Awesome holiday:
- Ferry ride down through the Marlborough Sounds - there's always something comforting about going to the South Island. It's possible to put aside thoughts of bird flu and terrorism for a bit.
- Carousel gig at the Mussel Inn on the outskirts of Takaka. A beautiful concert, and the thought that these four people are getting funded by Creative NZ to play music all up and down the country in those kind of venues is pretty inspiring (not to mention Eli just having finished his PhD). I love acoustic strings just as much as I love jagged electric sounds, and the mandolin/guitar/cello/violin lineup was perfection, with warmth and elegance. And of the various amazing musicians from Wellington, Fran Mountfort's become a good friend. There is still room for a banjo though - it would fit right in tonally...
- Also great to talk with the locals afterwards. There was a genuine regard for good music, a warmth towards Dave Dobbyn, and another guy was into Karlheinz Stockhausen. So much for hicksville.
- We went to see some glow-worms after this.
- And the following day went out to Wharariki Beach at the base of Cape Farewell. Arriving there I had to step back and was momentarily blown away by the beauty of it. Must be sacred ground. I got a rush of national pride - and had my first swim in the sea for the season.
- Then I got a plane up to Auckland - looking at the country below like a map spread out. Couldn't see the mountains but Lake Taupo and the Taranaki bight were visible. Arriving in Auckland the shuttle into town took as long as the flight from Nelson - the tangled mass of traffic-laden roads looks like a complete mess compared to Melbourne which is bigger but functions properly (though driving there I did notice a lot of no right turn signs blocking off the routes I'd planned to take). Why can't there be trams every six minutes in Auckland?
- Diamanda Galas concert! More blues than opera, including a few songs that Johnny Cash had also done. Galas' piano playing really stood out, while her voice was a low growl more often than a shriek. She's in total control, and the audience loved her. She's the prototype that goths are imitating. And better than the Nick Cave gig I saw in Melbourne. I bought a copy of her La Serpenta Canta ('the serpent sings') album.
- I played electric banjo at Auckland's Vitamin S night on Wednesday. I was assigned to improvise with with a bass player and an electronics & clarinet guy. The first two pieces were good but the third merely repeated what we'd already done. The bass player was a bit 'busy', kind of like my free playing a few years ago, but as the out-of-town guest I got to do another set with another guy on electronics. I got a few compliments for my banjo playing - James Robinson who I'd bumped into at the Diamanda Galas concert thought I had an 'autistic energy'. A couple of years ago Antony Milton called me 'Wellington's master of pseudo-autistic intensity'. Hmm...
- Back to Wellington on the train down through the North Island - Tongariro National Park scenery much better than you see from a car.
- Work again at Kapiti Observer for another week and a bit to pay for the financial damage incurred by all the above.
- Then shifting to Nelson next weekend. First item of business there is to walk the Heaphy Track...
Posted by fiffdimension at October 29, 2005 12:44 AM | TrackBack