We dusted off the blanket fort again, Great North played in the library and it was really great. The wonderful Amanda Radcliffe from amandashootsbands.com showed up to document the night and here's one of her shots of a beautiful audience enjoying the band.

Massive thanks to Hayden, Rachel and Dale from Great North for making the time to play this show. You should really consider checking out their Tui award winning record Halves at the Great North bandcamp site where it's available to download at the very modest price of $10 or $25 as a CD. It's a pretty fantastic alt-country record and if you like anything in the realm of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Okkervil River, Dr Dog or Ryan Adams it's well worth your time.

If you missed it then check out this video below of part of their library performance for the next best thing, or come along to see Panther and The Zoo performing in the library this Friday.

Well, the holiday season is almost over. For many it was an early start back to work, trying to face a computer screen again while wondering where the time and sun had gone, and where summer really was.

Rhythm & Vines, Coro Gold and High Life persevered through the storms as Warehouses around the country were emptied of gumboots and ponchos. It was a sure reminder that we are a Pacific island, and camping at the beach through January cyclones is a way of life.

Yesterday was Big Day Out in Auckland, and the weather looked ok out there. It will probably be the last. Though that has been said before, it seems a number of factors are sealing Big Day Out’s fate. Laneway, coming up on Auckland Anniversary Day, offers a more refreshing variety of new local and international acts, as well as Splore later in February, which features Erykah Badu. Not to mention the plethora of independent shows coming through over the next few months: Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle...

So, to celebrate the strange humid summer we’ve had so far, here’s a New Orleans song by John Hiatt: