments of the play. It was a classic case of “This is a solo, I’m gonna tell you an awesome story, you might laugh or cry, and you gonna leave this theatre not believing what you just heard”. Important to point out that Te Kohe doens’t try at any moment push to the public that he is a good actor. He just was Michael James Manaia. And that, that was awesome.

I have one or two things to say about the Maori / Pacific acting. They are very, very peculiar. At first, it seems over the top, until you actually meet a Maori group and see how they interact with each other on casual occasions. There’s very little shyness and they just are and act on whichever way is their heart’s desire. And their acting follows every bit of that. The accent, the ways of saying things, the little “isms”, the singing in every opportunity, the dances. It’s just awesome and it is one of the things I love in New Zealand.

Michael James Manaia is a normal dude, half Maori half British, that grows up on a traditional 50/60’s New Zealand set up. His father is a war veteran, his mother a loving woman and his brother is his soul mate. He grows up, goes to the war, comes back home. During that time, hell brakes loose a few times, but things keep going. As you can imagine, during all that Manaia tells you every bit of detail about what is going on in his head.

The first half was just damn funny. The children things, the Kiwiana, the teen years. By the end of it, things get a bit more serious. After the intermission, Te Koho gets a couple laughs from you before taking you on a serious intense journey. “Full Metal Jacket” style. And, let’s all stop and appreciate Te Kohe Tuhaka for a second. Bloody good man. You just got yourself another fan.

This play was a very enjoyable Saturday evening surprise. Don’t think that, because it has funny bits that it will be easy to take. It’s funny but intense. It talks about harsh, sad and scary things. The mix gets you in a weird mood, but you’ll enjoy that.

ALL RIGHT!

The NZ Festival 2012 started. And, for me, it started with the Grupo Corpo showing us Parabelo and Onqotô last night at the St. James Theatre. Now, I feel like I need a little disclosure to explain why this is a big deal for me.

The Grupo Corpo, Brazilian group from the city of Belo Horizonte, is probably the most well known dance company from Brazil. It made it’s reputation on the late 70’s and, to this date, still carries all over the world the unique Brazilian-ness they have. Other than that, they are characterized by the amazing music on their acts. Mainly brazilian stuff, as you would imagine.

Now, a few fun facts. I am from Belo Horizonte also. I watched them five years ago on a free presentation dancing for a shedload of people. Also, Belo Horizonte has a population of three people: me, you, and someone we know – so I’ve always crossed paths with someone from the group when I lived there. And there’s a lot of other facts (further in this post, stay tuned) that filled me with excitement when I found out they were coming to Wellington.

So yeah. With high expectations of home sickness, there I went to watch them. And, just to wrap it up, I left the show proper happy, with a smile on my face and slept like an angel last night. So this is going to be a fan post, not a post from someone that understand dance or blah blah blah.

Small rant: Tom Fitzsimons said on Stuff yesterday that Belo Horizonte is “well away from the country’s big cultural centres”. Well, well, well. Legend says that if you are from Belo Horizonte, you are either a musician or have at least three friends that are. We’re the rock’n’roll central of Brazil. Belzonte is the bar capital of Brazil, as said by The New York Times. We have the Clube da Esquina AND Grupo Corpo. I challenge you to stay there for a month and go a day without something amazing to go, see and eat. We don’t have the big cultural events, but we have the best ones.

In your face, Tom.
(Sorry. Pride problem sorted. I told you, I got home sick. Moving on now.)

Parabelo

When I went to watch Grupo Corpo five years ago, Parabelo was one of the presentations I saw. Back then, I didn’t really get this dance thing much, and the concert was a good introduction to this world for me. But even having watched it before, last night, it felt like I couldn’t remember a thing.

One thing of watching a show from your country after being away for so long is that you realise what is it that makes your culture your culture. All those colours, man. And all those hips swaying around. That mulato skin and those sounds. Man, oh man.

Now, if you don’t have the background on what Parabelo is about, I’ll give you some. Parabelo pictures the features of the Brazilian Northeast – probably my favourite cultural paradise in Brazil, well beyond what everyone know internationally. Now, mind you that the Northeast of Brazil is a desert. It’s harsh, warm and poor, but it has the most vibrant and contagious people I’ve ever meet.

As I said, I don’t know much about dance, so I can’t go all technical about it. I can say though, very confidently, that I loved every little bit of Parabelo. It was very much pretty and, of course, I can even begin to imagine how people can do that sort of stuff with their bodies. Also, the whole thing gave me a whole new dimension to the music being played. That is the CD “Parabelo”, by Tom Zé and Miguel Wisnik. Now, given that music is my thing, this CD deserves a paragraph for it.

Parabelo is one of those CDs that I have around, just to listen to every now and them so I get in a good mood, you know? It isn’t a party CD or anything you put on a playlist to play on a wedding. It is something that you put on your headphones on a busy day, or when you want to let you brain cruise on a thought that has been in your head for too long. Why? Because it starts anchoring you down. Then it takes you on a swing and then moves you to sad piano movement. It makes the legendary lavadeiras de rio (women who wash their clothes on the rivers) sing to you. It has the sounds and sight of the Northeast of Brazil. And it ends on one of the best forró pieces ever composed, titled “Xique xique”, sang by Arnaldo Antunes, a pop rock idol from my teen years. That’s what Tom Zé is about. He is a crazy genius, controversial and iconic and his music annoys you, then lifts you up and makes you go somewhere else.

When the first beats of “Emerê” sounded last night, and the Rabeca cried, I got a massive heart rush and for various moments on the concert I rocked my chair back and forth. When the dancers shook around harmoniously, on that delicious Brazilian way, I couldn’t help but to put up the biggest smile on my face. During the intermission, I was just happy. I felt like jumping around the foyer and couldn’t stop going on about it to whoever was around me.

Yeah. Happy. That.

Onqotô

I won’t lie: Onqotô didn’t match my Parabelo experience. It had quite a few “WOW!” moments though.

With a slightly darker approach and a different set up, Onqotô felt a bit less thematic and bit more all over the place theme-wise. It referenced the good old Fla x Flu. It referenced the born and growth of a man (yeah, the lyrics helped on that one!). It had sexually suggestive performances (which, let’s face it, made a lot of us review our love-making skills) and made me feel a bit unsettled some how. But, if you allow me the luxury of confabulation for a second, I have a theory.

Onqotô isn’t a portuguese “word”, technically speaking. Us, from Minas Gerais (province which Belo Horizonte is capital of), we have our own way of saying things. So much that, while normal people would say “Onde que eu estou?” we would say “Onqotô?”, meaning “Where am I”?”. The same applies for “Oncovô?” (“Aonde que eu vou?” / “Where am I going?”) referenced on the lyrics a few times. SO, the whole thing for me was about displacement and stuff. Or not. One extra piece of lyrics that pointed me towards that thought was “If it all started on the Big Bang, it would have to finish on a Big Mac”. But that’s me, being amateur and trying to make sense of it. So feel free not to give a rats ass about what I just wrote.

The soundtrack, the album “Onqotô” by Caetano Veloso (OH YEAH!) and Miguel Wisnik, was a lot more electronic mixing the Brazilian sounds with it. It was pretty cool, but no, it didn’t get me as much. Though, I have to say, I missed most of what was going on stage during the tracks “Madre Deus” and “Tão Pequeno”, just cause I got so involved with the music.

Conclusion

I don’t think that this was really fair. I have to say, I got a bit emotional and I got VERY MUCH homesick. And I’m one of the though ones. So much that I always get told off by my mother because she feels like I don’t care about the motherland any more. Because of this show, my plan for me weekend is go away with my guitar at some point and only play my Brazilian music until I can’t anymore.

I must say that this show made me very proud of my country, and specially, my city. And I haven’t felt that for a while.

I don’t know about dance. But I know a thing or two about beauty and making people happy from a stage. For many reasons (a few of them mentioned here), this concert set up a great festival for me. And I thanked and hugged a few of the dancers after the concert, because it just felt right.

Again. Happy. That’s the word.

Some bands you don’t really know the moment in time it came to your life. Usually you can tell a friend that showed it to you, or which girlfriend made you hate a band first before you liked it. With Incubus, I don’t have a clue. As far as I can tell, I’ve always knew then and I always liked them. I’ve never been crazy about them either. They’re good and they came up in many great and bad moments on my life. I can sing along to a few songs and I definitely enjoy their sound. And of course I had to go and check them out when they decided to show up in Wellington.

I have to say, I wasn’t expecting much. I mean, I was expecting that it wouldn’t be a massively produced concert because somehow the Incubus sound that I know have some humbleness in it, some sincere idea of “this is what we do, we like it, we enjoy making it and that’s pretty much it”. It always blends fun heavy music, with scream-your-chest-out melodies. And what we found on the stage that night as a very simple, clean and straight-forward set up. No big lighting apparatus, no fireworks or any pretentious blings. It was spot on.

