She'll Rev You Up

“She’ll rev you up

Give me some, she said love
Don’t waste your time on me
I’ll have you and be on my way
You’re gonna waste it all away”

She’ll Rev You Up – Fire at Will

If you’re in were in New Zealand the weekend just gone you had an array of events to choose to go to, and I, in typical fashion, headed down to the annual Jim Beam Homegrown festival with my bestie Zena. It was my second time going to the event, and it delivered quality to the same level as last year. Oh yes, Wellington Waterfront came alive and there was dozens of musical acts pumping, revving and rocking across eight stages. I’m going to review it right now, a la awards style, based on the my thoughts and feelings of the acts I saw*.

Best Act: Villainy. No contest whatsoever. Every time I’ve seen them play, and I’ve seen them about five times, they deliver an amazing live show. They sound good, they banter good, and they make the crowd feel good, and Homegrown was no exception. Absolute class.

Emerging Talent: Fire at Will. These guys are relatively new on the scene but they can rock the stage, and they were the perfect way to kick off my Homegrown experience. While I will concede I will never marry any of the members, I refuse to accept I have seen the best of their musical talent. I’ve helped you all out here by dedicating this blog to them so click on the video below to hear one of their tracks, and next year at Homegrown we can rock to Fire at Will together.

Pleasant Surprise: PleasePlease. This is the award goes to that act you kind of know some of their songs and think they are worth a go, and when you get to their stage they absolutely blow you socks off and the crowd is going nuts for them. Last year it was Kids of 88, this year PleasePlease. 

Appropriate Farewell: Opshop. I didn’t know until I got to Homegrown that it would be their last gig, but they went out in style playing all their hits in chronological order, and the there was an air of appreciation about the crowd. Opshop may not be the best, but they are respected in the New Zealand music industry. And maybe one day we will see them again, but for now I was glad I was a part of their farewell show.

Cutest Charisma: Benny Tipene. What a delight; he sounds adorable, is nice to look at, and I wish he could be the boy I take home to meet my mum.

Musical Appreciation: A tie between Gin Wigmore and Fat Freddy’s Drop. Both of these acts make great music but there is only so much I can handle of either; Gin because her voice makes me shudder after a while and Fat Freddy’s Drop because they get a bit too mellow if I listen too long. Bonus points go to Gin Wigmore for being so excited to play in New Zealand again.

Last Dance: Dane Rumble. He was the last act my friend and I saw, and as we didn’t have the energy for Blacklistt and Six60 we gave Dane a go. He’s one of those guys who has a number of hits you hear on the radio and can easily dance to and kudos to him for getting Jupiter Project on stage to sing Not Alone. A great way to end Homegrown.

Best Overheard: Deceptikonz (on the way to Fat Freddy’s Drop). STOP DROP AND ROLL. Enough said.

Missed Act (disappointed): Cairo Knife Fight. I’ve heard nothing but good things about them and I wish I could go to their show.

Missed Act (not disappointed): The Feelers. I will see them some other time, because as long as there is music to make and shows to play, New Zealand’s version of Nickelback will be there.

Needed in 2015: Black River Drive for the rock stage, Hurricane Kids for the pop stage. Both would be awesome.

2013 confusion: Luger Boa. Because, seriously guys, WHERE THE FUCK WAS JOE?

And so, Homegrown 2014 had me and went on its way, leaving some great memories and a thirst for seeing more New Zealand music live. It is the celebration of the best of New Zealand music and the heavyweights of the industry bought their best performances. I had no qualms about the price of tickets, flights and accommodation given the talent I saw. A congratulations to the acts on their performances and their Musical Musings awards.

Best T-Shirts. My friend and I. Obviously.

*Acts I saw (in order) Fire at Will, Weird Together, PleasePlease, Benny Tipene, Villainy, Opshop, Gin Wigmore, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Dane Rumble. 

Better Man

“Waitin', watchin' the clock, it's four o'clock, it's got to stop
Tell him, take no more, she practices her speech
As he opens the door, she rolls over...
Pretends to sleep as he looks her over

She lies and says she's in love with him, can't find a better man...
She dreams in color, she dreams in red, can't find a better man...
Can't find a better man”

Better Man – Pearl Jam

It’s been a pretty great summer in New Zealand this year, with sunny skies, beaches, barbeques and days spent either the ground or lying on the couch watching cricket. I am a big cricket fan, it is my favourite sport to watch, and I have enjoyed the season thus far very much. But one thing has irked me this season and indeed previous seasons, and that thing which has irked me more than silly slog shots and countless wide balls*, is how New Zealand’s captain Brendon McCullum comes to the crease with Better Man playing.

I talk a lot about how one can interpret songs and I still believe every song is open for one to view it how they want and need. But there is a big difference between slightly different interpretations and blatantly ignoring the message of the song. It takes only one listen to Better Man to know this song is about a woman trapped in an abusive relationship, and she only stays because she is so blinded by love and she believes this guy is the best she will ever get. Better Man isn’t about being the best, it’s about being the worst but not being able to find anyone better – which I am pretty sure is not quite what McCullum thinks of himself.

Music is used in public all the time, and we come to associate different songs with people and corporations, such as Open Happiness is the song of Coca-Cola and Eye of the Tiger will always remind you of Rocky III. Most of the time the songs represent the product reasonably well and there is no reason to complain. But I feel if you are going to put a song out into public to represent yourself you should probably be aware of public responsibility and probably shouldn’t be one with a message so negative as the one in Better Man.  Even if BMac really, really likes the song – and putting the theme aside Better Man is a good song – I personally would like to see him walk out to something a bit more positive.

I’m not going to suggest a song for McCullum as I don’t know his music tastes at all, but I will throw this out for the readers: if you were walking out to the batting crease which song would you opt for?

*I wrote this blog late last week and sat on it before posting it tonight, between which time something has made me far more angry in the cricket world, which is the developing issue of Jesse Ryder and Doug Bracewell out drinking. While now slightly outdated I did raise some thoughts on this last year when I mused about Scribe’s Dreaming.

I Wish

“I wish I was tall, I wish I was fast
Wish I could shop with a bag full of cash
'Cause If I want you, I gotta have that
(Come, come kiss me boy)
I wish I had style, I wish I had flash
Wish I woke up with a butt and a rack
'Cause If I want you, I gotta have that
(Come, come kiss me boy)”

I Wish – Cher Lloyd feat. T.I

I have a soft spot for Cher Lloyd. I really do. I like her sassiness and I like her attitude, and she represents pop-rap music much better than most people out there right now. And I like the beat of this song but what she is wishing for irks me quite a bit.

She wants to be tall, with a butt and rack, and she wants to have “style” and a whole lot of cash to support that style, which includes five-inch heels, all while not being very smart. All that together gives me one imagine Cher Lloyd wants to be:

And why would you want to look like that when you look like this:

HOT.

Men reading this right now please confirm you would rather have Cher Lloyd over a Barbie doll? Am I right?

The point is Cher Lloyd has sung a song about wishing to look a whole lot different, but those looks she wants are nowhere near as good as she currently is. We wish for a lot of things in life and when we get them it is cause for celebration. And we wish to change bits of ourselves that will make us healthier and happier, and these are good changes. But sometimes we try to change things that don’t need to be changed, or can’t be changed for the better.

It seems silly to dedicate a whole lot of time to wishing we were different. Some of us are short and some are tall, some curvy and some straight up and down. We see these images in media and what not trying to tell us what look is the best to get the men, but these aren’t really a representation of real life. And you know what is a whole lot more sexy than being the girl the chorus of in I Wish? Being someone healthy, someone happy, and someone confident.

