Gig Review: The Friday Mixtape: Volume 3, 24/6/2022
A very fun night at Cassette Nine, Auckland, for The Friday Mixtape, Vol. 3! Image credit: The Friday Mixtape event page on Facebook.
This past weekend, I had an invitation to go up to Auckland to check out The Friday Mixtape, which is a bi-monthly event fuelled by powerful New Zealand musicians who play at the awesome venue that is Cassette Nine in the CBD.
The weather outside may have been frightful, however, the rowdiness from the bands inside those doors and up those stairs was not.
Cunk.
Starting out the evening was Cunk who bought in the hard electronic-dance infused music that got the venue up and pumping, allowing their tunes to pervade into Vulcan Lane, attracting more people to purchase a ticket. Cunk were focused on the task at hand: making sure they sent out their electric energy to the crowd in which, they were able to succeed. During their set, I noticed that the keyboardist had some major enthusiasm, thoroughly enjoying himself on the stage and being present within the moment. Cunk perform uniquely different music to what I tend to listen to, however, they were such a great opening act for the evening. Cunk’s fourth song of the evening was very rock and roll, a funky touch to their set. The lead singer had quite a strong vocal range, which was impressive. At one point, I could even liken his strength in voice to Shaan Singh from Drax Project - an indefinite compliment. Cunk bring the funk, there is absolutely no doubt about it. Highly enjoyed their performance.
Kin-Kachow.
Next up, we had Kin-Kachow who could easily be picked up by those who are into their heavy rock music, they truly suit the genres that they played at the gig. I wouldn’t say that they play metal by any means, but it definitely got your hearing perked up. Kin-Kachow vibrated the entire place and they were the epitome of allurement. If it’s your style, these guys would go perfectly well with a beer or two. What I liked about Kin-Kachow is that they were able to move from genre to genre with no trouble at all. From their beginning tunes of hard rock to soft and slow for a moment, they bring that absolute banging energy. The animation of the bass player jumping around on his side of the stage and the true amount of pure joy on his face when performing made this set even more enjoyable, along with the voluminous beats from the rest of the band. You have got to be keeping up with Kin-Kachow, otherwise you will blink and miss something extraordinary from them.
Violet Highway.
Violet Highway were the third act of the evening and let me tell you, they drew the crowd right into the immediate vicinity of the stage, with some big fans who had shown up and were singing, dancing and just having a genuinely great time. Violet Highway put on one hell of a show, they showcased the brightest of upbeat tunes with their punk-rock attitudes and smooth sailing styles. They covered Franz Ferdinand’s Take Me Out and that was an absolute highlight of the evening in which you could tell that everyone appreciated that moment in time. A mix of grungy vocals with hard hitting drums and bass that could be heard throughout set fire to the stage, for sure. During their song Sick of Waiting, Violet Highway had an audience member play the tambourine, which is always an indulging moment being in the front row and watching this fan be able to partake in the band, even just for a moment. All around, an exceptionally vibing live show from these three very skilful musicians. I’m very sad to see that they are disbanding with Jacqui moving to Canada shortly as Violet Highway really pull through in terms of heating up the environment that they play in.
Ant Tarrant.
Last, but not least, was Ant Tarrant. Ant and his band know how to fight off those Sunday scaries on a Friday, or rather, if it wasn’t a public holiday, it would have been a great set to be able to wind down to after a long day of working. While Ant’s performance held more subdued tunes to start with, the show aptly picked up throughout the time given on stage and the creativity from Ant and his band was unbelievably fun. Being able to think up lyrics on the spot so easily was impressive - the fact that he could just come up with these hilariously great songs within seconds really showcased something different to normal gigs. Ant has a super refreshing type of sound to bring to the New Zealand music scene and that certainly does not go unnoticed. I was really impressed with the performance and had a fun time grooving along to his mammoth tunes.
The Friday Mixtape all in all, was worth flying up from Christchurch to experience - I had a lot of fun getting to see new bands live and be within their incredibly brilliant presence.
All photos taken from the gig were shot by me on the Sony A6000.
You can follow along with all of the bands below:
Cunk:
Kin-Kachow:
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Violet Highway:
Spotify
Instagram
Facebook
Sick of Waiting Review - WTTG
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Ant Tarrant: