With Warble, Shocking and Stunning Statement and Ruffians
At Otautahi Social Centre, September 19th 2008
Good show that.
Great crowd celebrating the return of Wellington’s Thought Creature and put on by Christchurch’s own self-professed world’s biggest Thought Creature fan Eamonn Marra.
His Smoke-Free Rock Quest finalist band Warble played an uncharacteristically messy set following up promising performances from newcomer duo’s the Shocking and Stunning Statement (who have a phenomenal drummer and display jazzy touches) and Ruffians (who were an MP3-backed noise-rock outfit).
thebigcity.co.nz (brief) review – September 2008
This show was promoted under the Red Panda banner – Red Panda was a volunteer organisation (that both Eamonn and myself were part of) that organised all-ages shows in community or open-use spaces for several years prior to the Canterbury Earthquakes.
Eventually Red Panda made quite a bit of a name for itself for hosting good quality shows with a real mix of up and coming and established New Zealand independent acts – so much so that A Low Hum often reached out to assist with their all-ages matinee shows.
Eamonn would go on to become a successful stand-up comedian and author – basing his material on his struggles with anxiety and depression. His comedy shows were a very meta-experience – watching him physically struggle with performance anxiety. His novel ‘2000ft Above Worry Level‘ was longlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
The young musicians performing that day were notable, too. Warble‘s keyboardist was the still-High School aged Valentine Nixon; who would go on to find fame with her sister Clementine in Purple Pilgrims (and now Clementine Valentine). The guitarist in both Warble and Shocking and Stunning Statement was Jack Hooker – who’s gone one to have quite a successful career as a composer, guitarist and electronic musician, touring the world and playing a variety of different music styles.
Otautahi Social Centre survived as a welcoming all-ages community space until the Canterbury Earthquakes of 2010 – 2011. After that it went through some extensive repairs and eventually re-opened as Kreation Milk Bar and then later the retro-game lounge Arcadia – which is still operating now (as of 2023).
Click here for the photoset.