Posts Tagged Stubs is an occasional feature here at Off The Tracks – looking back through the ticket-stub box and remembering how the show went down.
Archive
January 9, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 279 – Queen Elizabeth Park: Miniature Train, Masterton, 2021
I’ve long thought of Masterton as something of a shithole. Based almost entirely on the evidence gathered from walking around that dump. But that was then. Now, it’s okay. Visit the place – as I’ve done this year and last – with a kid or two in tow and you have the excellent Queen Elizabeth […]Archive
September 17, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 278 – Teju Cole: Blind Spot, Wellington, 2018
Most days I think about Teju Cole’s book Blind Spot (and how wonderful it is). And sometimes I remember how lucky I was to see him not just once but twice in the same weekend. Just recently I found the stub for that first show – and remembered that it was slightly derailed by tech […]Archive
September 15, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 277 – The Staves, Wellington, 2018
The really great thing about music reviewing (esp gigs) is you get to see some acts you never would have thought to get to – like The Staves. The really dumb thing about music reviewing (esp gigs) is you go along, you review the show, rave about it, place it as one of the best […]Archive
September 8, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 276 – NZSO: Summer Pops – Music From The Movies, Wellington, 2018
It seemed a good idea to get some culture, the whole family. Music From The Movies was the name of the NZSO’s Summer Pops program for 2018 and, alas, it was a fucking snore-fest. It didn’t fire. Ever. Just some dated, monotonous, lifeless movie scores. No punch. No fire. No fun. All very boring. And […]Archive
September 2, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 275 – Queen + Adam Lambert, Wellington, 2020
What a strange year 2020 has turned out to be. It started off weirdly enough. There I am at a fucking Queen concert! (And mostly enjoying it). Next thing there are no concerts at all ever again. No visitors. No tours. And every musician is having a massive spit about loss of income this and […]Archive
August 23, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 273 – The Bootleg Beatles, Wellington, 2019
The Bootleg Beatles have been paying tribute to The Beatles for 40 years. And I usually think tribute acts are pretty silly and there’s something almost sublimely absurd about being a tribute band for 40 years when the real act lasted less than a decade – but hey, also The Beatles are the greatest. And […]Archive
August 7, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 270 – Songs For Nobodies, Wellington, 2018
I felt like I was suitably prepared to enjoy this show – having met and interviewed the show’s star Ali Harper and being a fan of the singers she was inhabiting. But no. It was far better than my already pretty-high expectations. Don’t you just love that. The script was brilliant – but it’s Ali’s […]Archive
July 30, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 267 – Calexico, Auckland, 2019
I’ve seen Calexico four times now. Which is a lot. Particularly since I don’t own any of their albums. The first time I saw them was super disappointing – and that’s when I had the most invested in it, I’d heard about a great show they did a few years earlier and I didn’t go. […]Archive
July 4, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 264 – Anika Moa: Chop Chop Hiyaa!, Wellington, 2017
Of all the times I saw Anika Moa doing her songs for kiddies I think this was absolutely the best; by which I also mean it was the best time for me and my boy – he was peak age and interest, he knew the songs and cared about them, he’d met Anika briefly so […]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 25, 2020 by Simon Sweetman