Bionicmanenator

I have just been to see Hexstatic live at the Dux de Lux this evening.

They were awesome. Everything I expected them to be. Brilliant old school mash-ups, funky dancy beats and deep soulful downbeat grooves. They are the masters of VJ beat-mixing par excellence. Their mash of Kriss Kross' Jump with House of Pain's Jump Around was masterful and their breakbeat mix of Led Zepplin's Whole Lotta Love was truly inspired...

HOWEVER...
(and it's a biiiiig HOWEVER)

I have GOT to make some noise here about the waaaaay too short gig, caused by the early Sunday closing time at the Dux.

Honestly, if the organisers of this gig had known the closing time restriction from the start, surely they would have realised that this would have been the wrong venue to host these guys, whose visual style needs to be seen in decent darkness for the style of visual/cinematic madness they create and therefore enough time deep into the night, as well as a decent venue, should have been allowed for them to play a full gig .

I realise that the event was based around more then just the gig (it started at about 5.30, with general DJs and brewskis a-flowin'), but for those of us who were only able to make it for the main act itself (damn working weekends!!!) which started at about twilight it was a bit unsatisfying to only have the main act onstage for little over an hour.

I find it extremely disrespectful to Hexstatic, who I consider to be pioneers in their particular area of electronica (hell, they held Ninja Tune together in the early years!!!), to cut them short by giving us such a bite-sized show...

Surely the bar could have foregone its (extremely narrow-minded) closing time of 10.30pm (gosh!!! what an un-godly hour!!!) and kept things running maybe another hour-&-a- half or so. That would have kept us all from feeling a bit cheated.

I don't mind shelling out $20 to see them, I just hope most of my cash goes to the "band" rather than lining the pockets of the bar or the un-insightful organisers of this event...

This kind of middle-of-the-road, conservative, cash-cowing of audiences like this is pretty typical for Christchurch, and is another nail in the big "fuck you" coffin of reasons I am finding to find a new home city...

I hope everyone who is heading to Splore in Auckland next weekend enjoys what should be a much better set from them... the little that we were treated to down here looked to be leading into something quite deep, mind-bending and groovy - they are just as good as ever.

(I am listening to my copy of their single Timber - which was conspicuous by its absense - as I write this, to try and make up for the disapointment... it would be nice to have had some new visuals for it though!!!)