I was playing at this one, so I got there very early and sat through a lot of sound-checks, most of which involved live sound engineer k5k having to tell Nomex to turn it down just a little more and a little more...
Yeah, Nomex made it to Auckland this time, and a lovely and dapper gentleman he was too. Robert Inhuman of US gabber-punk-noisecore outfit Realicide was also there. Robert was very impressive as he set up with lyric-sheet posters and stickers at the door to give away free to people. This is an old anarcho-punk trick that I've heard about but never seen done before - where you consider your message so important that you make sure that people can take it away with them; that they can participate. Particularly if you know your lyrics are going to be indecipherable. Everyone should do this really, but then when was the last time you saw an artist with a serious political message? Would you even know if you had?
The show started with ¡Recuerde! who performed a set of textured-and-layered noises, with some vocals even. I believe this is typical output from this artist. This was followed by my own set, which was a learning experience. Armed with a Casio SK-5, a discman to sample from and the kalimba I picked up in Uganda, I managed to not get too defeated by my own hardware, but when the microphone for the kalimba turned out to not be turned on at the mixing desk, I just gave up. Only Softsmell and Robert Inhuman were really paying attention anyways, so it's not like I lost some fans or something, and I learnt some things about the limitations of my hardware.
Anyway, what everyone was really here for was to see the fancy international acts, and first up was Realicide. This is where Robert Inhuman impressed again, as he greeted everyone, explained how excited he was to have come half-way around the world to be here; explained how this was the punk for right now and right here, not some retro guitar music; invited everyone to participate. This entailed pounding beats, noise, and very energetic but indecipherable vocals. Excitement. Energy. Those things that are lacking so often in this tiny scene. Infectious.
Nomex followed this up with brutal harsh noise, using a contact mic attached to a 12" vinyl that he ended up smashing, and some other device that he'd fashioned which was a kinda stick thing that he waved around. Certainly the most impressive noise set I've seen yet in my life.
Spent a few hours after the show hanging out with Robert and a group of other insiders at neighbouring Area 26, just talking about stuff. This guy is really right-on with his attitude and politics. He's living the dream, or at least a dream that I had that I couldn't realise for myself with my circumstances.
The next night, being Friday the 12th of February saw Return to the Conquest of Breakcore Island, which was another house party at a K' Road dive called The Brothel. House parties mean loading in your own sound-system, and for reasons that remain obscure, this involved me helping k5k lug big speakers up and down various flights of stairs.
Once the party finally got underway, it begun with N.U.T.E playing their industrial-metal. They are polished, professional... but for me too soft, too slow... I'm not their target audience, this stuff is for goths; allegedly they lap it up.
They are followed by Incredible Hexadecibels with Creassault, and people dance, and for once everyone's eyes are on the Hexadecibels instead of their visuals, because the visuals are being projected on the wall behind the crowd instead of behind or beside the Hexadecibels like it usually would be; it gets me thinking about the lyric-sheet I got last night and of course actually bothered to read and think about, and the Realicide songs Everything is a Camera, and The Audience Sucks... contrasting approaches to music and interaction...
Realicide was brutal again, and in this smaller venue the audience was closer, and a spontaneous mosh-pit broke out, which was just what this sort of hardcore music needs. I'm deeply respectful of what this guy is doing. Nomex made sure that everyone in the crowd was given the lyric-sheet poster, which I believe speaks highly of him.
Nomex had the same set-up as the night before. This time, before his set started, I did the trainspotting kind of thing and went and looked what vinyl he was using. It was a Stiff Little Fingers 12". Anyway, this time Nomex had incorporated beats into his set, I guess via the laptop he had, so the set was more of a breakcore style, although still with massive noise running over the top. The vinyl got chucked on the floor and Robert and Nomex stomped on it a bit, before Nomex totally destroyed it by ramming it in this large gap in the floorboards. It was a good set from Nomex, although it was the kind of fractured breakcore that you can't really dance to that well. Which is fine. After the set was over I grabbed a chunk of vinyl off the floor as a souvenir.
The USA Kings, a Hungarian act that are also touring here for Breakcore Island were supposed to play next, but there was some sort of technical issue, so DJ Beatmeter ended up spinning records, as he had been between all the other sets. This continued for probably an hour or more, as everyone drifted away, but at this stage we were under the understanding that he might help unpack all the PA gear from the venue and get it safely back to where it belonged. Which didn't end up happening, so it came down on me again. Very late night...
These guys all flew down to Wellington the next day for a Saturday night show at the Happy venue, and when I spoke to Robert later he said it was probably the best show of the tour for him because it was the loudest.
Maybe there will be some more Breakcore Island events in March. The USA Kings still have to play sometime. Keep watching the sky....
