Powerstation
Review: Russell Baillie
Imagine if, say, REM hadn't got so big when they did. Where would they be now? Perhaps out there touring and playing to a couple of hundred people in a club in Auckland on a weeknight, having become a veteran cult act?
That thought occurred watching the sometimes early-REMish veteran cult act Guided by Voices go through their paces on their first New Zealand visit all the way from Dayton, Ohio.
The band has been going their underground way since the mid-80s under the leadership of Robert Pollard, now in his early 40s. The Albert Brooks lookalike would resemble the schoolteacher he once was if it wasn't for his swaggering (er, staggering) way with a microphone, constant beer bottle and cigarette, and occasional high kick.
He's a cuddly sort of rock enigma and one with quite a band - which, live, swapped the lo-fi of their albums for loud-fi.
That, combined with a sound mix that tended to bury Pollard's vocals, was an ear-punisher - but a highly enjoyable one for the twin guitar delivery (squint your eyes and ears, and this could have been CBGB's, New York, 1979) and the delightfully askew songs with names like My Valuable Hunting Knife, The Official Ironman's Rally Song and Postal Blowfish.
They managed a staggering number of songs in a near two-hour set because Pollard believes that three minutes can sometimes be too long for some songs.
Actually, the whole performance left the pleasing impression that Pollard and his cronies are true believers - in the age-old joys of mixing pop, rock and weirdness.
Oh, and a bit of showmanship. To match Pollard's Roger Daltreyesque microphone twirling, the hard-hitting GBV drummer added his own Who-move with an accidental drumkit disintegration. Do the collapse indeed, and all part of the fun.
So too was Chris Knox, with a preview of some rather lovely songs off his upcoming album Beat, and Bike, with Andrew Brough having got himself a new rhythm section which, as Pollard said later, "gave good rock."
Perfomance: Guided By Voices
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