Brannavan Gnanalingam picks the best upcoming gigs:

» Batrider with Birth Glow, February 2, San Francisco Bathhouse
Ex-Wellingtonians, now Melbournians, Batrider return for a couple of incendiary live-performances. They were excellent before they left these shores, so you can only imagine what they’ll be like with a couple of years of heavy playing. If you aren’t going to Camp A Low Hum, which you’d be crazy not to (where Batrider and Aussie band Birth Glow are playing according to their myspace pages), then you should definitely check them out here.

» The Handsome Family with the Moon Whisperers, February 7, San Francisco Bathhouse
Their 2005 Wellington concert was excellent, the husband and wife pairing behind the Handsome Family sing darker than dark country songs and have a fantastically funny rapport on-stage. This will be a very entertaining and enjoyable gig.

Joanna Newsom & Bill Callahan, February 11, San Francisco Bathhouse
A bargain concert if ever there was one – each would be worth the ticket price alone. Joanna Newsom and Callahan (formerly known as Smog) return after playing here in 2005. Newsom, the precocious banshee-sounding harp-playing genius behind The Milk-Eyed Mender and Ys and her partner Callahan (hopefully without the sound issues this time), who has released countless excellent records for years, team up to continue New Zealand’s great run of country/folk artists in recent months.

David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights, February 15, San Francisco Bathhouse
NZ legend Kilgour (whose greatest claim to fame, the Clean, are also touring in March) has released a string of excellent alt-countryish records, which have garnered him praise from overseas and at home. His new album, The Far Now, should be released pretty soon, and will surely help solidify his status as a New Zealand legend.

Calexico with the Phoenix Foundation, February 21, San Francisco Bathhouse
This is another not-to-be-missed gig. Tex-Mex/alt-country legends Calexico played an astonishing performance in December 2003, and return for another sure-to-be classic gig. The opening band, the Phoenix Foundation aren’t too bad either.

Also gig to go on a roadie for: Jurassic 5, February 16, St. James Auckland. Gigs to remember coming up soon: Camera Obscura, The Lemonheads, the Clean.

Bats Theatre
Jan 11-Feb 3 | Reviewed by Diane Spodarek

NOT JUST another dysfunctional family story His Mother’s Son is a powerful theatrical experience of the consequences of a father’s drinking. And it’s funny. We laugh because the acting is so good, the direction is unpredictable and multi layered, and the story is true to life. A well-crafted and clever set design by Peter King provides changing locations for past, present and future scenarios with a fast-paced, tight direction by Katrina Chandra. We witness this family’s history: the first flirtation of the mother and father; the birth of a wanted son; the son doing his homework in his room and later drinking there; mother and son moments; and father and son confrontations with other domestic events in this family of three.

Downstage
Jan 18-Feb 3 | Reviewed by Diane Spodarek

SOLO performances are amazing theatre. Female solo performers can be traced back to Ruth Draper who perfected the art with her various women characters. Draper was born in 1884 in New York, a few years before Katherine Mansfield’s birth of 1888. Draper devoted her acting career to the monologue, writing them herself and touring all over the world. She died in 1950 hours after a solo performance in New York.

Bats Theatre
Jan 11-20 | Reviewed by Diane Spodarek

Iris. What does the title mean? Since programme notes were not available, I can only speculate. What is in a name? Is it the flower? Or, the membrane around the pupil of the eye? Iris the messenger of the gods from Iliad? The device on a camera that allows in light to form an aperture? Or, is Iris a woman?

San Francisco Bathhouse
January 7 | Reviewed by Brannavan Gnanalingam

SAN FRAN was hipper and younger than usual, with a reasonably full crowd waiting to hear the hyped up Brazilian group Cansei de Ser Sexy in action. Despite the ticket saying it’s an early show (clearly a ploy to get us drinking), things did not get under way for a while when So So Modern kicked things off. Their screaming teenage girl fanbase made their voices heard even before a drum stick had been clapped together.

Brannavan Gnanalingam picks the best upcoming gigs:

» M Ward: Thur Jan 11, San Francisco Bath House
Californian alt-country (whatever that is)/singer song-writer Matt Ward plays at San Fran on Thursday night. His improvisatory sounding and haunting music is certainly worth checking out, especially given this is a tour following his excellent 2006 album Post-War.

» The Veils: Sat Jan 13, San Francisco Bath House
Well regarded NZ/English band (basically the brainchild of precocious Aucklander Finn Andrews) play a show in Wellington before the Big Day Out. Their moody, dark sound has been harkened to the Birthday Party, and their album Nux Vornica was one of the best local releases of last year.

» Andy C & MC GQ: Thursday 18 January, Sandwiches
One of the most influential figures in drum'n'bass, Brit Andy C along with MC GQ play at Sandwiches next Thursday. The founder of Ram Records and a hugely regarded DJ, Andy C was part of the driving force of making drum'n'bass the genre it is in the 1990s.

By Stephanie de Montalk
VUP, NZ$29.95 | Reviewed by Robert Metcalf

The Fountain of Tears is a singular achievement by poet, non-fiction author and novelist Stephanie de Montalk. She has realised the distant settings of Poland, Crimea and Russia in both 1752 and 1821 with clarity and lucidity. This is testament to her own personal interest in these places and events as well as the depth of her research. Indeed, there is a useful afterword containing historical information, along with a map and an extensive list of books in the author’s acknowledgments.