Wellington has come in for a bashing recently, but complaints about house prices, weather and infrastructure only tell part of the story. Lucy Revill shares a few of the things she’s most excited about for summer in the capital. At some point in my mid 20s, I decided to stop staring mournfully into my long … Read more
Pill testing at music festivals is set to become law as legislation begins a rush through parliament in time for the start of festival season. It’s a change welcomed by Courtenay Chenery, who remembers how a rogue pill led to the most miserable New Year’s of her life. “Hey Dad…I’m not feeling very well. I … Read more
With live shows and events at the mercy of a mercurial virus, the New Zealand music business has been warped into a frustrating limbo. So how are local musicians dealing with it all? Alongside Covid-19, 2020 will be forever known as the year of “the pivot”; that dreaded term that was once isolated to the … Read more
Michelle Cruickshanks presents a complete taxonomy of the types of people who’ll be descending on New Plymouth this weekend for Womad. First things first: Womad is going ahead this weekend as planned. You can find more information here, and a statement from it follows: “New Zealand is prepared and ready to deal with a Covid-19 … Read more
There’s a cyclone sitting off the coast and we’re already feeling its tendrils. From Six60 to Splore, Western Springs to Tapapakanga Regional Park, which shows will suffer worst this weekend? Update 11am Friday: NIWA weatherman Ben Noll has scant good news as we barrel towards the weekend, saying while for now there are only smatterings … Read more
Music festivals are slowly making progress towards being accessible to disabled people – but is it happening fast enough? Alice Mander shares her experience at this year’s Laneway and offers some suggestions for improving accessibility. Sometimes I want to scream, “Disabled people like to party too!”. Or, maybe more accurately, “Disabled people want to join the … Read more
The Phoenix Foundation’s Samuel Flynn Scott checks out the food, music and wacky shirts of Laneway Festival 2019 in a review for Radio NZ. I’m pretty sure I used to be the target market for Laneway, but this year I barely know anyone on the lineup. As a joke, my good friend Lukasz sent our … Read more
It’s Auckland Anniversary Weekend, and you know that what means? St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, aka Laneway! Sam Brooks shares his guide to how to do your 2019 Laneway Festival right. So what the heck is Laneway? Laneway is a music festival that does the rounds across all of Australasia. It’s like the cooler, more alternative … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week he talks to Mark Kneebone, head of promotions at Live … Read more
From vineyards to forests, beaches to baches, New Zealand offers a bloody smorgasbord of ways to bring in the New Year. Here’s where to go and why. Pack your bukkie hat and *get out the speed dealers*, she’s looking like a big one Ah, New Years Eve! There’s truly no way better to set your … Read more
The much-anticipated PHAROS event debuted last night just outside of Auckland. Here’s what you need to know about the notoriously secret event. Donald Glover has yet to fail. Successful stand up comedian, television writer, comedic actor, dramatic actor, showrunner, rapper, and producer. It’s a bit ridiculous when you think about it for too long. And … Read more
‘Burners’ around the country will have to look elsewhere for their collectivist fix after Kiwiburn 2019 was cancelled by event organisers. New Zealand’s regional Burning Man event has been cancelled after extended negotiations around council noise restrictions meant a 2019 iteration of the festival became unfeasible. A sell-out event held annually at the end of … Read more
Australian music lovers were dancing up a storm in Byron Bay two weekends ago – but many of them were also helping to bring down Australia’s sexually transmissible infection (STI) rate at the same time. Could this be an approach we adopt in New Zealand? Australia’s premier music festival Splendour in the Grass was held … Read more
Bridie Chetwin-Kelly talks to Sarah Thompson of the Melbourne-based band Camp Cope, who have called out festivals for male-dominated line-ups and led a campaign against sexual misconduct at concerts. Trying to calm my inner fangirl and act cool, I jumped on a call with Sarah Thompson, also known as ‘Thomo’ the drummer of the Melbourne-based … Read more
It traces its origins to Rhythm and Vines, and has taken a chunk of the festival payments industry across the Tasman too. Russell Brown discovers the company behind summer fun is getting serious to find new customers. Have you ever looked, I mean, really looked at that chip on your wrist? If you’ve attended Rhythm … 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
A life in plastic doesn’t have to be all bad. Just ask Kiwi company Globelet, whose recycled plastic cups have brought the reusable revolution to some of New Zealand’s biggest summer events. ‘Tis the season of live music and sports — Splore, Womad, T20 cricket to name a few — but once the bands clear … Read more
Thousands came to celebrate Auckland’s anniversary at Laneway Festival in a sun soaked Albert Park. Simon Day shares his favourite memories of a very good (and very hot) day. There are times when Auckland feels quaint, backwards even, far from its “world class” aspirations. It’s usually when you’re sitting in traffic, in the rain. Then … Read more
With public outcry over sexual violence at music festivals increasing, Bianca Fileborn and Phillip Wadds have launched a research project to show how prevalent sexual violence at festivals is beyond the high-profile, anecdotal cases that have been picked up by the media. This year’s summer music festival season has again been marred by several incidents … Read more
Simon Day uncovers the fascinating history of New Zealand’s longest running music festival. Twenty years ago on the rugged cliffs above Karioitahi Beach, an hour south of Auckland, somewhere between 500 and 700 people gathered to spend two days celebrating the end of 1998 and the beginning of 1999. It was a wild bush trance … Read more
Rhythm and Vines’ co-founder Hamish Pinkham talks about the highs and lows of the first 15 years of his hugely popular New Year’s Eve festival. In the past 15 years, Rhythm and Vines has gone from a small New Year’s Eve party intended for 400 people, but attended by 1800, in 2003 to a sprawling … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Campbell Smith, music mogul and the man behind Auckland City Limits, about bringing the festival back after sitting out a year. “Anyone got any drugs?” Campbell Smith, a man who has done nearly every business-y thing it is possible to do in New Zealand music, yells to no-one in particular as … Read more
Alaister Moghan reports from The Great Escape festival, where New Zealand artists like Aldous Harding, Kane Strang and Fazerdaze go to get the UK music industry talking. Every May for over a decade, the shores of Brighton are awash with musicians, managers and assorted music industry folk attending The Great Escape – part ‘new music’ festival, … Read more
The Spinoff and Spark proudly present Pod On The Couch, a weekly podcast exploring music and the people that make it. This episode: Leonie Hayden and Duncan Greive join host Henry Oliver to talk about the state of the music festival. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver, Spinoff editor and publisher Duncan Greive and Mana magazine editor Leonie Hayden chat … Read more