
Event noticeboard: A jug band, tiny boats and a baroness
Being an adult can be pretty boring and relentless. The to-do list never abates – the washing gets dirty, more dishes stack up and each week at work brings fresh new horrors. We get stuck in a holding pattern of trying to get through all this muck before rewarding ourselves with actually enjoying life. What has become increasingly apparent to me that the muck is ever-growing and untameable, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life polishing a turd. This weekend, I am boycotting chores, and will instead be trying to be happy.
Elma Turner Library, 27 Halifax Street, Nelson
2pm Saturday, August 2
Free
Writers speak publicly surprisingly often, and it is often surprising good, considering their chosen mode is technically silent. The Nelson Historical Society has asked the authors of a new beautiful book about one of New Zealand's important but overlooked botanical artists, Groundwork: The Art and Writing of Emily Cumming Harris, to speak at the Elma Turner Library on Saturday.
The book was over a decade in the making, and involved the authors Michele Leggott and Catherine Field-Dodgson fossicking around historical archives to read her letters and diaries, and encounter the paintings in the flesh. For Leggott this is not so straight forward – she is blind. And so working together also included Field-Dodgson as a sort of visual audio translator. How did this process result in the shifting ground between biography and imagineered monograph that the book inhabits?
Whangārei
Music: Railway Pie & Emily Joy
ONEONESIX, 116a Bank Street, Whangārei
7pm Friday, August 1
$20
Railway Pie is our only remaining 1960s jug band – yes, one of the instruments is a glass jug.
Leigh
Hear, and feel, a new and long-awaited body of work called 'The Lizard'.
Tāmaki Makaurau
Film: FAM: Film Festival Edition
Karangahape Road, Auckland
2pm Saturday, August 2
Free
K' Road will transform into a living, breathing cinema with films popping up in arcades, alleyways, shopfronts and all kinds of unexpected corners.
A feature-length documentary on a retired cardiac surgeon from New Zealand leading 40 medical missions to Gaza and the West Bank to operate on children with heart disease.
Hamilton
Grey Street Gallery, 718 Grey Street, Hamilton East
9am – 3pm daily, until August 7
Free
Peter Dornauf paints the Waikato and a series of symbolic motifs.
Tauranga
Timaru
Theatre: Hello, Dolly! the Musical
The Playhouse Drama League Inc, 198 Church St, Timaru
Wednesday – Sunday evenings until August 9
$45-$55
A charming story about second chances at love.
Ōtautahi
Workshop: Bookmaking for Beginners
Risingholme Learning, 22 Cholmondeley Ave, Christchurch
10am Saturday, August 2
$110
Learn to make lovely little books!
Lyttelton
Wunderbar, 14 Canterbury Street, Lyttelton
8pm Friday, August 1
$25-$30
Tāmaki Makaurau post-punks Ringlets are celebrating the release of their sophomore album 'The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time for Walkies)'.
The Crown Hotel, 179 Rattray Street, Dunedin
8pm Friday, August 1
$10-$15
If you feel like some alt-indie-rock or alt-punk for your Friday evening.
Cromwell
To me it looks lovely and peaceful; the description, however, says 'as thrilling as the America's Cup.'
Invercargill
Exhibition: Play 4
He Waka Tuia, 2 Kelvin Street, Invercargill
10am – 5pm Monday – Friday, 11am – 2.30pm Saturday – Sunday until August 3
Free
Nine vibrant and interactive zones to ignite creativity, imagination and joy in tamariki (and tamariki at heart). Escape the screens and stress of life.
Arts Murihiku (Whare Taupua), 34 Forth Street, Invercargill
10am – 4pm Tuesday – Saturday until August 31
Free
A powerful art exhibition showcasing creativity, strength and healing journeys.