Dominion Road

“But its getting better now
He found it in him to forgive
He walked the city
And he found a place to live
In a halfway house
Halfway down Dominion Road”

Dominion Road – The Mutton Birds

This song is a classic in New Zealand music history – so much so that early last year someone placed a plaque on Dominion Road which said “you are halfway down Dominion Road”. Don McGlashan has said he wrote this song after making up a back story about a man he once saw walking down the road. And now whenever this song comes on people tend to talk about Dominion Road, and if you ever have to go to Dominion road there is always some joke about going halfway down it.

But what if I told you this song wasn’t about Dominion Road?

Let me speculate here – and I am not doing this to ruin a classic New Zealand song – but take the thoughts of Dominion Road and transport them to some other street in New Zealand, or even internationally. Dominion Road could easily be Karangahape Road or Cuba Street or Riccarton Road or George Street. It’s less about the name Dominion Road and more about what happens to a poor lost man while walking down a road.

I speculate about Dominion Road to bring up the point that we associate different messages with songs. It is the people who listen to bring that association to life, whether it be accurate to what the writer intended, or something completely wrong but still fitting. I have been thinking over the last little while how often I speculate well outside the original intention of songs when writing this blogs, but my interpretation still fits within the overall message the song has.

It is this idea which really captures the important of music – individuals take from music what they need and what they want. Yes, songs mean a lot to those who originally wrote them, but I think if you put it out into the public then you need to be prepared for it to lose the initial intention, but in the process gather much more meaning. I have gotten in to many debates about the meaning of songs with others, and they will stand by their argument and I will stand by mine. Neither of us are likely to be right, as we weren’t in with the song making process, but I find it interesting to hear what others have gathered about a song.

So is Dominion Road actually about a man being half way down Dominion Road? Probably. But what matters more is how a man came to be in a half house halfway down a road, and how he can get away from it. Because whether this song is Dominion Road or not, I bet you take from this song that you never want to be that man stuck half way down Dominion Road.

ob-la-di ob-la-da

“Yeah, ob-la-di ob-la-da life goes on bra
La-la how the life goes on
Yeah, ob-la-di ob-la-da life goes on bra
La-la how the life goes on

And if you want some fun
Take ob-la-di ob-la-da”

ob-la-di ob-la-da – The Beatles

I’m going to tell you a story. It’s the story of my New Year’s. I blogged last week about making New Year’s resolutions and I thought that was going to be my focus for the change into 2014, until I actually had my New Year’s trip away and realised what New Year was all about.

This group of people I went with had planned our trip to Coromandel for a good few months now, and it was all sorted – we were going to a friend’s beach house for a few days for a well deserved break after a year of hard work and studying, and were going to ring in the New Year’s at Fat Freddy’s Drop and it was all going to be a nice trip. But as soon as I got there I realised it was going to more than nice. It was going to be wonderful, amazing, even special. Yes, we were in a beautiful location and we had beautiful weather to match. We saw a great band on New Year’s Eve and it was a good way to start 2014. But I was lucky enough to spend the time with some amazing people.

What I not only saw, but also got to participate in, was people being at their best. We had a group of people who ranged from being a perfect couple to those who had never met before. There were people who only spend time together three times a year, and there are people who live together and interact every day. We had people from all different professions mixed in with people still studying. But it didn’t matter who you were or what you did or when you last saw each other, what mattered was having a good time with each other.

We split up from the trip about three days ago and we are back to how our lives are meant to go on, but for a few days we the fun together I think a lot of us needed. This blog is for those people. Here’s to drinking on the deck. Here’s to card games and beer pong. Here’s to singing ob-la-di ob-la-da loudly while playing one of the longest games of pass the heat. Here’s to ALL the different types of music, and here’s to the yarns and sharns. Here’s to the good guys who looked after those who drunk too much, and the good guys who realised they had to sleep in the lounge because their bedroom was being used. And here’s to escaping everyday life to ring in the New Year with some pretty special people.