K Road on show at The Others Way - FESTIVAL REVIEW
Alex de Vries and Noah Page take on The Others Way, trekking up and down K Road, in a two-mates-one-camera night of organised chaos.
It’s pissing down, but I’m lucky I’ve got my umbrella in the car. It’s just like Auckland to rain at the start of summer — that’s if we even get a summer this year. Like any good night on K Road, Noah and I start off at Lim Chhour, stuffing our faces. Piping hot chicken wings blister my mouth as I scoff them down. We’re hurrying along to get to the All Ages stage at Flying Out to see our mates play, and my insides feel the full punishment of fiery chicken sliding down my gut. Nonetheless, we make it in time to catch half of Psycho Gab’s set.
Psycho Gab are jazz school darlings, with a hybrid sound that echoes the contemporary underground scene of New Zealand. It’s jazz fusion, the bass line is slick, they’re all very young and borderline apathetic, except for the singer who smiles through every line. The room is full of bobbing heads and body heat. One tall motherfucker stands with his ear to the speaker, stooping slightly to preserve his head from any unwanted knocks. The crowd is older than I expected for an All Ages stage, there’s a bit of bald heads and grey hairs in there. My mate Harry is on the sound desk, and we have a wee moment before he needs to jump into action to fix a crackling speaker. They try to troubleshoot, but the crackle continues, and Psycho Gab finish their set completely unbothered by the unintentional percussion that the speaker has gifted them.
Flea Miller gets up with his band, hooking an old camcorder up to an even older television. With thin frames and clothes that hang off them like a windsock in a hurricane, Flea and band are straight out of the 90s. It’s impressive seeing such a young cohort take on such a big stage, and having seen Flea perform before, I know he has the vocal chops to carry. The crowd filtering in are a lot more like what I was expecting - long hair, baggy jeans, a lack of facial hair, and still so much hope in their eyes. All Ages really means all ages. It’s actually great that The Others Way have created a space for young artists to shine, but it is a shame that they stuck them in a space that smelled of mould and mildew. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of Flying Out, but their basement really is just that — a basement. With no ventilation, the smell mixes with Lynx Africa, teenage angst, and body heat, which makes the mugginess outside feel like a reprieve. They’ve also created a space mired in tech issues. When Flea Miller takes the stage to begin his set, the lights seem to be malfunctioning, and the first song is performed in complete darkness. They make a quick recovery, however, and deliver an insane set of angsty, teenage rage. They can’t get the camcorder to work again, but they don’t need it. Their set is solid, but above all, Flea’s vocal is sublime. I just know they’ve got incredible careers ahead of them, even if their guitarist accidentally unplugged his pedal board halfway through a song, and the bassist fished around in his pocket for a pick and produced what looked like a medieval coin instead. The trick is in the recovery, which these kids handled so well.
We scuttle along to Verona to catch Skilaa, but the bar is completely empty. The bartender, my mate Andrew, tells us that they’ve been moved to Whammy, and as we exit we bump into more friends who were here for the same thing. We make our way across to Whammy, only to accidentally stumble upon Mystery Waitress. They look cool and they sound cool, but the room is so packed that we stick around for one song then escape to get some fresh air.
It becomes a night of running into more friends, as we meet Bailey, Kura and Courtney in Public Bar, waiting for Erny Belle to take the stage in Double Whammy. After some good laughs, we head inside, and once again the room is at capacity. Double Whammy is a sick venue. The lighting rig is actually so captivating that I find myself behind the lighting technician observing how he makes it all happen. Erny Belle takes the stage and my god, she is incredible. Her on-stage persona is everything, with her frame angled towards the audience at all times, her eyes gazing longingly into the distance. Everything feels so real and so right in this moment, as our local answer to Lana del Rey x Phoebe Bridgers brings sultry mystery to the stage. It’s cinematic, it’s immaculately composed, it’s the allure. Not only do they all sound the part, they all look the part too, with cowboy hats and bolo ties, a fiddle and a lap steel guitar. The night is going great so far.
Our umbrellas are again pelted by rain as we scamper along to Galatos to catch the second half of A. Savage’s set. I know his voice so well, being a massive fan of Parquet Courts. Here on a solo mission, he plays an acoustic set, but the crowd feels all too rowdy to appreciate the artistry. I push deeper and deeper into the crowd until I am finally immersed in the show. He’s honest and vulnerable, and the change of pace is refreshing. That’s the beauty of a festival like this — there are so many genres, so many venues, and you can dip and dive between anything you fancy. I guess all festivals are like that to some degree, but with all of these venues being indoor spaces, each special in their own way, this festival feels as much about the venues as it does the artists. I hadn’t been to Galatos before, and now I want to go back.
We walk the twenty second stretch from Galatos to the Studio, and again bump into friends (read celebrities). Amanda’s with me in the front while Noah is taken to a different section for photographers. Ladi6 takes to the stage, and everyone absolutely loses their mind. I’ve never seen her play before, but holy heck she has some pipes! The vocal was delicious, the energy was unmatched. Amanda is grooving and singing every word, and I feel my hips swinging too. This is the finale to Ladi’s tour, and she came out in full force. Her coat is adorned with the colours of the Aboriginal flag, which she surprisingly keeps on for a few numbers. The beads of sweat dripping from Ladi’s neck show her determination to keep the energy high, despite the room full of warm bodies, the heat from the lights, and the thick coat she eventually sheds. Continuing in the theme of decolonisation, Ladi reveals that she’s wearing a t-shirt that reads Toitū te Tiriti, to which she says “as if you even needed to ask!?” David Seymour better pack his bags, Ladi6 has got him in her sights. The Alofa party is incredible, and Ladi knows just how to turn the best vibes.
By now we’ve been here for five hours and my back is starting to feel it. We decide to zoom across to Whammy again to catch the last few songs of Skilaa’s set. As we enter the space, we hear those familiar chaotic clashes of Southern Gothic. I was an extra in their music video, I tell Noah, and as we creep around towards the stage, we see Jaz and Jaya, the producer and director of said music video. It feels like a reunion as we groove to this band that we share this special connection with. I see my mate Reuben having a boogie and a head bang (whichever feels appropriate at any given moment) right in the front too. And that’s where we leave it.
The Others Way is probably Auckland’s best festival. Being there and seeing so many world class acts all on K Road, all on the same night, is something to rave about. It’s a place for newbies and legends to perform side by side, and the buzz on K Road is a testament not only to how the Others Way brings music to audiences, and vice versa, but how the Others Way brings life to a city that desperately needs it.
Verdict — a win is a win (big time)
Photographs taken by Noah Matariki Page.
Special thanks to The Others Way, Banished Music and Great NZ Publicity.