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Now this was my first live Dunedin gig (lakehouse doesn’t count), so going in I was fizzing. And as I should’ve been, because I was about to have any and all expectations exceeded. The opening acts themselves were good enough to show up solely for them. The first band was fronted by Liam of Night Lunch. Despite being loosely established and without a name, they displayed amazing natural chemistry and raw power in the forms of shoegaze/post rock sound. Maxine Funke, and her accompanying guitarist and percussionist, performed these soothing, warm vocals that felt slow and methodical, but never boring or dragging. I don’t think I'll ever forget the tonal whiplash that I felt from the change in genre and atmosphere of the improv DJ duo Murdabike (kickass name). The ever-evolving house/ big beat “choon” that kept on building on top of itself flowed so seamlessly that I only realised the song had completely shifted from minutes ago once I stopped grooving to think. 

I must shamefully admit I had never heard of local legend Andrew Wilson or Ōtepoti’s own Die! Die! Die!, but perhaps I should’ve before I shook his hand, said “Hi”, and complimented his shirt, all without recognising him (fuck). Regardless, I DEFINITELY know who he is now, and consider me a follower. Sign me up for the fan club, give me a shirt, and I’ll wear it until it smells like the front row crowd of Murdabike. While AW’s ‘THE NERVE’ is definitely a more Lo-Fi, noise-pop sort of direction on streaming services (go listen), it’s a whole different beast live. Wilson brings so much energy to the performance, jumping off stage and interacting with the crowd (cheers uncle). And the Lo-Fi sound turns into a wall of beautiful punchy noise that you could just never recreate on your headphones. To experience this band for the first time, and live even, does feel like a privilege. You just can’t wait for next time.

Favourite Track:  THIEF OF JOY

Credit: Ethan Montañer

Credit: Ethan Montañer

A typical Ōtepoti student knows the ins and outs of each club and venue in town. They know the sticky floors, vape clouds hanging above the dance floor, and the sickly sweet smell of alcohol in the air. The overpriced drinks and pint specials lure us into coming out night after night, just for the notion that we might stop at that banging Kebab joint on our way back down George St. But UBar is different. Situated right here on campus, you may not first think that the nightlife is particularly rampant in this underground bar. But on Wednesday nights after 8pm, it becomes a hub for student activity and locally grown music. As an American international student, I’m not quite used to the bar atmosphere yet. But let me tell you about my experience at UBar’s Pint Night this last Wednesday, the perfect way to find local music and good pints. 

Pint Night is a draw for many tired students trying to make it to the end of the week, a sustaining night out that has you back in your flat or at your hall at a reasonable (enough) time to make it to your 9 am the next morning. Let's face it though, you were going to skip that class anyway. 

With its central location, UBar is a perfect starting point for many of Dunedin’s very own bands, musicians, and songwriters. The atmosphere is one that you can't help but want to create in, and the inspiration taken from students wanting to have fun is infectious. Many bands and singers start out their following at UBar, surrounded by peers who help to grow their following before they branch out into the wider Dunedin music scene. 

With a hazy atmosphere and brightly painted walls, UBar has the kind of energetic vibe that can only occur when young people gather. The mural-adorned, wooden paneled walls might be mistaken for a nice restaurant, but the high tables and sticky floors are undeniably those of a bar. The hipster mixed with dive-bar feel is unique to UBar, a more diverse vibe compared to Vault 21 or Catacombs. The music is loud, and the seating is spread out enough to accommodate the students who want to mingle with other groups. 

When you travel to the dance floor, the people there are piled up against the barricade, screaming for Purple Dog, Ammonita, or Monkey Do to ‘PLAY ONE MORE SONG!’. The air is electric, and you can just make out the silhouettes of people dancing in the neon blue lights rimming the walls. This is an honest-to-God bar dancefloor, where the ceiling is less than a meter above your head and occasionally drips on you. The determination of this many Otago students to fit into such a space is admirable. 

Whether you want a sober evening of fun or a more buzzed night that makes up for the clubs being closed, Pint Night at UBar has the vibes, and more importantly, the pints. Dunedin’s favourite bands and performers are booked and ready to entertain you and your friends, and the friendly staff and security are ready to make sure you have fun, all on campus property. After my first Pint Night at UBar, it's safe to say that I sure did. 

