Whilst I thought there ticket prices were a little high, I have always been blown away by their live concerts, and recently at their second Auckland show at the Powerstation was no different. In fact for me it was extra special because two of the elements of the great but now defunct Trinity Roots rythym section were live on stage with Fat Freddys. Rio Hemopo joined the band on bass, adding even more rythym and funk to proceedings, plus his amazing voice which complemented Joe Dukie so well and Ricki Gooch whose subtlety added another layer to proceedings on drums. Some of the `jam’ moments really took me back to hearing tracks like Sense and Cense from Trinity Roots, but was of course backed by all the great musicians.
We were treated to many new tracks, a few presumably off the new album, some old favourites like `wandering eye’ and some cool guest appearances such as Nathan Haines on Flute and Justin Firefly on guitar. They also played for over two and a half hours, so really I did get value for money after all!
There has been a lot of feedback on a particular music blogger Simon Sweetman and his total dislike for FFD which has been bubbling away over the last few weeks. It really has aroused a lot of feeling and even Mu has bitten back. Fair enough if you don’t like a band, but his comments are really cynical for a music reviewer, and show another example of New Zealand’s tall poppy syndrome. This comment posted on his Facebook account was particularly trite and weak:
`I made a joke updating my Facebook status. I wrote: Simon is seeing Fat Freddy’s Drop tonight….which is great because I haven’t been sleeping at all well lately..’
Other comments were just as insulting..
Telling them to “Stop making music” and.. “The perfect music for the iPod generation who wouldn’t know good music if it bit them in the ass.”
Has this man ever listened to soul, dub or jazz music? My feeling is he just doesn’t like any of these genres, and therefore is lacking in some vital musical education for his palat. Why be a hater man? It’s ok to dislike a band, but to tell them to stop making music? What an insult to all their fans. They have helped put a certain style of New Zealand music on the map.
The were many comments in his blog as this obviously touched alot of people. Here were some I really agreed with:
`FFD consistently sell out concerts here Aussy & all over Europe. They album BOATS is TOTALLY their own effort from conception, recording, post production, mastering, marketing on the basis of “Why give a percentage to the studios?” The album has input from the cream of modern music in NZ, a truly collaborative effort.’
`Saw FFD live in Melbourne last week, (5000+ people totally engaged and loving the music)and have had ‘Pull the Catch’ stuck in my head all week.’
NZers in NZ seem to be busy bagging people who are getting out there and making music, rather than creating something inspiring themselves. Don’t be a hater, be a do-er!
Whilst I thought there ticket prices were a little high, I have always been blown away by their live concerts, and recently at their second Auckland show at the Powerstation was no different. In fact for me it was extra special because two of the elements of the great but now defunct Trinity Roots rythym section were live on stage with Fat Freddys. Rio Hemopo joined the band on bass, adding even more rythym and funk to proceedings, plus his amazing voice which complemented Joe Dukie so well and Ricki Gooch whose subtlety added another layer to proceedings on drums. Some of the `jam’ moments really took me back to hearing tracks like Sense and Cense from Trinity Roots, but was of course backed by all the great musicians.
We were treated to many new tracks, a few presumably off the new album, some old favourites like `wandering eye’ and some cool guest appearances such as Nathan Haines on Flute and Justin Firefly on guitar. They also played for over two and a half hours, so really I did get value for money after all!
There has been a lot of feedback on a particular music blogger Simon Sweetman and his total dislike for FFD which has been bubbling away over the last few weeks. It really has aroused a lot of feeling and even Mu has bitten back. Fair enough if you don’t like a band, but his comments are really cynical for a music reviewer, and show another example of New Zealand’s tall poppy syndrome. This comment posted on his Facebook account was particularly trite and weak:
`I made a joke updating my Facebook status. I wrote: Simon is seeing Fat Freddy’s Drop tonight….which is great because I haven’t been sleeping at all well lately..’
Other comments were just as insulting..
Telling them to “Stop making music” and.. “The perfect music for the iPod generation who wouldn’t know good music if it bit them in the ass.”
Has this man ever listened to soul, dub or jazz music? My feeling is he just doesn’t like any of these genres, and therefore is lacking in some vital musical education for his palat. Why be a hater man? It’s ok to dislike a band, but to tell them to stop making music? What an insult to all their fans. They have helped put a certain style of New Zealand music on the map.
The were many comments in his blog as this obviously touched alot of people. Here were some I really agreed with:
`FFD consistently sell out concerts here Aussy & all over Europe. They album BOATS is TOTALLY their own effort from conception, recording, post production, mastering, marketing on the basis of “Why give a percentage to the studios?” The album has input from the cream of modern music in NZ, a truly collaborative effort.’
`Saw FFD live in Melbourne last week, (5000+ people totally engaged and loving the music)and have had ‘Pull the Catch’ stuck in my head all week.’
NZers in NZ seem to be busy bagging people who are getting out there and making music, rather than creating something inspiring themselves. Don’t be a hater, be a do-er!