MUSICAL ENDURANCE

Rip It Up, Issue 175, 1 February 1992, Page 8

MUSICAL ENDURANCE

I recently attended a blues performance at the Arena nightclub, Aranui, by the Midge Marsden Band and a guest from the United States, bluesman Tennesee Willie Foster. . Along evening waitin a Christchurch easterly to gain admission set the scene for what was to become a night's endurance of marathon proportions. | believe there were some 700 patrons jammed into the venue. | experienced the lighting to be visually violent, there was inadequate ventilation, and the amplification of the music, both taped and live, was excessively loud. Reasonable conversation wih my campanions while we waited for the live music was impossible, against a barrage of taped music which was murky and distorted. A drink from the bars required a long wait in the queue. There was no attempt by organisers to indicate

starting times or schedules. : My friends left — | stayed on to eventually see Midge Marsden and band appear some two and a half hours after | had first arrived at the Arena. Again | experienced the music to be over-amplified, and the venue to be oppresively hot and overcrowded. The skills and warmth of Tennesee Willie Foster could not compel me to stay, and | left in the early hours of the moming before the gig was completed. I sincerely hope that as we move through the 19905, promoters, organisers and artists alike can leave behind the outdated and dismal concept of the overcrowded, beer-soaked, smoke-filled venue. It simply does not do justice to the quality of the music offered. Yours sincerely ROBIN ANKER EDITOR: Amen!