Gig Review: Colour Thursdays, Ft. Hot Sauce Club, Genzed and Jam Henderson, 16/9/2022
A saucy night indeed! Artwork credit: Colour Thursdays.
It must’ve been hurricane season last Thursday evening for Colour Thursdays at Dux Central as anyone who attended got to be blown away with saucy warmth, jammy tunes and ragingly good beats for all gens.
Colour Thursdays is a weekly set of gigs that is held in the Upper Dux portion of the popular inner-city bar, allowing Kiwi musicians from all over to come on down and show what they are made of to the people of Christchurch.
Thursday evening was a substantially hectic event, with the word hectic being used in the most positive way that you could think of.
A drippy mix of calm, rock and indie vibes, there’s a high chance that you are now regretting every single second that you thought about heading on down to catch the gig, but you never did. That’s fine, I’m about to shower you with a nice, ice cold deluxe gig review with a side of FOMO to ensure you don’t miss out on any of the upcoming shows from these musicians (or the next couple of Colour Thursdays, in fact).
Jam put on the most incredible performance with his band on Thursday night! PC: Jam’s Instagram.
Jam Henderson was the opening act of Colour Thursdays last week and my goodness, can I just say that Jam AKA Sam and his band put together this blissfully tight performance that could make you go weak in the knees. A dreamy heaven of easy-listening indie that could certainly stop the world for a few minutes and turn back the clock to those moments that fill you with pure joy, that is exactly what Jam’s performance was like. Jam’s voice is made of pure silk, suiting the ambience of the room and allowing people to just indulge in the pure enjoyment of the performance that was being put forward for us. A highlight for me was finally getting to hear Halfway to India live - a song that constantly pops into my head after listening to Jam’s latest EP (review here), that song just still holds a special place in my heart for how delicate it is. Jam has this way of being able to possess these emotions and allows you to experience them with him, every step of the way. A great performance and I’m looking forward to catching another of his gigs one day.
Genzed tore down the place with their incredible hardcore rock moments. PC: Genzed’s Facebook.
Genzed were an unexpected rapidly delightful surprise for the evening - I’d personally never heard of them until Thursday and found out what I was missing out on. They go full force from the get-go and demolish the room with their heavy rock vibes which had a lot of people banging their heads and catching that heavy engagement that bands crave. Genzed take the normal rock music that you hear in other places and put their own epic spin on it, creating this multiverse of differentiation for themselves amongst the NZ music scene. Having this positive energy that spun out into the room, Genzed are a secret that the world needs to hear and sooner, rather than later. The anticipation of song after song kept the height of enjoyment up there and I am stoked to have been able to be there to experience this awesome show they put on. Imagine the wildest party that you’ve been to and times it by five, but in a live show way and that’s what Genzed’s performance was like. Insane.
I cheated a little and took this photo the following night of Hot Sauce Club, but hey, at least there’s some content, right?!
For the finale and the band that the gig was about, it was Dunedin-based Hot Sauce Club, who certainly turned the heat up in the Dux on Thursday night with their wittingly charming tunes and power moves. From the day I first heard Hot Sauce Club, I was immediately hooked onto their outstanding songs and couldn’t wait to finally catch them live. This was the perfect opportunity to head along and see what their live presence was all about. There was no doubt about it, they raised the bar and put on a performance way beyond my highest expectations. Hot Sauce Club have this gentle way of bringing the room to life and making it their own, allowing listeners to be enthralled with everything that is going on around them.
Hot Sauce Club don’t waiver while on stage, allowing everything they have manifest into the performance and there wasn’t a person in that room who didn’t notice that. They could be out there partying hard all day and all night, however, it’s evident that they spend a lot of time working on their music and trying to take it to the next level, the epitome of a work hard, play hard band. For being a smaller-known group, these guys have amassed a good mix of fans of all ages from around the South Island and their growth will likely be expeditious.
Hot Sauce Club slather the stage with their life experiences that are bought alive through Max’s incredibly decent, gruff vocalism, alongside the other elements that you can smoothly Ride Along with. Hot Sauce Club are the gamechangers to look out for - they’ve got this particular sound to them that is just unmissable.
Having organised their Shower Beers tour and put themselves out there to do their first gigs around the South Island shows how much commitment they have to their art, pursuing anything possible to get their name out there to succeed. An admirable move.
It felt effortless to watch Hot Sauce Club perform - they send out this feeling of calmness and spark this heavy excitement, something that I personally love when going to a gig. 100/10, would absolutely recommend seeing these guys live and having a yarn with them. One of the most memorable gigs of 2022 so far. They really nailed both nights of shows in Christchurch and if possible, I am now a bigger fan of theirs than before. Epic.
Big thank you to Colour Thursdays for allowing me to come along and do a review and also to the bands that performed for allowing me to write about them.
Catch the bands below on their socials!
Jam Henderson:
Genzed:
Hot Sauce Club:
Spotify
Instagram
Facebook
Shower Beers Album Review - WTTG
Colour Thursday Gigs: