BRANNAVAN GNANALINGAM trawls the music calendar to bring us the month’s best gigs. This September: The Cook Strait Social Club, NZSO plays Wagner, Phony Bone w/ The Wicks, Peneloping and Tommy Ill, Holy Knit Batman, David Kilgour, Battles, Blam Blam Blam.


» The Cook Strait Social Club, nationwide starting Wed Sept 5 (Picton) @ Le Café until Sun; Sept 23 (Kerikeri) @ The Venue Wharepuke
The Cook Strait Social Club is made up of Barry Saunders (the Waratahs), Samuel Flynn Scott (The Phoenix Foundation) and Julia Dean (Fur Patrol), and they will be playing a three hour acoustic show of their solo work. The tour seems to be going everywhere in New Zealand.

» NZSO plays Wagner, Fri Sept 7 @ The Michael Fowler Centre
Putting aside his reprehensible personal politics, Richard Wagner made some of the most compelling and beautiful classical music ever, and was one of the most innovative and revolutionary musicians in history. The NZSO present some of his most famous work including the preludes to Die Meistersinger and Tristan and Isolde and the Overtures from The Flying Dutchman and Tannhaüser, amongst others, and is conducted by Yannick Nézét-Seguin, and features renowned New Zealand soprano Margaret Medlyn.

» Phony Bone w/ The Wicks, Peneloping and Tommy Ill, Sat Sept 8 @ Mighty Mighty
Some of New Zealand’s best young talent play in Wellington on Saturday, and Phony Bone and The Wicks head down from Auckland to build on the buzz they’re creating up there. Phony Bone are also promoting the release of their second EP ‘Big Ideas’.

» Holy Knit Batman knitting circle, Mondays @ The Southern Cross
Knitting is back! Every Mondays the Southern Cross has a knitting circle for new and experienced knitters. Phony Bone are also playing a semi-acoustic show to provide some nice accompaniment. There better be a fire there.

» Napalm Death, Mon Sept 10 (Wgtn) @ San Francisco Bathhouse; Wed Sept 10 (Akld) @ King’s Arms
The legendary British founders of grindcore back in the 80s come down to New Zealand to play what will no doubt be a blistering sonic assault. For the uninitiated grindcore is an intense mix of thrash and hardcore, politics and precision, but for the initiated, you’ve probably got a ticket already.

» David Kilgour, nationwide tour starting Thur Sept 13 (Dun) @ Dunedin Arc Café until Sun; Sept 30 (Russell) @ The Pub
New Zealand legend David Kilgour (The Clean, plus brilliant solo stuff) tours the country, a slightly belated national tour following his early in the year album The Far Now. His tour is mammoth and go through Wanaka, Hokitika, Christchurch, Golden Bay, Wellington, Palmerston North, the Coromandel, Auckland, and Kerikeri too.

»Battles, Fri Sept 21 (Akld) @ King’s Arms; Sat Sept 22 (Wgtn) @ San Francisco Bathhouse
Tickets are selling pretty damn quickly for these shows, as math-rock supergroup (composing members of Helmet, Tomahawk, Don Caballero and Lynx!) tour to promote their wicked album Mirrored. It’s also a chance to see how they use both live and electronic elements to create such brilliant sounds.

» Blam Blam Blam, Sat Sept 29 @ King’s Arms
The legendary New Zealand 70s and 80s band reunite to ensure local media dreg up puns on “There is No Depression in New Zealand” (I was sorely tempted). But this is a chance to see some real New Zealand legends reunite (and all of the original members are involved) to bring back the halcyon days.

Upcoming shows: Indie legend Kristin Hersh (formerly of the Throwing Muses, October), The Gossip (December), Kings of Leon (January) + Big Day Out 2008 – the first announcement should be sometime in October.