The first Friday of the month is club night at the Whanganui Musicians Club, and Friday, February 4, is the first of 2022. These are challenging times for live music performance everywhere, and we are fortunate to be able to meet together once again to support the music and connect with each other.
This will be a regular club night, with an open-mic session kicking off at 7pm. Upcoming as well as established bands and musicians are encouraged to come along, put their names on the board and play a few songs for an always-supportive audience.
This month there are two featured bands. Craig Cawley makes his long-awaited return to the stage with the Gatshack Project. The band have been rehearsing some popular classics, with songs by names like Pink Floyd, Duran Duran and the Eagles. Joining Craig on guitar is Shane Flynn, with Uriah Wallace on drums and Stu Duncan on Bass – all local musos!
The second band performing, Bad Hagrid, are based in Wellington, but they have not forgotten where they come from. In their promotional material, they describe themselves as an "alternative-progressive-regressive-banana-brained-ankle-sprained-hipster-sister-psychedelic-synth-rock 4-piece comprised of Whanganuians Te Paerata Tichbon, Finn Mitchell-Anyon and Shay Wright, alongside non-Whanganuian Hakopa Kuka-Larsen".
These young musicians have been busy touring the country during summer, and look forward to coming to play for the home crowd.
The Whanganui Musicians Club is well accustomed to meeting within government guidelines as we are all committed to protecting our community from the virus that threatens our community. At the time of writing, we are sitting at the red traffic light. This allows us to gather in a group of up to 100 people, with vaccine passports and face masks. If the alert level remains the same, the club night will be on!
• Friday, February 4, Top of Drews Ave from 7pm. General admission $15. Members $10.