Follow UBar on Instagram - @ubarotago

Imagine my excitement when the now-legendary six-piece British rock band announced that they would be playing in my hometown. My bank account immediately hollowed out as I paid for a couple of tickets to see Black Country New Road and flights to Wellywood, but it’d be worth it; not just to escape the pits of despair (library lock-ins) for a couple of days, but to see if the sextet sounds as harmonic in person as they do in the studio recordings.

How did they stack up? In short, to quote the track Socks off from BCNR’s third album, Forever Howlong (2025), “I’m having a whale of a time”. In long, the band showed off their newest material in a passionate and operatic performance, oozing with skilled instrumentals and beautiful vocal performances.

I only caught the latter half of the opening act, Ringlets, a post-punk four-piece from Tāmaki Makarau, who performed at Laneway earlier this year. I ended up being a bit sad that I arrived near the end, because the second I made it into the pit, the energy was invigorating!

From what I gathered, they were mostly playing songs from their recent album, The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time for Walkies), which is punchy and jangly and features some undoubtedly scuzzy yet refined songwriting. Leith Towers’ vocals were quite harrowing and were the perfect accoutrement to bassist Arabella Poulsen’s pronounced, driving basslines in the song Heavenly Wheel. Before the gig, I wasn’t aware of the fact that they existed, nor that they were performing before BCNR, but I think I’ve got a new favorite Tāmaki band.

After the departure of lead vocalist and guitarist Isaac Woods in 2022, a few days before the release of their second album, Ants From Up There (2022), BCNR decided to only play music written after their sophomore album. Unfortunately, this meant that we didn’t hear the rising, saxophone-led overture of Intro (you may recognize this from countless TikTok edits) as I was hoping for. We did, however, get treated to a killer cover of Wings’ Band on the Run, sung by Lewis Evans and May Kershaw. Meow Nui was instantly captured by Charlie Wayne’s punchy drumming, Luke Mark’s tight guitar riffs, Georgia Ellery’s nuanced backing vocals, and Tyler Hyde’s playful and experimental basslines.

I’m more of a recent fan of BCNR, having only really gotten into them just before the release of Forever Howlong. It never really entered my mind to do that much research into the band before the tour, which, in a way, was a blessing in disguise- there were tons of surprises to be had. The main surprise- which can’t be undersold- was how incredibly multitalented each member of the band was. It’s sort of hard to pin any of BCNR’s members as being primarily one instrument or another. There was a minimum of two instruments played by one person throughout the performance, reaching a shockingly high maximum of five. It would take an entire whiteboard to plot out who changed instruments, so I’ll have to spotlight the moments that most impressed me.

For the ethereal, vocal-heavy Mary, Wayne put down the drumsticks and picked up a banjo hidden behind the mass of equipment, allowing the crowd the opportunity to immerse themselves in the vocal harmonies of Hyde, Ellery, and Kershaw. In addition to their incredible vocals, they each used a multitude of instruments. Ellery masterfully swapped back and forth between the violin and the mandolin. The standout for me was Tyler Hyde, who effortlessly made use of the bass, the acoustic guitar, and the piano. The first moment that left me speechless was when Meow Nui’s acoustics filled with the sustained grandiose sound of her bowing the bass guitar while knelt on the edge of the stage during their powerful concert-like performance of Nancy Tries to Take the Night.

The second time that took my breath away was when the entire band dropped their instruments, and seemingly manifested tenor recorders into their hands for their penultimate song: Forever Howlong- the only exception being May Kershaw, who stood up from the keys that she had been stationed at for the greater part of the night, and picked up an accordion. Until then, I had only heard recorders from my (awful) primary school class recorder lessons and had no idea that they could sound good. The band played a 5-part recorder polyphony that was raw and sublime, which lifted Kershaw’s heartfelt and sensitive singing in a subtle but powerful way.

The band performed the song Strangers, which was recently released on the charity album Help(2), by War Child Records, which aims to raise funds for children living through war. Help(2) contains songs from artists such as Big Thief, Cameron Winter, Depeche Mode, Damon Albarn, and Fontaines D.C.

