Whanganui letters: Vintage Weekend music not to everyone’s taste

People enjoyed the sounds and sun at the Riverside Shindig during Vintage Weekend, but one reader is less impressed with some of the performances at the Caboodle the previous evening. Photo / Finn Williams

What a great weekend of music we had during Vintage Weekend, except for the heavy metal bands that played from 5pm at Block 1 at the bottom of Victoria Ave.

Previously, we enjoyed the wonderful music of the likes of Whanganui Jazz Orchestra, Abacus, Tim Davies, a vocalist, Whiskey Mama, then on Sunday, Freddy and The Firebirds and the Hot Potato Band.

The heavy metal bands’ use of bass guitars and drums was almost unrecognisable as being music. The bass guitars obliterated the other instruments, and these bands produced aggressive and unpleasant stuff. One band’s rendition of Don Henley of The Eagles’ classic The Boys of Summer was almost unrecognisable. These players need to learn they are playing to entertain and give enjoyment to their audience. What we got was the complete opposite.

In the adjacent restaurants, the patrons could not hold a conversation due to the noise. If this continues, patrons won’t go to these restaurants on those days in future and the restaurants will lose income. Hardly fair given the challenges Covid-19 posed.

For next year, the organisers - Mainstreet Whanganui - need to select better musical bands with a variety of genres and drop the heavy metal bands altogether, or move them away from where restaurants are.

LARRY TASKER

Whanganui

Education system needs to change

Alwyn Poole of Villa Education Trust (Opinion, January 20) highlighted what I consider to be the issue with mainstream education. In particular, they note “we want to convince all staff that the success of the students depends entirely on their quality and the quality of the programmes they present. We then aim to convince the students that their success depends totally on attendance, attention and effort”.

Education isn’t about isolated events as portrayed by this piece. Education is about a reciprocal relationship between educators and learners.

This piece demonstrates what is wrong with mainstream schooling. It’s the teachers’ responsibility to deliver quality education. It’s the students’ sole responsibility to get to school and learn. Where is the relationship in this? There is nothing in this article that implies the importance of reciprocal relationships, discusses the need to place the learner in the centre, or which provides any real detail about supporting learners, their whānau and the community through the development and construction of knowledge, as suggested by Paulo Freire.

This article highlights that education in this country is about mere information transfer, a doctrine that should have been excluded decades ago.

If we want our kids in school, the education system must keep up with the rapid changes in technology. There must be ongoing opportunities for teachers to develop themselves in the technology space and learn how to harness it for the classroom. If we don’t, we’ll continue down the downward spiral that we’ve found ourselves in.

DC HARDING

Whanganui