James Blunt may be a world-class entertainer but his crowd at Spark Arena last night were anything but. Madeleine Chapman reviews one of her favourite artists. The worst part of the James Blunt concert was the crowd. The best part was everything else. James Blunt, the man everyone loves to hate because of a song … Read more
Good morning and welcome to the first ever edition of The Bulletin, a round up the best and most important NZ news of the day. Sign up here to get The Bulletin direct to your inbox every single morning. Another National heavyweight is bowing out, a report into referrals of kids to protection services is … Read more
EVs are taking over the world, in the same way that cars left the horse and cart floundering in their petrol guzzling wake. Vector’s Steve Heinen discusses why that might be a brilliant, planet-saving, massive headache. Electric vehicles (EV) are great. They’re quieter, need less maintenance, provide more acceleration, and in New Zealand, where our … Read more
It takes a certain kind of obsessive mindset to want to play six degrees of separation – even more so to try and link fictional nobility to soon-to-be-actual royalty. Sam Brooks did it, and did it with Lightbox shows. You know that game six degrees of separation? No? Well, you probably mostly know it as … Read more
The Spinoff (or a sizeable chunk of it) went to Auckland City Limits on Saturday. Here’s our collective review. Head Like A Hole I’ve never seen a hard rock band perform at 1 pm. I’ve also definitely never seen a hard rock band do an energetic, spot-on and intermittently impressive cover of ‘Immigrant Song’ at … Read more
On Saturday the second Auckland City Limits went down at Western Springs. Simon Day spent the day roaming the speedway with his camera. The Spinoff’s music content is brought to you by our friends at Spark, a major sponsor of Auckland City Limits. Listen to all the music you love on Spotify Premium, it’s free on all … Read more
We talk to Etienne Marais, event producer of Auckland City Limits and probably the only person to work at every New Zealand Big Day Out. Etienne Marais is one of the most experienced music event managers in New Zealand. He started by selling water at the first Big Day Out in Auckland in 1994 and has … Read more
The tar-black anti-rom-com You’re the Worst hits Lightbox today. Sam Brooks explains why the show is the most authentic, beautiful and relatable romance on television today. What’s the difference between being a good person and being a bad person who is trying to do good? Even more crucially, what’s the difference between being a bad person who doesn’t … Read more
Art-pop innovator Grace Jones is playing Auckland City Limits this weekend. To help prepare you, The Spinoff retraces her career in 120 seconds. ‘Slave to the Rhythm’. ‘Pull Up To The Bumper’. A demented version of Sondheim’s ‘Send in the Clowns’. All of your pop faves owe what they do now to Grace Jones – new wave … Read more
In January, Sam Brooks made a studio visit to Rare Studios outside Birmingham in the UK to play the studio’s game Sea of Thieves, currently in open beta. He tells the story of an enchanting and slightly bizarre trip with a group of gregarious goofs. You start off in a bar, with four strangers around you. … Read more
An app that gives parents important information and rewards them for attending appointments is being tested on the East Coast. Rural New Zealand gets the sharp end of a lot of our worst stats – suicide, poverty, unemployment, health and wellbeing. Nowhere more so than the East Coast of the North Island, which includes the … Read more
LA bass-guitar extraordinaire Thundercat is playing Auckland City Limits this weekend. To help prepare you, The Spinoff retraces his career in 112 seconds. Thundercat, known to his mother as Stephen Bruner, is a bass guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer from Los Angeles. If you don’t think you know his songs, you probably do. And if you … Read more
Bridie Chetwin-Kelly talks to producer and singer Jon Lemmon about his relentless positivity and how to bring gender inclusiveness to dance music. Dressed in blue pants covered in birds, a white button up, long hair and a huge glistening smile – it was hard not to be caught up in Jon Lemmon’s positive energy. Which … Read more
Wellington synthpop genius Disasteradio is playing Auckland City Limits this weekend! To help prepare you, The Spinoff retraces his career in 121 seconds. Wellington synthpop maestro Luke Rowell has been making hi-fi and high energy music under the pseudonym Disasteradio since 2000. He’s been on a prolific run ever since, playing over 400 shows in 22 countries … Read more