The gig was full of fun vibes and energy, and it seemed like practically every alternative person in Wellington had come to town to watch the band. The crowd’s energy peaked when we all heard the start of Forever Howlong’s catchy opening track, Besties, which kicked off the new era of Black Country New Road. At one point, the entire crowd joined in arms to sing Happy Birthday (not the song off of the album, just the classic, sing-it-at-a-party Happy Birthday) to Charlie Wayne, who played along for a bit before telling us all that we were 3 months away from his actual birthday and that we clapped 6 times too many for the years. They ended the set on a high note, with their song Happy Birthday (for real this time!), which was jazzy and showcased every member of BCNR’s instrumental expertise.

Black Country New Road was an utterly immersive and joyful experience, and I thoroughly recommend seeing them the next time they come back to Aotearoa.

ALBUM REVIEW: Shuv-it (Nelson) - Erode
review by Ethan Montañer Mar 9th 2026

Whakatū Nelson’s hardcore punk outfit Shuv-it have finally arrived with their debut full length, Erode.
The opening track “Shuv-it” is a mission statement, showcasing the band’s lyrical style that is unapologetically motivational and full of heart: “I’ll face this moment and then tower above it”. This combination of lyrics, riffs, mosh parts and sing-a-longs makes Erode feel like a hit of adrenaline that you can only get at a Shuv-it show.

Clocking in at just under 20 minutes, the band manages to pack a surprising amount of variety while staying laser focused, and Sam Edmonds’ striking vocal delivery seamlessly flows between melodic screams and almost rap-like yells. The album’s second half is an impressive showcase of features. Shuriken (WLG), Martial Law (Hamilton) and Sawnoff (Nelson) up the heaviness with some vocal contributions; post-rock band Distance (CHCH) provides a moody ambient interlude, and DJ MRD’s (US) scratching is a surprising but welcome addition.

Erode is a perfect showcase of Shuv-it’s live energy and impactful songwriting, and is ultimately just a fun listen. If you’re a fan of riffs, moshing, and having a good time, this album might be just the thing for you.

The day begins with our eternally burning life-giver, a sun that was coming down with full February force. An event where the free sunscreen being handed out was nectar from empathetic gods. Mother nature had set this gorgeous stage, but would the performers live up to the absolute pearler of a day provided?

The first act we got along to was Ringlets, Tamaki Makaurau post-punk quartet who I was listening to mostly entirely fresh. It’s never an enviable position to be one of the first bands on stage at such a festival, but to the credit of those attending, the crowd was already pretty sizeable even at this, the smaller Harikoa stage, tucked away down an alley we almost missed the first time.

The band sounded bright and punchy, starting a trend of what was generally ace mixing on all the performances I saw, and they had a real energy that defied their place in the lineup. Frontman Leith Towers looks like he’s always having a rollicking time on stage and that was great to see. Good shorts, too.

From there we ran over to the Everything Ecstatic stage to catch the second half of Mokotron, who puts on a brilliantly idiosyncratic mix of EDM and live instrumentation, pulling out multiple woodwind pieces to accentuate the driving rhythms. The crowd loved this, and even more so the call and response segment of “fuck David Seymour!” – simple, but effective. It was a set that perhaps would’ve been more at home under the cover of night with a few more beverages in everyone, but it still popped off here as still more people filtered into Western Springs.

Being strategic and already a little wiped out by the pulsing of the sun and Mokotron in equal parts, we headed back to Harikoa to have a sit down in the shade (a precious commodity, sometimes frustratingly so), and vibe out to Womb, another Flying Nun outfit from Te-Whanganui-a-Tara. It reminded me of sitting on the hill taking a break and vibing to Slowdive at the 2017 festival, and I do mean that as a compliment. Angelic vocals and gossamer vibes on these guys.

Back to Everything Ecstatic and we caught the very tail end of Wisp’s set, enough to make an intrigued future listener of friend Jacob – often one of the positive effects of the busy and varied lineups of big festivals.

Then we split for the first time – the folks I was with going off to see Alex G (whom I love but have seen before and it was...messy), and myself hanging around to see Oklou. She was simply fantastic. Her voice was gorgeous, she integrated the few pieces of live instrumentation really nicely with the majority electronic set, and she had a shy-but-bubbly stage personality that complements her music so well. I really loved this set, felt it stood out as something unique, and it was sneakily my favourite of the day – don’t tell my fellow Geese-heads.

