Garageland, Auckland NZ, 2022

Garageland

30th April 2022
Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Alexis Brook. Photography by Doug Peters.

Showcasing the original line-up playing the entire debut album ‘Last Exit To Garageland’, and a smattering from follow-up albums ‘Do What You Want’, ‘Scorpiorighting’ as well as some rare B-sides, Garageland have finally completed the first part of their 25th anniversary tour, albeit now in it’s 26th year. The crowd at Auckland’s Powerstation comfortably filled the space with many of the 40-something dominant crowd eager to relive their teenage years.

Kicking off the evening was Auckland’s Dictaphone Blues – the bedroom brainchild of Edward Castelow, which was a perfect vibe for getting the crowd warmed up for Garageland (although no-one was dancing until a couple in the front row started!). Playing a handful of tracks from various releases, I particularly enjoyed Her Heart Breaks Like A Wave (originally released back in 2014), and look forward to exploring more of their tracks. Check out “When Your Simulation Crossed Mine” and “Cliché’ – perhaps with a cold brew or two and your favourite people.

As the room shuffled forward (while still maintaining good respect for social distancing), the opening lyrics of ‘Fay Ray’ perhaps nodding at how thirsty and hungry for performing again both sides of the stage were, after months and months of “you know what” related cancellations eased into a set overflowing with passion from Garageland, which was reciprocated with a lot of energy from the audience.

Each song fulfilled a memory of old times. The smiles in the audience said so much, particularly when the opening riff of ‘Beelines To Heaven’ made its way from the stage, the crowd started singing along and the room became an organic being – singing, swinging and swaying. For me, it was when the band launched into ‘Come Back’ and I was instantly taken back to the fields of Western Springs Stadium to a Big Day Out in the late 90s, yelling “Come back – All is forgiven!” while jumping around in the mosh pit. One of my favourites from Last Exit To Garageland was next up – ‘Nude Star’ – and the only thing I wish was that there was a little more presence in the backing vocal harmonies, although it was fabulous to just be able to hear it live again, however.

Hearing ‘Fire Away’ was a treat, with the band remarking after finishing the rapid-fire guitar and bass runs that they remembered why they don’t play it live. ‘Tired and Bored’ was far from the mood throughout the evening. The crowd was relishing being out in public sharing moments with friends and as you could feel the tingling as the evening drew near, and one of their best-known hits was yet to be heard…

The album’s hidden track ‘Underground Nonsense’ was masterfully played, and we were reminded that after being used to the modern day audio streaming of content, back in the day songs used to be hidden on CD’s either at several minutes after the last note ended, or as an entirely separate seemingly errored random track long after the album had finished. A sweet memory of how I used to scan through my CD’s looking for these treasures, much like people still sit through the entire credits of major motion pictures looking for easter eggs buried within.

With the crowd being asked “Well, have we missed anything?”, the moment had come and with those oh-so-familiar chords, it was time for “Fingerpops’ and it did not disappoint at all – the audience relishing every note and word, jumping in time, we all felt young again – even if our bodies are now telling us differently the day after the show.

The obligatory encore highlighted hits from their career including ‘Life Is So Sweet’ (written for the TV show The Strip), ‘Kiss It All Goodbye’ (another favourite) and ‘Not Empty’, which did seem to suffer a little from lyric blips here and there, but hey, it’s been a while since they were played – all is forgiven.

I certainly look forward to their next performance – maybe if we’re lucky we can have a 27th anniversary tour too?

Were you there at the Powerstation for this triumphant anniversary alternative rock gig? Or have you seen Garageland perform live some other time? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Set List:

1. 1. Fay Ray
   2. Struck
   3. What Will You Do
   4. Pop Cigar
   5. Classically Diseased
   6. Beelines To Heaven
   7. Come Back
   8. Nude Star
   9. Fire Away
   10. Tired And Bored
   11. I’m Looking For What I Can’t Get
   12. Cut It Out
   13. Return To You
   14. Jesus I’m Freezing
   15. Underground Nonsense
   16. Fingerpops
   17. Trashcans [encore]
   18. Kiss It All Goodbye [encore]
   19. Life Is So Sweet [encore]
   20. Not Empty [encore]

Note: Ambient Light was provided passes to review and photograph this concert. As always, this has not influenced the review in any way and the opinions expressed are those of Ambient Light’s only.

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