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The Spinoff
2 days ago
- The Spinoff
Event noticeboard: A jug band, tiny boats and a baroness
The Spinoff's top picks of events from around the motu. Being an adult can be pretty boring and relentless. The to-do list never abates – the washing gets dirty, more dishes stack up and each week at work brings fresh new horrors. We get stuck in a holding pattern of trying to get through all this muck before rewarding ourselves with actually enjoying life. What has become increasingly apparent to me that the muck is ever-growing and untameable, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life polishing a turd. This weekend, I am boycotting chores, and will instead be trying to be happy. Elma Turner Library, 27 Halifax Street, Nelson 2pm Saturday, August 2 Free Writers speak publicly surprisingly often, and it is often surprising good, considering their chosen mode is technically silent. The Nelson Historical Society has asked the authors of a new beautiful book about one of New Zealand's important but overlooked botanical artists, Groundwork: The Art and Writing of Emily Cumming Harris, to speak at the Elma Turner Library on Saturday. The book was over a decade in the making, and involved the authors Michele Leggott and Catherine Field-Dodgson fossicking around historical archives to read her letters and diaries, and encounter the paintings in the flesh. For Leggott this is not so straight forward – she is blind. And so working together also included Field-Dodgson as a sort of visual audio translator. How did this process result in the shifting ground between biography and imagineered monograph that the book inhabits? Whangārei Music: Railway Pie & Emily Joy ONEONESIX, 116a Bank Street, Whangārei 7pm Friday, August 1 $20 Railway Pie is our only remaining 1960s jug band – yes, one of the instruments is a glass jug. Leigh Hear, and feel, a new and long-awaited body of work called 'The Lizard'. Tāmaki Makaurau Film: FAM: Film Festival Edition Karangahape Road, Auckland 2pm Saturday, August 2 Free K' Road will transform into a living, breathing cinema with films popping up in arcades, alleyways, shopfronts and all kinds of unexpected corners. A feature-length documentary on a retired cardiac surgeon from New Zealand leading 40 medical missions to Gaza and the West Bank to operate on children with heart disease. Hamilton Grey Street Gallery, 718 Grey Street, Hamilton East 9am – 3pm daily, until August 7 Free Peter Dornauf paints the Waikato and a series of symbolic motifs. Tauranga Timaru Theatre: Hello, Dolly! the Musical The Playhouse Drama League Inc, 198 Church St, Timaru Wednesday – Sunday evenings until August 9 $45-$55 A charming story about second chances at love. Ōtautahi Workshop: Bookmaking for Beginners Risingholme Learning, 22 Cholmondeley Ave, Christchurch 10am Saturday, August 2 $110 Learn to make lovely little books! Lyttelton Wunderbar, 14 Canterbury Street, Lyttelton 8pm Friday, August 1 $25-$30 Tāmaki Makaurau post-punks Ringlets are celebrating the release of their sophomore album 'The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time for Walkies)'. The Crown Hotel, 179 Rattray Street, Dunedin 8pm Friday, August 1 $10-$15 If you feel like some alt-indie-rock or alt-punk for your Friday evening. Cromwell To me it looks lovely and peaceful; the description, however, says 'as thrilling as the America's Cup.' Invercargill Exhibition: Play 4 He Waka Tuia, 2 Kelvin Street, Invercargill 10am – 5pm Monday – Friday, 11am – 2.30pm Saturday – Sunday until August 3 Free Nine vibrant and interactive zones to ignite creativity, imagination and joy in tamariki (and tamariki at heart). Escape the screens and stress of life. Arts Murihiku (Whare Taupua), 34 Forth Street, Invercargill 10am – 4pm Tuesday – Saturday until August 31 Free A powerful art exhibition showcasing creativity, strength and healing journeys.


Scoop
24-07-2025
- Scoop
OUT NOW: Soft Bait 'Life Advice' Plus Video For Album Track 'Sooner'
Today, Tāmaki Makaurau four-piece Soft Bait release their sophomore album, Life Advice, out now via Flying Nun Records. In support, the band have also announced a release tour of Aotearoa - with shows in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Tāmaki Makaurau, Ōtautahi and Ōtepoti. Soft Bait have been producing off-centre post-punk since their formation in 2020, only sharpening their output since the release of Plot Points - their debut LP released in 2022. Barrelling forward with restless momentum, new album Life Advice is sharp, hook-heavy rock - locomotive bass-lines and live-wire energy fused with musings of online weirdness, distinct Kiwi-isms, and wider reflections on the quiet rituals we fall into, or inherit, without releasing. Life Advice is available worldwide digitally and on vinyl, Standard Silver or on Limited Edition Flying Nun Black. Along with the release and announcement of a nationwide tour, Soft Bait also share a new music video for album focus-track and uneasy-anthem ' Sooner ' where they trade speed for sway; steady, and suspicious. ' Bring in the good news' sings front-man Joshua Hunter - a final manifestation in the face of collective unrest and collapse Life Advice lands like well-meaning wisdom from a mate you definitely shouldn't be taking advice from - half true, half twisted, but still ringing in your ears the next day. The first single, ' New Leaf ' dropped on May 22, followed by ' Long Line ' on July 3rd - both picking up momentum locally and worldwide, with streaming numbers reaching a new height for the band and play on BBC Radio 6. For fans of Viagra Boys, Squid, Warmduscher, and Yard Act, Soft Bait deliver a raw, unfiltered take on the post-punk genre, grounded in Kiwi culture and the peculiarities of everyday life. Soft Bait are Joshua Hunter, Patrick Hickley, Keria Paterson and Cameron Mackintosh. Their debut album, ' Plot Points' (2022), introduced a sound that blends gothic post-punk with personal, powerful vocals. The album's singles, Big' and ' True Stories ', topped SRN radio charts, and their live shows have been described as "exhilarating, raucous, lively, punky, and so much fun." Now part of the Flying Nun Records family, Soft Bait have now released their sophomore album, 'Life Advice'. A sharp, hook-heavy record with chugging bass lines, restless energy, and tightly wound turns. The songs dig into online weirdness, Kiwi archetypes, and the quiet rituals we fall into without realising. Lyrically, it's full of lines that land like overheard wisdom from a mate you probably shouldn't be taking advice from — half true, half twisted, and still ringing in your ears the next day.


Scoop
24-07-2025
- Scoop
Soft Bait Release New Album 'Life Advice' + Announce Album Release Tour
Today, Tāmaki Makaurau four-piece Soft Bait release their sophomore album, Life Advice, out now via Flying Nun Records. In support, the band have also announced a release tour of Aotearoa - with shows in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Tāmaki Makaurau, Ōtautahi and Ōtepoti. Soft Bait have been producing off-centre post-punk since their formation in 2020, only sharpening their output since the release of Plot Points - their debut LP released in 2022. Barrelling forward with restless momentum, new album Life Advice is sharp, hook-heavy rock - locomotive bass-lines and live-wire energy fused with musings of online weirdness, distinct Kiwi-isms, and wider reflections on the quiet rituals we fall into, or inherit, without releasing. Along with the release and announcement of a nationwide tour, Soft Bait also share a new music video for album focus-track and uneasy-anthem 'Sooner' where they trade speed for sway; steady, and suspicious. ' Bring in the good news' sings front-man Joshua Hunter - a final manifestation in the face of collective unrest and collapse Life Advice lands like well-meaning wisdom from a mate you definitely shouldn't be taking advice from - half true, half twisted, but still ringing in your ears the next day. The first single, 'New Leaf' dropped on May 22, followed by 'Long Line' on July 3rd - both picking up momentum locally and worldwide, with streaming numbers reaching a new height for the band and play on BBC Radio 6. For fans of Viagra Boys, Squid, Warmduscher, and Yard Act, Soft Bait deliver a raw, unfiltered take on the post-punk genre, grounded in Kiwi culture and the peculiarities of everyday life. Friday 12 September Meow, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Saturday 20 September Double Whammy, Tāmaki Makaurau Friday 26 September Darkroom, Ōtautahi Saturday 27 September The Crown, Ōtepoti TICKETS ON SALE NOW Life Advice is available worldwide digitally and on vinyl, Standard Silver or on Limited Edition Flying Nun Black. Order here. ABOUT Soft Bait: Soft Bait are a four-piece from Tāmaki Makaurau making pointed, off-centre post-punk that barrels forward with restless momentum. Since forming in 2020, they've built a reputation off the back of their electric live shows, sharp lyricism, and a knack for turning everyday absurdities and half-remembered pop culture into something worth shouting about. Their debut album, Plot Points (2022), introduced a sound that blends gothic post-punk with personal, powerful vocals. The album's singles, 'Big' and 'True Stories,' topped SRN radio charts in New Zealand, and their live shows have been described as "exhilarating, raucous, lively, punky, and so much fun." Soft Bait is Joshua Hunter, Cameron Mackintosh, Keria Paterson and Patrick Hickley. Soft Bait - Life Advice Tracklisting 01. Highly Recommended 02. New Leaf 03. TNT 04. Long Line 05. Neighbourhood 06. Oh Well 07. Applause 08. Safe As Houses 09. Talk Too Much 10. Sooner