Posts Tagged Arts Festival
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August 4, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 269 – Thundercat, Wellington, 2018
It’s funny how sometimes you see a genius – a great talent – and it just doesn’t stick, doesn’t connect, doesn’t mean anything. The first time I saw Thundercat I was a fan – but I hated the show. It was busy when it didn’t need to be and felt very splatter-painting/ish and I just […]Archive
June 29, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 262 – Teju Cole: Photo Lecture, Wellington, 2018
The 2018 Writers-Readers Festival was a busy one for me, I committed to going to about a dozen talks and writing something about each one. This included two talks by the writer, critic and photographer Teju Cole. I’m a big fan and particularly loved his book Blind Spot which was part of the focus for […]Archive
June 17, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 258 – Arabia-Buda-Scott, Wellington, 2018
It’s always a gamble with arts festivals – any festivals – you see some amazing stuff, you see some duds. And its all shapes and sizes – you get to have your mind blown by an act you maybe didn’t think you’d like, you get let down by something you expected would be great, you […]Archive
June 4, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs # 254 – Grizzly Bear, Wellington, 2018
The first time I saw Grizzly Bear was in 2012 and it was quite good – I liked the band (enough) and in particular the album of the time. And there was a secret thrill about getting in because the newspaper had to pay for me to get in since the promoter had decided on […]Archive
June 1, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 253 – NOT Nadia Reid, Wellington, 2020
It was going to be the last gig I saw ahead of lockdown, though I couldn’t know that then. It was the Arts Festival and I had been to a few shows and enjoyed most of them and I was very interested to see Nadia Reid – because I had enjoyed seeing her shows, previously. […]Archive
March 7, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Gig Review: Laurie Anderson – Here Comes The Ocean (March 6, Wellington)
Laurie Anderson – Here Comes The Ocean MFC, Wellington Friday, March 6 Laurie Anderson was invited to the NZ Festival as one of the guest curators – that meant performances from Anderson as well, including this: her symphony of ocean-inspired songs from late husband Lou Reed and various texts and spoken word pieces of her […]Archive
March 4, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Gig Review: Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi (March 4, Wellington)
Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi MFC, Wellington Wednesday, March 4 When I reviewed There Is No Other – the duo album recorded over a handful of days last year by Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi – I talked about the tantalising prospect of this pair of musicologists taking to the road in support of this […]Archive
March 3, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Gig Review: The New Pornographers (March 3, Wellington)
The New Pornographers MFC, Wellington Tuesday, March 3 Across the last two decades the North American supergroup The New Pornographers has never really let the side down; theirs is a catalogue brimming with competence and, usually, confidence. If anything there’s a safeness that ever so slightly irks – that’s a small and very white complaint […]Archive
February 26, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Sweetman Podcast # 209: Lucien Johnson
Welcome to episode 209 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T and Yeastie Boys . Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can now get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved in your […]Archive
February 24, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Gig Review: Kate Tempest (February 24, Wellington)
Kate Tempest MFC, Wellington Monday, February 24 I’d had people asking me about Kate Tempest ever since she was announced to be part of the 2020 NZ Festival. I’d seen her five years back when she was lesser known out here and it was one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen. So all I’d […]Archive
November 5, 2019 by Simon Sweetman