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So I left India late Wednesday night and arrived in Auckland Friday morning, not sure where Thursday went but I am pretty sure most of it was wasted at Mumbai international airport which now has a pretty unassailable lead in my list of worst airports ever. Considering that honour was previously held by O’Hare in Chicago a pretty impressive effort really. Seriously, I worked out while standing in various queues going nowhere that it would be faster to get a domestic flight to Delhi, transfer to an international flight and leave than to try to get out through the disaster that is Mumbai security.
Anyway, Auckland, lovely city even if the weather is totally rubbish and easily one of the most interesting music scenes anywhere. Go look it up if you don’t believe me but this little city/country has been hugely influential particularly in the noise / experimental world and jet lag be damned guided by Mr RST I toddled off to some bar to see Thee Oh Sees from somewhere in the US supported by 3 or 4 local bands. I would be more specific but things got a bit hazy due to a combination of the jet lag thing and a rekindling of a love affair with Coopers Sparkling Ale.
Getting to the point, or points as it happens, why can I just turn up to a random bar for a random gig while on business and see some of the best stuff I have in years? And why on Thursday next week in a city as small as this one can I see Scott Kelly of Neurosis, John Bailey of Baroness and Craig Radford of Sticky Filth playing acoustic sets? Not to forget “some awful band” from Shanghai tonight. Not exactly rocket science, pretty easy to work out that the maturity of the scene here is the main reason, that and the fact that it is a local scene with tonnes of support from an audience who know their shit.
That’s not a criticism of the shanghai scene in any way, I love it, but there is something to take from this I think. That local scenes are local and not transient, that audiences need to be built not from short term residents with beer money but from the millions of local kids who will become long term core supporters, that local bands need to be given equal exposure to build a credible and sustainable scene. That’s why stuff like afternoon shows, the one kuai challenge and other accessible events are so important.
And why stuff like Pairs touring New Zealand is so important too – we all know what “Mr I have something to say so I am going to say it” is like so one can surmise that a whole bunch of people here who now know Shanghai has an awesome scene developing and with any luck a bunch of new bands will be popping over to check it out. I’m not sure why that hasn’t been more reported in the local blog world, it’s not often we see local bands venture outside of the secure confines of one venue but to be fair it is also rather goddam expensive. But it is important and can only be a good thing for the future of live music in Shanghai.
No translation this week as the wonderful Zoe is on a well earned CNY holiday.
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