Local artists pick their favourite shows at the St James

NZ Herald

1 May, 2015 03:00 AM4 mins to read

The St James Theatre in Auckland has hosted to many memorable gigs.

In honour of the St James re-opening for a celebratory festival called Weird Night Out this weekend, we asked some of the participating musicians for their favourite memories of the iconic venue.

MC Slave aka Mark Williams

1987 was my first visit to the St James. I was still at high school. I'd been to see a movie in the theatre next door and when it had finished the St James entrance was full of people, all very well dressed (in a "Gloss" sort of way), making their way to the foyer. I followed in to see what the commotion was all about, only to realise Miles Davis was playing on his Tutu album tour. People were filing in to the theatre and I heard the band start. As the crowd went through the doors, I kept jumping and looking to sneak a peak of Miles, who hadn't made it on stage yet. I waited until the last people entered.

Then an usher saw me trying to have a look and approached me.

James Brown's performance at the St James Theatre in 2004 is a golden memory for MC Slave, who'll be hosting the Weird Night Out celebration, at the St James this Saturday.

He said , "You want to see Miles?" I said "Hell yes!" and he pointed me to the stairs: "Head to the door upstairs on the left." So I did! I'd like to thank that usher where ever you may be for hooking up a young man and treating me to a night of power funk-jazz! Forever grateful!

But it's hard to pick one best gig. Miles was awesome, Sly & Robbie, Gangstarr were great. The Fat Freddy's Drop B.O.A.T.S album release show was great. The Roots, The White Stripes, and Kanye West were all pretty good. But it's hard to go past James Brown! When he did his soul numbers I might as well have been at the Apollo Theatre! So it's St James at the St James for the win!

P-Money

It's really hard to pick just one great gig at the St James! Opening for De La Soul with Scribe was a great one, the numerous dance parties and raves, the Damian Marley tour. The list goes on and on! But I think if I have to pick one it was Kanye West's first New Zealand show there in 2007.

Kanye West performed one of his earliest New Zealand shows at the St James.

It was after his Late Registration album and before his break out third album Graduation smashed the charts and made him a bonafide pop star. I recall the lighting design being very well curated and the additional musicians on stage (featuring a locally sourced string quartet) definitely set him apart from popular touring rap acts at the time. The St James has a regal feeling to it. Very fitting for the heir to the Hip-Hop throne at that time.

High Hoops aka Jordan Arts

For me, it's Jurassic 5 in 2007. I was massive J5 fan from their track Jayou which had been turning up on few ESPN X-Game features when I was in my early teens, and would smash their Quality Control record. They really smashed the joint when they came to the St James. I also went to a few foggy laser beamed house shows there too, and the vibe and charm of the venue is on a different level to anything else in New Zealand.

Nick Dwyer, Weird Together band leader

Nick Dwyer and Dick Johnson as Weird Together

I was lucky enough to witness so many special performances at the St James from Damian Marley to The Rapture, I even have fond memories of taking my mum to see St Germaine there. But the one gig that stands out the most was the first time I played there with Roni Size.

It was 2001, I was twenty and was very much living and breathing drum 'n' bass at that stage in my life. Roni Size was one of the biggest names in drum 'n' bass at the time, thanks to the crossover success he'd achieved with winning the Mercury Prize for the Reprazent album New Forms. It was the first time that a drum 'n' bass gig had been outside of a club in Auckland and I was asked to do the warm-up set for him. Being on that stage looking out over that crowd was one of the most incredible moments of my DJ career.

Image 1 of 24: Jack White of the White Stripes rocks the St James, 07 October 2003. Photo / Richard Robinson

• A Weird Night Out is at the St James this Saturday May 2 from 8pm. The line-up includes Weird Together, The Peacekeepers, P-Money, High Hoops, Thomston, Race Banyon, Kamandi, and the whole event will be hosted by MC Slave. Tickets are available through iticket.co.nz.