Gig Review: The Butlers at The Church Pub, 30/10/2025
Walt Robberds and Jordy Kennedy from The Butlers at The Church Pub. Taken on the Sony A6000 for Welcome to the Gig, by Welcome to the Gig. All photos taken (otherwise stated) for this review
Thank you to The Butlers for allowing me to collaborate with them and making this review possible
Phew! What a way to bring the vibes to a breezy Thursday evening here in Christchurch for a sold out first show of the new tour for local legends, The Butlers.
I was lucky enough to head along to the show at The Church Pub where the stage was set with blue spotlights, a clean setup and an audience that wasted no time in hurrying towards the front to lock in for the evening that was about to commence.
The atmosphere was full of an excited buzz from everyone in the room - it was evident that every person who showed up was there for an exceptionally good time, and that drove The Butlers to give a solid performance that transformed The Church into something more spectacular than just a historic building. The music and entire evening now sits in the heads (and hearts) of attendees and bands that took to the heightened platform.
First up, we had King Tides who played a mesmerising opening performance ahead of The Butlers and got everybody amped up for what was to come. As I have recently written about King Tides, I haven’t included them in this review. However, you can read the previous review with them here.
George Berry
The Butlers were next up, and they all arrived on stage dressed to the nines in their classy suits, which is about as Butlers-esque as you can get; distinguished and ready to roll.
It’s evident that Walt, George, Jordy and Bradley are very serious about their craft, yet they aren’t so serious that they don’t have fun or enjoy themselves while up on that stage; how they come across is quite contagious and lifts your mood immediately and effortlessly.
The Butlers were on top of their game, lighting up more than just phone screens in The Church. They offered us a highly polished performance that was even more shiny than your Nanna’s favourite vase, with their smooth soundscape that shows off years of mahi, time and true care.
The setlist for the night. Provided by The Butlers
Alternating the vocals between Walt, Jordy and George was a highlight of the evening, it’s nice to hear a rotation of different aspects from what each individual can provide. It made for a more unique experience, rather than just having one person bringing the vocalism, or other elements, to the show. All of this while Bradley played his part in holding down the dreamy guitar moments, too? Phenomenal.
Between fan favourites such as No Good Nina, Leopard of Sweet Dreams and Why Are We Always Waiting, requests from the crowd, and even more cheering, The Butlers debuted a new song, Sea Stains, which is a lot edgier than we have heard from them previously and I thoroughly liked the direction that they have taken with this one - it felt gripping and left a craving for more tunes like this to be created in the future.
Pre-Painting My Roof Again, Walt dived into the backstory of the song which was written while him and his wife, Tui, were traveling around overseas and the roof of their van kept leaking, which inspired the lyrics and curated a fun song out of what I imagine would have been quite a frustrating situation while on the road, but they found the light and made something fun out of it.
Bradley King
At the end of the evening, The Butlers could be seen hanging around, chatting to fans, friends and family alike, which shows they weren’t there just for the sake of performing. They’re there to also chat, be genuine, caring humans who also get to live out their dreams, which makes for a meaningful connection with others and shows that The Butlers are true gentleman and kind-hearted people, through and through.
Additional photos from the evening here.
For more from The Butlers, check out their links below -