Ahead of UnREAL season three arriving exclusively to Lightbox tomorrow, Olivia Caridi from The Bachelor US takes us behind the curtain of reality romance. To use the quote the astute words of Rachel from UnREAL, her job as a reality TV producer is basically “Satan’s asshole.” Working as a puppeteer behind the scenes of a … Read more
With over 2.8m members, KiwiSaver is the most successful financial product in New Zealand since the chequing account. Simplicity managing director Sam Stubbs looks at its potential for New Zealand. Since 2007, KiwiSavers have amassed $45 billion. That’s a lot of money, with a lot of potential payoffs for New Zealand. Already, we are starting to … Read more
It was one of the most critically acclaimed cult shows of the late-00s, and it’s coming to Lightbox today. Tara Ward runs down Community’s 10 most gloriously wackadoo episodes. If you’re seeking a clever comedy bursting with pop-culture satire and musical parodies, then look no further than the televisual gem Community. When the egotistical Jeff … Read more
In the 25 years since he first appeared on the scene, Beck has left few genres untouched. To help prepare you for ACL, The Spinoff retraces his diverse career in two minutes. In 1993, Beck was living in Los Angeles, working at a video store, playing so-called “anti-folk” music when he was discovered by independent label … Read more
Political rap/rock supergroup Prophets of Rage are heading to Melbourne’s Download Festival and a sideshow in Auckland (be in to win tickets and flights to that show – and five more Download sideshows – below!). Here are five videos of the ’80s and ’90s powerhouses who have combined forces to form Prophets of Rage, and … Read more
The future of Auckland Art Gallery’s funding is in the hands of the council as it divides up its 10-year budget. Viv Beck, Heart of the City chief executive, wants them to fix the funding gap for the sake of Auckland’s cultural soul. Our mayor recently made a bold step to declare his support for allocating more money … Read more
Sam Wicks talks to SWIDT rapper Spycc about the Onehunga group’s new EP and life after Stoneyhunga. With two Tui awards, a gang of iTunes chart entries, and a buzz that can’t be bought, Onehunga rap collective SWIDT was rightfully crowned 2017’s number one draft pick. Eager to capitalise on the wins, Spycc, INF and producers … Read more
From Close to Home to Shortland Street to Westside, New Zealand has a long and storied history of brilliant TV. Sam Brooks takes a look at the best local shows that you can stream on Lightbox right now. Cheryl West, the cute boy Jay Ryan played on Go Girls, Rita West, Ofa from Supercity. These are … Read more
Gareth Shute crunches the numbers on who is the most streamed here and abroad – and asks why the two don’t always match. Until recently, it was difficult to track the progress of New Zealand bands once they left our shores. But now Spotify’s publicly available streaming data gives us a window into how well … Read more
Rock revivalists The D4 have reformed for a final hurrah at Auckland City Limits and the closing of the Kings Arms. To help prepare you for ACL, The Spinoff retraces their career in 106 seconds. It wasn’t until the “New Rock Revolution” of the early-2000s – spearheaded by music magazines like NME and Rolling Stone – … Read more
In the third story in a series celebrating the amazing things young New Zealanders do every day, a young girl’s love of soap – and owls – has become a business success story. Angela Cuming spoke to Ava Heath-Williams about her soap start-up. At the tender age of eight, Ava Heath-Williams can already add businesswoman … Read more
Season four of classical music comedy Mozart in the Jungle drops tomorrow on Lightbox. Longtime fan of the show Sam Brooks decided to read the book it’s based on and compare the two. Contrary to its title, Mozart in the Jungle is not a television show about the world’s best composer (according to people who know anything about classical … Read more
Many of us start the year with the best of intentions to change the way we live for the better. Simplicity’s Amanda Morrall looks at why so many fail so quickly, and how to stay on track. If you made a resolution to lose weight this year, or get your shit together financially, you’re in … Read more
Need some ideas for a crazy romantic gesture this Valentine’s? Tara Ward’s got you covered with some of the best and most outlandish romantic gestures from the streaming screen. Some might say Valentine’s Day is a heaving cesspit of rampant commercialisation, but to them, I say stick a heart-shaped chocolate in your mouth and hush. … Read more
Alex Casey and Sam Brooks round up the new content coming to Lightbox this month, including UnREAL tackling… The Bachelorette?! The Good Doctor (available now) Look, it’s the number one network series in the States, Canada and Australia right now, so if you aren’t watching The Good Doctor then I’m sorry but everyone is secretly … Read more