Brandon Boyd is a great man. He’s neat, charismatic and has an amazing out of the norm / high pitched voice. He gets the crowd pretty well. And I have to point out that I’ve wanted to play like Jose Pasillas, the drummer, at one or two phases of my life, because he is just awesome. But I left the concert with the feeling that, for me, nothing changed. It surely was great, don’t get me wrong. But, with these guys, the thing is the music. I went through most of the concert with my eyes closed or jumping around, singing out what I could and just sulking the music.

Apart from the turntables (I seriously would be happier if turntables were banned from rock music forever), bass, guitar, drums, voice and keys are the magic. And, funnily enough, the music was the greatest thing on this concert. It didn’t make Incubus any better or worse. But listening to them live, with sweat, screams, and a sore neck the day afterwards just made me more respectful and appreciative of their work. And this last sentence alone, believe me, is VERY important.

There’s something only New Zealand can do for you, y’know? People walking on their bare feet on cold water. Girls with short skirts against the wind that Wellington blesses all of us with. Being fuzzy about sheep. And the Wellington Ukelele Orchestra.

It was August and they were releasing their new CD back than. I just really wanted to see them live after a few recommendations.  I have to say that for a long time I didn’t go to a concert to have fun. Seriously. Just to stand there, sing along, dance and have a good laugh. And, even though I was determinant not to have fun that night, there was no way I could fight against.

It’s completely pointless going about sound quality, lighting, bleh bleh (as I usually do) for this one. I think that the San Fran Bath House is not really about production and more about what’s coming from the speakers. And the 12 nut jobs from the orchestra are there to show you a good time and damn, they’re good at it. The music just gets you, you sing, you dance and BOOM, you’re happy.

Coincidentally, I’ve bought an ukulele a few weeks before the concert, learned a bit and was slowly progressing on a few songs. After seeing them live, I spent two days on intensive ukulele regime, and I know love it. I can sing ALL their song (well, kinda, not really) and I wanna see them again.

My highlights go to “Sweet Child O’Mine”, when Gemma Gracewood pleased us with an awesome pink tight suit like thingy (sorry, I actually don’t know what it was called, but I guarantee, it’s sexy), the improved-from-original-version “Cry Me a River”, and, of course, “Africa”, that makes all your troubles go away.

I wanna play the Ukulele with them. I wanna be friends with all of them.

Specially you, Bek Coogan. I’m yours, any time you want.

It was in June, and I can barely remember all the details about it. Lighting, set up, sound quality, smell of the Michael Fowler Centre. But then, it doesn’t matter. Let’s face it, all the JAZZ got in the way and nothing else really mattered.

Sonny is one of the big names of the Bepop era still alive. He played with Davis. He played with Parker. He played with Monk. He also shared stages with Roach and Paul Chambers, you know, just for fun. He also is known by the nickname of Jazz Colossus. And, that night, I understood why.

I’ve seen a lot of good players on my time. Never a master like Rollins, but you know, but that made your mind blow and shook you of your feet. But during the concert all I could do it look at him, at his fingers and at this horn. It was loud and fast. It was hard to believe that that bent old guy was the one doing it. And yet, he was.

I think there wasn’t a single Swing piece on the concert. Actually, there where only about 6 or 7 long songs, on that Jazz long songs kind of way. Sonny Rollings showed to us his West Indies background and him and his stupendous band, and, as expect, my mind was beyond blown by the end of the concert.

To be honest, it took me a while to get the gist of Jazz. It was always hard and sometimes it felt boring. But after persistence and some studying things clicked, and the beauty of it clicked. On Rollins’ concert, sometimes, I got lost. That night I realised how little I know about Jazz and how little I know about showing yourself through an instrument.

Well, that’s called being great kids.

Photo Credit: Robert Catto

Sonny Rollins and the Wellington Ukelele Orchestra are old concerts, but they’re coming to the Wimps soon.

I’ve been lazy lately. Mix of cold weather, bad food and no exercise mushes your brain.

Before starting this, I feel like I need some disclosure. Mainly, about favourite concerts.

You don’t see me saying a lot of bad stuff here on this blog. Mainly, because I don’t talk about bad concerts that I go to, given that they didn’t get me. You usually will see one paragraph of “things that went wrong”, but that’s usually not the focus. Given that if there is a concert in this blog, is usually a favourite one. BUT.

Before the Foo Fighters concert, I had two category for favourite concerts, and an overall one. First category, best production, is currently held by the U2 360° concert. The second one, best sentimental show (as in like, I could shit my pants crying), goes to the Swell Season, which, incidentally, also holds the title for the “best concert ever”. But, things change. Keep reading.

Tenacious D

Seriously, can Jack Black be more awesome? He ruled the “School of Rock”, kicked as on “High Fidelity” and also got a grab of Kate Winslet on “The Holiday”. And he is also a Rock and Roll star on his spare time, with Kyle Glass by his side. They both make a good statement of making awesome Rock and Roll without taking Rock and Roll too seriously.

It’s actually a weird concert to talk about, because the whole thing is a big theatre play. JB never addressed the crowd on a casual way. Every line was funny and crafted with a hook to their next song. I’m wasn’t a huge fan before that, but since, I’ve been watching a lot of them on YouTube and God, how good it is.

On the end, Tenacious D set the perfect mood for the Foo Fighters. They had heaps of fun on the stage and so did we. And, with all respect, that’s all what being a musician is about, isn’t it?

(I’ll cut this short. I wanna talk about the Foo Fighters. Go check the D. It’s awesome.)

Foo Fighters

HELL YEAH. Seriously.

The Foo Fighters have always been one of the bands on the top of my list to go and see one day. I believe that Dave Grohl is a living legend and I love how honest and truthful the sound they make are. Yes, it is commercial, it is a bit cheesy sometimes but it is freaking good, clean rock.

The concert had a lot of anticipation around it. Would they be playing only the new album? What’s the venue like? How long is it going to go for? This is the last concert of the year. Are they going to be tired? And, MOST IMPORTANTLY, will I be able to hang out with them afterwards? (Answering last question, NO.)

It turned out that most of my worries were unnecessary. The Foo Fighters have, in my humble opinion, one of the best concerts of the present time. It has SO much energy, SO much sound and SO much, that I felt the whole concert on my arm veins, and I was pumped as a anabolized horse after it. They had fun. No, they didn’t seem tired at all. They play with the public. They look people in the eye and don’t ever seem to be keen to finish the concert. It was THE SHIT.

My Hero, Long road to Ruin, Let it Die, Everlong and Monkey Wrench (my personal Top 5 Foo Fighters songs) were played. Odd stuff was there too. Breakout and Times like these. Even Learn to Fly, the pop-est song they ever had. Songs from the new album were carefully inserted in between old favourites and the set list was a beauty for everyone. I sang, screamed, hurt my twisted ankle even more, head banged. I even closed my eyes and wobbled, About a boy style (no guitar though!).

Ok, I might have mentioned the energy. They played for three flipping hours, and it didn’t feel not even close to that. Dave Grohl, that stupid monkey, DOESN’T stop running and screaming, ever. Taylor Hawkins (the drummer, you MUST know) makes drummers like me look like schoolgirls playing the tambourine. The intensity and speed that he has, the entire concert through, are absurd. Pat Smear, oh Pat Smear. How incredible are you? Nat Mendel (bass) and Chris Shiflet (guitar) are more low-profile, but equally active and present on the stage. The whole thing always sounded and felt like the first song of the concert. I was, truly, IMPRESSED.

HOWEVER, the venue. The Western Springs wasn’t the best venue for that concert. In lots of ways. If you were late to buy tickets (like I was) you couldn’t see the concert from the mosh pit, and you were forced to so called “embankment”, which is a hill around where the stage was, and it wasn’t very comfortable at all. Due to the lovely rain (Chur Auckland!), the grass was slippery, and the steepness made it a bit of a mission to balance yourself during the concert. While on the “wrong stuff” paragraph, I have to mention that there were quite a few sound quirks and I could do without the special effects on the screens. All and all, I blame the venue for all the bad things of the concert.

A quick kudos for the lighting. I love lightings when they are not overdone and well used. And, surprise surprise, it was spot on. It’s worth mentioning that most of the time they used warm colours. Remember when I told you that it was all about energy?

And where do the Foos sit on my favourite concert list? WELL, that’s tricky. I always knew that it would be a great contender and that it could take both U2 and the Swell Season out of their positions in one go. But, given the venue problems mentioned earlier, it didn’t. I reckon people on the field had a much different experience than us in the back, and maybe, just maybe, it would have defeated my favourites list. Anyway, it was so good, SO GOOD, that a new category had to be created for it. Best Rock’n'Roll concert ever. There you go. Congrats Foos!

I’m absolutely sure I’ll have another time with them and I’m also sure they are still a strong contender. But, I have to say, it was an awesome day, an awesome time, and this concert made my ever so happy.

Fun fact: Foo Fighters rocked Auckland! (Blog article by Geonet, company that monitors seismic activity in NZ)