Some of the ‘Playdates’ practising. Left to right: Lead guitarist Paul Robinson, bass man Colin Clarke, rhythm guitarist Danny Robinson. The others in the group, not shown here, are its leader, saxophonist Dusky Nepia, pianist Heke Kewene, and drummer Ian McKaye. Auckland's Community Centre When Te Ao Hou visited Auckland's Maori Community Centre recently, a couple of hundred people were twisting expertly to a beaty tune from the Playdates, one of Auckland's top bands (see photo above). This was a quiet night; they often have crowds of 500 or more, especially on Fridays, and we only wished that we could have stayed till the next Sunday, when the finals of the £800 Monster Talent Quest packed in an audience of 1,000. Dances at the Centre (which has been going 14 years) started off by being fairly formal affairs, with the men wearing a white collar and tie, and dancing limited to rather decorous waltzes and so on. But when rock'n roll arrived, attendances went down to almost nothing; the management found out that everyone was going instead to a place down the road where lights were dim, the music was real cool and there were no regulations.