The Dare was next on the Everything Ecstatic stage and I met back up with the gang to watch him. This was the big surprise of the day for me, not that his performance was wild and committed, or that he had some of the loudest tunes of the festival with his huge stacks of Marshall amps, but more that his crowd was so packed and people knew it so well. He has such a perplexing vibe that afterwards a friend I was with was trying to pinpoint how serious (or otherwise) his whole schtick is – I think the fun of it is in not knowing, but he really does strike me as the LCD Soundsystem for a new generation. Sadly, to make sure we got a decent spot to see Geese we left a little early and didn’t catch his crowning banger “Girls”, but I heard it went all the way off.

Now Geese were playing on Harikoa, which brings me to my first (very minor) gripe with the day. Geese may well have been booked before the release of Getting Killed, the album that catapulted them into the forefront of rock culture – which unfortunately meant they were on a stage that was never going to accommodate the size of their rapidly growing audience. The flow of people was so great that staff actually had to police the entrance to the stage area and ensure there wasn’t a crush – they did this well though, and it reflected a refreshing level of preparedness by the festival organisers during a time when many festivals are copping serious flak for not putting that kind of work in.

It was, however, such a gorgeous day and people were in such high spirits that a minor hiccup was never going to kill the buzz that was building for Geese. When expectations are this sky-high for a band, it’s easy to imagine them not quite living up to the billing – but Geese delivered on all fronts.

A stranger I had been chatting with before they played who was unfamiliar (but had heard all about them) tapped my shoulder halfway through the set and yelled “I get it now! And isn’t it great to see people having this much fun!” And there she summed it up perfectly – it was genuinely warming to see people having that much fun together. The individual high point of the day for me was during their closer, Trinidad, where hundreds if not thousands of people were yelling “THERE’S A BOMB IN MY CAR” together. Bizarre, unifying, euphoric.

In preparation for what was going to be the big spectacle of the day, the final two sets over on the Good, Better, Best stage, we sat around to recharge, have a drink, just chill for a bit. In that time multiple groups of lovely strangers came over to chat about this and that, and I take the time to mention this because it’s reflective of how noticeably friendly this iteration of Laneway Was.

And I think that was in no small part down to the headliner. Before that though we caught most of Wolf Alice’s set, who didn’t shrink away from being the preceding act to the drawcard at all. Frontwoman Ellie Rowsell paraded around the stage with such a swagger, and when she pulled out a megaphone it felt like a throwback to the best of the 2000s era femme-rock, something that Karen O might look at and think “fuck yeah”. Loved it.

But the whole time people are pouring into the stadium section of the grounds, just a blur of pink cowboy hats and boots almost vibrating with anticipation. To say Chappell Roan has a dedicated fan base would be underselling it. As the sun sunk slowly behind the stage and created a dazzling pink sunset, it felt like this was a set almost ordained by fate, one that even the sky and the land were doing their best to accommodate.

She was incredible. I won’t lie and say I’m the most qualified person to tell you how good a Chappell Roan set was, but it was one that swayed effortlessly from grandeur to intimacy, from banger to ballad and back again. It was a supermassive pop star performing a set that felt larger than life, and brilliant to see an artist with top billing producing a performance that had the polish, sheen and sheer oomph deserving of that billing.

As people dispersed outward from Western Springs, there was a mood of summery elation that was practically without exception. It had been an event that was warm on the skin, warm on the soul, overwhelmingly welcoming and incredibly safe given the scale of it. I’m only sorry I couldn’t get around more of it, but I heard from fans of every act present that they were incredibly happy with whichever performance they were most looking forward to.

If Laneway had been in a down period for a few years after being rained out in 2023, it was certainly back in force this year, at least from everything I saw. Just a fantastic and affirming day out.

Credit: Jakira Brophy (@jakira.art)

Credit: Jakira Brophy (@jakira.art)

Credit: Jakira Brophy (@jakira.art)

Credit: Jakira Brophy (@jakira.art)

Credit: Jakira Brophy (@jakira.art)

Credit: Jakira Brophy (@jakira.art)