HOW THE WEST WAS FUN

Rip It Up, Issue 69, 1 April 1983, Page 24

HOW THE WEST WAS FUN

Michael Woodnorth

Punakaiki Valley Festival April 2-4. ■ Saturday: Backdoor Blues Band laid it down raw, tough and dirty and had the crowd dancing in the rain with good versions of standards like I'm A Man' and ; Johnny B. Goode . Next, 25 Cents were loose and lazy as is their habit, but the crowd warmed to the sight of four females on stage. Children's Hour, a sort of kindergarten Bauhaus. "This one's for all the dead people." No one else was listening mate. Sheep Effect are a three-piece with two ex Gordons on drums and guitar. The crowd reeled from their lethal kid-ney-punch attack. If this is the Gordons' legacy then it sure beats memories£^A^HpHHHHß| Nocturnal Projections are a

very professional /Flock of Seagulls/Sound melting-pot".' Their majestic layers of polished sound captured the audience but had me on the run. NZ's latest UK-copycat cash-in band. They Were Expendable were in unrelenting " form. With each member making a maximum contribution they tore through a set of tight, intelligent originals into a well-deserved encore. Sunday: most of us prefer to dance on the graves of bands like Golden Harvest but if you're still laying wreaths then Pilgrim are your boys. Primitive Art Group promoted confusion and (literally) mud-slinging. Primitive? Very. Art? Debatable. - Group? : Ask. them. Rockers squeezed out sweet, slow reggae with unnerving ease to the most enthusiastic crowd so far. Look Blue/Go Purple were rumoured to be the big surprise of the weekend. Five girls played silly, disjointed pop. No surprises here. Dunedin's sixties pop-boy's, Blue Meanies, played well and had

fun. The crowd loved them. Originals and the odd cover alike were dished up with refreshing exuberance. pr.sf :■ - / ' ;'.)., . , Sneaky Feelings are a heartwarming band on the worst of days’ but. ringing .. through the frosty, West Coast night they had the crowd- positively glowing. Playing superbly, . their youthful panache 'and air of cute naivety captured the crowd immediately. Best of the excellent' was 'Someone Else's Eyes'. Must presently rank as one of NZ's top bands. Naked Spots Dance tried hard to be oh-so-fearsome but their dour -'epics, invoked a mood of despair among those who knew better. 1 ; Lacked variety in their material and the tapes . were a grating and superfluous ; touch. . The Stones played a mediocre set to a cold but keen crowd who appreciated that a bad night from these guys is still a force to be reckoned with. Finished with a stunning version of 'Fad World' crammed with guitar improvisation. ■-TV.

Monday: Bottletops were 'not inspiring. Wailing vocals over minimalist arrangements left most unimpressed. Not Really Anything grind out discordant topical ‘ originals with a hefty punch but not a lot of feeling or direction. ' Predominant Killing : Joke influence MMWMMMBri Max Quits is Bill Direen's latest pseudonym/ensemble. Powerful, original, wacky pop that was over far too soon. Watch this man closely. The Wastrels (Christchurch's next "big thing") played their sixties pop/pap atrociously and admitted as much but the crowd just laughed and screamed for more. Gimme some smaller things. Next, a . no-name outfit with some Gordons and an Android. A fearsome combination? Damn right it was. An hour wasn't enough. Billy TK and Powerhouse were a droll soft-rock outfit who should've > played earlier (before anyone got up). Some finale - not .with a bang but a whimper.