(Most) fans and bands happy
By
DAVID SWIFT
Although the bones were aching by mid-evening because of the long stand, the rest of the body knew that Sweetwaters was a success.
I don’t like festivals, but the only time I really wanted to leave this one was when the Pretenders had the heavy-rock element of the audience a bit too fired up, and there were the inevitable brief one-to-one fights around me at the front.
It seemed a very big audience at 15,000, and if you and your (ahem) softdrink bottle were in the middle of the mass, there didn’t seem to be room for any more.
But Mr Chris Cole, the promoter, who claimed to have covered costs with 15,000 although his earlier break-even figure was 20,000 would probably have been disappointed at the numbers.
“See you next year” said the giant park scoreboard after Talking Heads had left the stage, but anyone with the slightest knowledge of festival finances will know that there will be some cheque-sweating before a “next year.”
There can be little doubt that the Christchurch event contributed to the downfall of Sweetwaters North. But what could be worse than for three days having to run the risk of theft, dirt, and hunger (for proper food.) Reportedly, 1000 North Islanders thought the better of it too, and came south.
For cost reasons, and considering that the Pukekawa site is a bad investment weather-wise, we may see two events similar to Sweetwaters South, in 1985.
There were few complaints about the performances by the acts at Queen Elizabeth II Park.
Talking Heads, it is accepted, were the highlight. As it turned out, none of the other acts would have been as able to use the darkness as well, so it was right that they were last to play. But on up-to-the-minute popularity, Simple Minds would have run close for the right to headline. But strangely, they came before the Pretenders.
Something was wrong with that order, although the Pretenders had the rock’n’roll fire that festival audiences seem to want above all.
Simple Minds’ effort spared nothing, but I will regard their indoor shows as a better bet for the future. Didn’t Jim Kerr look good! The Joßoxers had a good reception Tor unknowns — one in ten people asking “who are these guys?” —
and they could be back for a tour of our middle-sized establishments. The teenagers in the audience seemed to relish them most, so perhaps their welcome return will be to nonlicensed premises. The two original Pretenders were obviously very unhappy with their set. Martin Chambers often fluffed his drum fills, but his cirpus show with at least
20 sticks (fired into the audience off the drum rims) more than compensated. Chrissie Hynde glared when the two new players, Robbie Mclntosh (guitar) and Malcolm Foster (bass), forgot their backing vocals.
She had to be almost pushed back on stage for the second encore, “Brass in Pocket.” Maybe it. wasn’t “great to be back in New Zealand” after all.
In 1979, Talking Heads played seriously and hardly smiled in the Christchurch Town Hall. But the fuller line-up in 1984 showed why they are so highly regarded by critics around the world. Their set was a party, right down to the water-bombs between band and road crew to celebrate the last' date of their world tour.
It may have been the LAST date. Rumour has it that Talking Heads are ready to split now, after eight years. The scoreboard said “goodbye to the ravers club” while they played. Now, what did that mean?
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