LIVE REVIEW: Princess Chelsea w/ Feshh. 12/1/24, Duncan Pavillion, Whanganui.

LIVE REVIEW: Princess Chelsea w/ Feshh. 12/1/24, Duncan Pavillion, Whanganui.

this feels like one of those things you're supposed to brag about. the kind of show that obscurist children 30 years from now wish they could claim to be at. and i'm kicking myself retrospectively for not having more fun than i could’ve had. on the surface this reads like a very strange bill. Feshh are a auckland-turned-wellington based "noise pop" shoegaze-avant punk-math rock-emo whatever band. if you wanted to see anyone on the most cutting edge of cutting edges, it'd be these guys. and they're paired with fey indie pop singer Princess Chelsea of "Cigarette Duet" fame, a claim to fame which, in honesty, is rapidly becoming less and less impressive. at the time of writing, Cigarette Duet, has more than 40 million more spotify streams than her next most well known song. one hit wonder you say? what, me worry?

 

 

praying for lost lyrics?

even the venue for the night's gig was an odd choice. the duncan pavillion is a community hall above a popular beach in the "rough" part of town. like all good community/vfw/scout hall type places, they are occasionally roped into service as a venue of ill repute, as evidenced by it's hosting of 2023's Neil Robert's Day, one of many hardcore punk festivals that seem to be breeding like rabbits lately, but notable in the sense that it has any amount of pedigree compared to the others. regardless, it was to provide the backdrop for what proved to be an immensely intimate show.

upon my arrival, i had two goals in mind. i had to meet Feshh, and i had to do my journalistic due diligence, to survey and gauge the crowd. to aid in both of these, i enlisted the help of a companion, who will remain nameless, but is markedly more brash and confident then i. they were a great for help navigating the not-so-full hall in search of the elusive opening act, but turned up a dud in the interview portion of my mission, because as it turns out, neither of us are familiar with the Princess's back catalogue, which we were about to become uncomfortably faced with as we nearly flipped over the gargantuan merch stand looking for a place to stash my camera (who's photos won't be a part of this review. long story). clearly someone's been busy, because the merch booth was overflowing so much that it actually took up a decent amount of standing space that could have been better used to fit more punters. wall to wall, there were Princess Chelsea records, Princess Chelsea t shirts, Princess Chelsea tote bags, Princess Chelsea stickers... i spent a good 2 minutes surveying for a way to represent Feshh, out of small band loyalty more than anything, but nothing was to be found between Princess Chelsea brand tv dinners and leaflets for a Princess Chelsea 10 step recovery program. (only kidding, dear reader, but the amount of crapola merch was astounding).

if i may steal, and subsistently, play a music journalist trump card here, i actually already know Feshh. the latest edition to the 5(!) piece line up is bass player Max, who was a good friend and trusted confidant in high school. Max is more then willing to entertain me once the pre-gig stress factor has been addressed, but the rest of Feshh remain cool and collected, save for a moustached, jazzmaster wielding guitarist who will become my comrade in some dorky dancing later in the night. they've left wellington and returned to small town zealandia showing signs of fame and (little) fortune as they strap on their new, mint condition mustang bass, which ironically serves as the perfect transition discussing their sound.

a new genre seems to be springing up all over the country. a blend of post punk, shoegaze, and the bastard cousin of emo, math rock, university halls the world over are infested with bands that used too many pedals, odd time signatures and strange jazzy chords, wailed and screamed vocals and rhythm sections that chug through bleak, foggy atmosphere generated by the more visible members of the bands. these are bands like Ringlets, Jilter off Kilter, and the early superspreaders of this sound, the oft missed Church of Goya. this genre is henceforth to be named: "mustang rock". 

for those unaware, the mustang guitar made by the fender corporation, often associated with alternative culture thanks to its use in 70s punk (tina weymouth, richard hell) and 90s alternative (sonic youth, nirvana). it seems to be the fashion for these bands to start using their lame equipment brought during their school years, sell a few records, and buy the coolest guitars they can afford. hence the term mustang rock. Feshh seem to be embodying this sound, but are a little closer to the shoegaze then the gothic post punk sound. forget praising your elders, unlike everyone else in this seen, they seem to hold no esteem for trail blazing new zealand bands like The Gordans, who i will claim invented mustang rock, but are instead, presenting a very americanized sound, that wall of white noise and yelling familiar to the Midwest Emo bands, but with more fuzz pedals. think of a more angry Black Midi. jolly good show.

lacking a setlist to consult, i am unable to tell you what they did and didn't play that night. i can tell you that recent single Acetone got a public airing. in a live situation, i wondered, could they output such a dense sound, even with their surplus of members, i wondered? the answer is a resounding yes. whoever books tours for Princess Chelsea is either getting a raise or getting fired, because Feshh were on some other kind of level of good that night, completely upstaging the headlining act. unfortunately, their efforts were mostly wasted on an undeserving audience. which consisted of two warring factions of middle aged Princess Chelsea fans and, confusingly, grey haired, hunched old ladies. i can only assume they're locals who want to know what's happening in their beloved pavillion. neither gelled well with Feshh's titanic sonic assault. but there were a few people, more in the know, up front who appreciated what they set out to do. don't miss them if they come to play your town, because i suspect in a few years they'll be too big to play somewhere people like us can get into.

 

the back of the new faces of indie rock

with the lights dimmed and the old ladies plugging their ears, it became time for the headlining act to take stage. i'm deliberately giving less screen space to Princess Chelsea because, frankly, they left me lukewarm. i feel like it could have been an off night, and the venue was definitely a contributing factor. the Princess had enough backing musicians to fill two more opening bands, and with constant instrument swapping and the resulting technical difficulties, even the audience could sense the onstage claustrophobia. adding to this confusion, this wasn't a greatest hits set, this was an album being played live. an album which, judging by audience reaction, even the resident princess chelsea fans weren't the most familiar live. our hopes of wistful indie karaoke were dashed by an attempt at artistic integrity.

 

a setlist, stolen with permission

the set picked up towards the end however, and i'll identify the tipping point as the song "in hevean", which the cinephiles amoung you will have recognised as being the "In Hevean" from the david lynch film Eraser Head. an inspired choice for a cover, taken to new, dramatic depths by the Princess's rotating backing band. by the time of the last 5 songs, the crowd had been sufficiently lubed up, and the awkward barrier between performer and crowd dissolved. some people even started dancing, embarrassingly, including yours truly, for which i have to thank the fact i was situated behind a large speaker column that i wasn't seen. when duty calls i answer, in an awkward and self conscious way.

before this momentum could be really seized though, the set was over, and me and my companion were forced limping into the cool night air, trying to make sense of what we just saw. we both agreed that maybe there were too many hand movements, too many dramatic "oohh's" and "aahh's" coming from anyone with a microphone, and too much time spent building to crescendo that took so long to come the pay off was rarely satisfying. in essence, too much pose with virtually no effort towards poise. to sum this review, catch Feshh if and when you can, but for Princess Chelsea, well...maybe it was an off night, but for the prices tickets on that tour were going for, i'd stay home. but if you do go, you'll have an alright night out, and, thanks to these new set lists, your fond memories of Cigarette Duet will remain unchallenged.