Psychedelic jazz and exotica band Carnivorous Plant Society playing their first gig in Whanganui

Carnivorous Plant Society will be the second act to play at Gonville Town Hall. Photo / Steven Acres

Auckland band Carnivorous Plant Society is heading to Whanganui to play an iconic suburban venue.

The four-piece is at the Gonville Town Hall in August for a gig organised by the Sarjeant Gallery.

Band member Alistair Deverick said Whanganui was one of the few places they hadn’t visited yet.

The group, led by creative mastermind Finn Scholes, had been playing together for the past 15 years.

In that time, they have experimented with everything from exotica and world music to psychedelic and jazz.

“We have a complicated relationship with the word ‘jazz’,” Deverick said.

“A lot of people think of it as noodling. We don’t like to think of ourselves as that.”

Former Whanganui Regional Museum director Frank Stark bought the hall, along with the neighbouring swimming pool and fire station, in 2021.

Renowned Whanganui artist Ross Mitchell-Anyon was the previous owner, buying the buildings in 2015.

The complex is now the Gonville Centre for Urban Research.

Stark said he was taking “an exploratory approach” to hosting music events at the moment.

The upcoming show has the capacity to seat up to 220 people.

The Gonville Town Hall during last year's Artists Open Studios. Photo / Lewis Gardner

Acclaimed New Zealand songwriter Don McGlashan will be playing at the hall in September.

“We had our first full-flown gig a few months ago - Tattletale Saints,” Stark said.

“They are just a duo - amplified, but no drummer - and that went really well in every respect. It was a full house and the people there really enjoyed it.”

The Carnivorous Plant Society might be a step up, he said

“There’s more of them and at least one of them plays the drums sometimes.

“The thing about the hall is it’s a great room, but it’s a really lively acoustic space. You don’t want to play too loud anyway because the room does a lot of work for you.”

Deverick said Carnivorous Plant Society mostly played outside of the main centres, thanks to the Arts on Tour organisation.

Its mission statement was to bring the arts to smaller towns, he said.

“We’ve played in places like Ōkārito, where there isn’t even a shop.

“In the end, we knocked on someone’s door and they gave us some soup.”

Gonville Town Hall owner Frank Stark. Photo / Laurel Stowell

Sarjeant on the Quay shut last month in preparation for the re-opening of the Pukenamu Queen’s Park site in 2024.

Director Andrew Clifford said the Gonville Hall event was incredibly important to the Sarjeant as it fulfilled the gallery’s promise to stay connected with the Whanganui community during the period of closure.

“Keeping in touch with the public while we are closed is absolutely paramount,” Clifford said.

“After all, next year the Sarjeant Gallery will re-open at Pukenamu, and we want everyone to come and see us there.

Stark said the hall had live music in a past life.

It was once “the ballroom dancing Mecca” for Whanganui, he said.

“That’s certainly part of its history - its DNA. We just want to bring all those different uses back.

“The music has to suit the physical characteristics of the space.

“Primarily, it’s a mixed-use community space. We have dance groups and exercise groups; we have children’s parties. There’s a whole range of things going on.”

Carnivorous Plant Society plays the Gonville Town Hall on August 10.

The show begins at 7pm.

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.