Archive for October, 2007

By Hon Judith Tizard, Associate Minister for Arts, Culture, and Heritage

In the last week I’ve been a part of two amazingly good cultural performances. Both events drew crowds of ordinary New Zealanders to watch groups of extraordinary New Zealanders push themselves to deliver truly extraordinary performances.

The first event involved a small crowd gathering in Auckland’s Maidment Theatre, dressed in layers of ubiquitous designer merino and more than a few stunning frocks. Anything flash really.

The occasion was an extraordinary performance by Touch Compass, to mark their being part of our cultural landscape for ten years now. Like many of our cultural institutions – one or two aging rockers aside – Touch Compass is clearly getting better with age. The fascinating thing about Touch Compass is that they are a dance troupe whose stars, nine in the latest performance, are performing despite a range of mental and physical disabilities. But you’re quickly spirited beyond this. They’re that good.

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By Patrick Whatman, Wellington music aficionado

Friday the 21st of September saw me heading out to Wellington’s San Francisco Bathhouse for a show that I had been anticipating for some time. OdESSA were celebrating the launch of their new album The Prize with what can only be described as a party, fiesta or indeed bonanza.

As a rabid OdESSA fan, impartiality may not be my strong-suit, but who cares?

The show kicked off with The Thomas Oliver Band, a three-piece who perform interesting blues-rock, if owing quite a lot to Dave Matthews and Ben Harper. I arrived a little late, and only caught the end of their set, but it seemed that the crowd had sure enjoyed it. By the time they had finished, there was little keeping the masses contained.

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