GIGS: 12th - 18th July

Are YOU playing in Wellington? Remember to send through your gig details to wellingtonlivemusic@hotmail.com by Monday morning to have it listed here!

THURSDAY 12TH JULY

- Bodega
World Battle of the Bands Wellington Heat 1
Psycho Space Monkeys, Faster She Said and more.

- Sandwiches
Harbour City Electric. 9pm.

- Subnine
Riverblind, Muzzeglow, Barefoot In The Sand. 10pm $5.

- The Adelaide
The Ramps, The Randoms, Amos. Free.

-Valve
Omega Realm, Slaughtered Symphony, Evil Mule. 9pm.

FRIDAY 13TH JULY

- Bodega
The Stomps, Bastard Sons of Grey Power, The Randoms. 8pm.

- Underground Arts
Black Friday Massacre. 9pm $5.

- Old Studio 9
Charmed School Rejects, Left Handed Addiction, Too Many Jonnys, Twice On Thursdays. 7.30pm $5 All Ages.

-San Francisco Bathhouse
Bad Luck Ball Pt 3
Thumper, Horror Story, Black Chrome, Volcana, DJ Voodoo Savage, DJ Nightmare 666. 8pm $13.

- Sandwiches
Teebee (NOR) and Calyx (UK) & The Upbeats: Local support from Mr Smith, Indeks and Habit. Tickets $45 +bf from Real Groovy, Cosmic Corner, DMC and Sandwiches.

-Subnine
Concord Dawn, local DJ’s Sal and DDog. 10pm. Tickets $25 from Real Groovy and Cosmic Croner and $30 on the door.

- Valve
Fanucman, Punchbowl, Pink Flamingoes, Goodtimes.

SATURDAY 14TH JULY

- Sandwiches
Timmy Schumacher & MC Kyla. R18, $20 (+BF) presales.

- Old Studio 9
Alien 8, The Alpha Shift, The Stacks, Feiry Orchid. 7.30pm $5 All Ages.

- Bodega, Room 101
The Huhu.

- Valve
The Postures, Fanucman, Yokel Ono, The Dissentors, Captain Sergeant Major. 9pm $10.

- Mighty Mighty
Cherry's Gemstones. Wild Rockabilly Surf Marshan Madness. 9pm $10.

SUNDAY 15TH JULY

- Old Studio 9
Acoustic Afternoon. 2-5pm $5. With Barefoot In The Sand.

MONDAY 16TH JULY

- Southern Cross
Acoustic Pioneers.
Matthew Pixie Pickering and more. Koha entry.

TUESDAY 17TH JULY

- Valve
Seisure Drum N Bass 1/ NAR/CO/SIA, Evil and McSig'le

WEDNESDAY 18TH JULY

Are YOU playing in Wellington? Remember to send through your gig details to wellingtonlivemusic@hotmail.com by Monday morning to have it listed here!

GIGS: 5th - 11th July

THURSDAY 5TH JULY

- San Francisco Bathhouse
The Bleeders, Antagonist, Full Nelson. R18 $15 8PM.

- Bar Bodega
The Have, The Dukes, Fighting The Shakes, Tommy Ill. 8pm $10 presales from Ticketek.

- Sandwiches
The Taliband, Harbour City Electric. 10pm.

- Subnine
Matt Holleman, Rikki Doolan, Shaun K Anderson, Kathryn Baker. $5 9pm.

- Tupelo
The Moon Whispers. 9.30pm Koha entry.

- Happy
The Nigel Patterson Trio

FRIDAY 6TH JULY

- Old Studio 9
Rubix Cuba (early show before Bodega later), Single Strand, Tender Groove, Cross Eyed Mary. $5 7pm All Ages.

- Bar Bodega
Rubix Cuba, The Offbeats. $10 10pm.

- Valve
Fallen Order, Agent, The Alpha Shift. R18.

- Happy
The Ramps, The Randoms. 10pm.

- Flashbacks Bar and Grill
Masters of Metal feat. Magnum Opus.

- The Adelaide
Neckstretchers, Man Alone, Highlords.

- Happy
Pumice, Sunken. 8pm.

SATURDAY 7TH JULY

- Old Studio 9
The Randoms, The Stomps, The Lucky Strikes. $5 8pm All Ages.

- San Francisco Bathhouse
dDub, Pacific Bass Culture. 8pm.

- The Adelaide
Plastic Kitchen.

- Sandwiches
Electroluxxe, Samari, Perspex, Techead, Rex, D'Nation, Moneytree. Midnight. $15 on door, $10 with active card.

SUNDAY 8TH JULY

?? Are YOU playing? Remember to send your gigs through to wellingtonlivemusic@hotmail.com to have it posted here!

MONDAY 9TH JULY

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TUESDAY 10TH JULY

-Bar Bodega
Beats and Bubbles feat. Johnathon Crayford.

- Vic Uni
Rubix Cuba.

- Matterhorn
Beatnik feat. Lisa Tomlins, Moana Ete. 9pm Koha.

WEDNESDAY 11TH JULY

- Bar Bodega, Room 101
Sleepy Demons, Charlette Hannah, Fanucman. $5 8pm.

- Southern Cross
Iva Lamkum Band. 10pm Free.

- San Francisco Bathhouse
Acoustic Lounge - Tony MacIver, Joe Ryan, Clint Meech. 6-8pm Free.

REVIEW: The Aviators

THE AVIATORS
MIGHTY MIGHTY
SATURDAY 16 JUNE
Review and Photo's By Charlette Hannah

Paddy Breakley on guitar

David McGurk on drums

Kane Sherwood on guitar

James Mason, Dave Brennan, Simon Love and Kane Sherwood

Paddy Breakley, Ned Worboys, James Mason and Dave Brennan

James on Sax and Dave on Trombone

Mighty Mighty on Saturday was thick with ‘funk, crunk and grime’ courtesy of The Aviators. The funk is obvious – these boys are so full of it you could imagine them dancing themselves off the edge of the building and on the way down too, where they would get up and just keep on dancing. Or maybe it’s just me. The grime became clear about two songs into the set, when sweat was dripping down my face, and I was hardly even dancing! The venue was so packed out there was hardly room to move, and even less to breathe, but it was all worth it. (Someone’s going to have to explain ‘crunk’ to me though.)

The gig marked the release of The Aviators first album (following on from their EP in 2004) and the turnout proved how popular the band has become since they first started as a five piece way back in the day. Now an eight piece, The Aviators are even tighter than when I first saw them at Southern Cross a few months back, and they were tight then. It’s hard to tell how much is playing a song and how much is jamming, but I don’t think it really matters, as the result is good.

Each musician stands out, while contributing to the overall sound, from Simon Love’s wicked bass lines, to Paddy Breakley’s interesting and controlled guitaring. Drummer David McGurk is brilliantly creative with those sticks. Singer Ned Worboys has a smooth slick voice, and the songs are quality.

The whole band is great to watch, in their suits, dancing and communicating with each other. It’s good to see a band dress nicely. I figure, if you expect people to come along and listen to/watch you, it’s important to respect their eyes. Also, The Aviators are never standing still. That’s also an important ingredient in a good live show.

If you missed out, you really missed out. You can still get their album though, and they seem to have quite regular gigs at the Southern Cross, so head along next time you see a poster. Also, I recommend checking out the ‘band’ section on their website below, as it contains a rather amusing description of each member.

www.theaviators.co.nz

GIGS: Ritalin, Tommy Pickett and more

THURSDAY 14TH JUNE

-Happy 8pm $5
Charlette Hannah, Fanuc Man, Jeremy Brick, The Ramps

-Bodega 9pm Koha
Matthew Pixie Pickering, Dave Kempton

FRIDAY 15TH JUNE

- Old Studio 9 (All Ages)
Ritalin, Not Quite Right, Whispers for Warning, The Lucky Strikes

SATURDAY 16TH JUNE

-Mighty Mighty
The Aviators CD release party

-Subnine
The Offbeats, Skaface Claw, Freddy Fudd Pucker and more

SUNDAY 17TH JUNE

-Bodega
Rikki Doolan, Matt Holliman, Shaun K Anderson

MONDAY 18TH JUNE

-Southern Cross
'Acoustic Pioneer'
Tommy Pickett

REVIEW: The Aviators

THE AVIATORS
SOUTHERN CROSS
SATURDAY 31 MARCH

By Charlette Hannah

In the way we humans have an irrestible urge to box and categorise things, I decided first of all to insert The Aviators in a lounge jazz/dub container. How wrong I turned out to be! Their first song at the Southern Cross on Saturday night was the cruisiest of the lot, and I mistakenly put it in a box I don't particularly like. I decided they were good, but not my sort of thing. As the set progressed they got funkier and funkier, until people just couldn't contain themselves and funked it up on the dance floor, whooping and grooving. Yes, grooving. I thought that was out of fashion, but I have since learned the error of my un-groovy ways.

A seven piece band, The Aviators have the standard bass, guitar, drums and vocals, but they also add in a percussionist, trombonist, and sax player. You can tell they're going to be different just looking at the line up.

I have to admit it took me a few songs to figure out what was going on. They are such good musicians it's hard to tell if a song is rehearsed, a jam, or a combination of the two. In the end though, it doesn't matter. These guys are tight, creative, rhythmic and great fun. Their songs are dynamic, unpredictable, and interesting. They're also good solid tunes with fine instrumentation.

It's satisfying to see a band who are so good live. Some bands appear to be just trying to get through playing their recording live, or getting through the live show so someone will make a recording of them. The Aviators on the other hand are lively, full of stage presence, and great to watch as well as listen to. With seven members, it would be boring if they all played all the time, and yet you barely seem to notice if one isn't playing, because they're dancing up there on the stage. Singer Ned Worboys has one of the best voices I've heard in a while – smooth and yet full of character, and he plays around with his vocal delivery too. The only complaint I would have is that the vocal mix at times wasn’t quite loud enough – when the band went into overdrive the vocals were drowned out.

I visited their website http://www.theaviators.co.nz and http://myspace.com/aviatorsnz and found this, which amused me, so I decided they could have a say in their own review. “...we play funk, crunk and grime. Not because we know what those genres are, but because they sound cool.”

Check them out if you get the chance. I believe they've got an album coming out soon.