#22 Audrey's Dance and Boycrush, Golden Dawn

5 January 2018

So Tristan, the drummer from Blackbird Ensemble who I met at the Carnivorous Plant Society gig, recommended that I try out Audrey's Dance. They're a synth pop group inspired by Kraftwerk, and includes Finn Scholes and Cass Basil, who I've now seen in four different acts each. I'm really enjoying the cross-fertilisation that is so apparent across Auckland's band scene, everyone seems to have each other's back.

Having seen them at a few shows now, Finn and Cass are a study in contrasts. In his own vehicles, Finn plays the multi talented lead to perfection, alternating within each song between trumpet, keyboard and glockenspiel, telling stories and taking the crowd to a grand night out. Cass, at every show I've seen her in, is the rock, the one in the group who radiates a calm 'I've got this', and all the while grooving to every track and keeping everything in her own state of grace.

Boycrush is the vehicle of Alistair Deverick, who drums with CPS and produced their latest album. Where Audrey's Dance offers a complex and diverse array of songs, Boycrush is totally at the pop end of the indie spectrum. His songs, with alternating lead vocalists,  bring out the dance party goers, who bop away to every track. Chelsea Jade in particular brought massive energy to the show, matching Finn with a bar top solo.

One of the cool things about the age we're in is that so many musical styles have a place, and in a place like Auckland it's easy to find pretty much any of them.