STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER

Rip It Up, Issue 201, 1 May 1994, Page 8

STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER

Where does John Russell get off? He comes across as a power tripping, self-centred ego maniac who has nothing positive to say about rock at all. Why not just give him all the hip-hop, rap, urban and Pacific music to review and leave the rock jobs to someone not quite so narcissistic with an ounce of credibility. We’re not all into mobeat house music. I couldn’t believe his coverage (?) of Strawberry Fields. I don’t give a toss about his friend’s four word expletives. I want to know what the bands were like. For a start, did the Friday night of S. Fields not happen? Myself and 15,000 other rock enthusiasts had a great time and saw none of the scuffles, heavy vibes and aggro that made up his introduction to the festival. All we saw was party-raging good times and a lot of people getting off on some top NZ bands. But they were totally ignored by RIU. Why couldn’t you send someone to check out Herbs, Shihad, HLAH, Pumpkinhead (awesome!) and the band that stole the show, Blackjack. It was pretty obvious from the crowd that a lot of people had come to see them and they went off — I’ve never seen a NZ band that explosive and you guys missed it. My friends and I missed Saturday night so I was keen to read about it. Bad luck! All I got was the negative

opinions of some pleb who probably resented the whole show ‘cos it wasn’t in Auckland. Shame that the professionalism of your mag is compromised by the opinionated fourth form writing style of John Russell. You need someone a bit more credible, honest, positive and constructive. Don’t make the mistake of ignoring or belittling serious rock fans by your coverage of NZ’s staunch rock bands. I just hope John Russell didn’t put too many people off the whole S. Fields buzz. All we need is an excuse for apathy in this country. Think about it. In retrospect I guess it's just as well J. Russell didn’t review Blackjack. It probably would have read “ . . . anthemic power rock for Knightshade fans about dime a dozen fast rock chicks with FM boots Get real RIU. Do yourself a favour John Russell and make a little effort to hide your ignorance. A PISSED OFF REAL ROCK FAN Waikato Editor replies: John Russell didn't review Friday night because he wasn't there. After reviewing Mountain Rock and Big Day Out we 'd already reviewed many of the bands on Friday night’s line-up too often. So we went to Peter Gabriel Friday in Auckland and to Strawberry Fields on Saturday.