When James and I first met, he mentioned that he was going to a few gigs down in Christchurch and Dunedin (Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath). I said that it sounded very cool and he asked if I wanted to come along too (I think he thought I was more into heavy metal than I am). Obviously I said yes.
So that is how I ended up flying to Christchurch and Dunedin to see two heavy metal bands that I’d never really listened too…
FRIDAY
We left Wellington on the Friday afternoon, flying at 4.15pm to Christchurch and getting the bus into the city to stay in the YHA there. It was a super easy journey into Christchurch as there are regular busses right into the city from the airport. We got to the hostel easily and then made our way to the gig via a random food market that we stumbled upon on Cathedral Square.
Upon arriving at the gig, I was interested to note how unlike the image in my head the people attending were; I thought that everyone would be in double denim or be wearing leather jackets and have mullets or something. In reality most of the people there just looked like my dad (wearing chinos, shirt and smart jumper)!
There were also quite a lot of younger people there.
As we stood in waiting for the gig to start, I wasn’t sure what to expect; would everyone kick off as soon as the music started or would they be jumping around like gigs I’d been to previously (Marilyn Manson, Something Corporate, Yellowcard, Bowling for Soup, McFly, Slipknot and Placebo).
In actuality the whole place began to buzz when they began to play and it was really great! I didn’t know many of the songs, but I did know a few of them, and the ones that I did know I sang along to! I was impressed at the energy of the entire band; the guitarists were charging all over the place, the singer was the same and he never lost a note! Mostly I was in awe of the drummer, he was constantly smiling and apparently uses only one foot pedal where other drummers use two, and this means that he has double the work to do…
After the gig we headed back to the hostel and fell asleep in one of the two single beds in the room…yes we had managed to book a twin room rather than a double. Never mind, it was actually quite comfy. I like snuggling…
SATURDAY
In the morning we headed to the Jucy car rental centre at the airport so that we could begin our mega-drive to Dunedin. It was a LONG queue. Once we eventually got our car (a Fiat Punto with tiptronic gears), we headed for breakfast in a really cute café and then headed along the highway. Along the way we found the Aoraki boulders, Omaru and its ‘steampunk’ quarter and also ‘Shag Point’ lol.
After a good six hours of driving, we got into Dunedin and to our Air BnB place; it was lovely, a family home with a cute little deck out front and chickens! When we first arrived the family weren’t in, so we dumped our bags and got ready for the gig, heading out for food before driving to the venue.
Black Sabbath were good and the audience were a lot more ‘metal’. Everyone in sight was wearing leather of some description and I’ve never seen so many mullets! It really was ‘Bogan’. The band itself was really good, with a fierce energy; however, Ozzy has clearly had his day. He didn’t seem to hit a note all evening and his timing was out. Nevertheless, we had a great time.
SUNDAY
The next day we spent our time discovering Dunedin. It was lovely!
We drove into town and ate breakfast and then spent most of the day just ambling about; we walked around the city center and then we walked around the Otago Settlers Museum (which was really, really interesting), we drove to the steepest street in the world and we just generally had a lovely time.
Powered By Fondant Fancy 