Bic Runga Red Sunset superb, NZICC venue not so much?
Bic Runga, a superb performance let down by the new NZ International Convention Centre venue?
I saw Bic Runga's Red Sunset tour, Friday 27 March, at the new 'New Zealand International Convention Centre' (NZICC).
It was a great gig, and I loved the new album tunes—her first in fifteen years, released in February—which I had been deliberately avoiding pre-show to hear live first.
I did get a little preview of some at her concert with the Auckland Philharmonia last year. I heard that show was recorded, just found this video featuring one of the new tunes, and hope it becomes a full album one day as it was stunning...
It's like summertime, from Red Sunset, with Auckland Philharmonia
I prefer the more natural tracks off Red Sunset—like 'It's like Summertime' and 'Escape from Planet Earth'—to those with more vocal effects but like them all. The performance, new and old favourites (see set list below), from Bic and the band was superb.
Lachie Holt
A review of the Red Sunset Hamilton gig on 21 March
Lachie Holt
A review of the Red Sunset Album Listen to it (on your preferred music service) Here
But the NZICC venue?
I've been to two events—an F1 interview session with Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard and Bic's—at the Te Tumu NZICC, Te Paepae Theatre. Both were great but left me with some thoughts about the venue itself, not all good.
Although the scale of the facility is impressive, I've found aspects of this much awaited🔥venue perplexing.
Te Paepae Theatre
The NZICC 2,852 seat theatre space is good but lacks any atmosphere as is essentially a black box. I suppose that leaves it open to be reimagined, but I prefer a space with a bit of character.
Bic's lighting and staging, a fabric screen backdrop with projections, was great but it all happens on stage with the venue only contributing 'volume'.
It's a broad single level space, nearly full width stage with floor seating in front (that I avoid in any venue due to my, lack of, height!) and tiered raised seating fanning out behind. The seating itself is great, comfortable wide seats with backs that lower when the seat is folded, and fairly spacious row spacing but the aisle steps up to them are quite high, edged with light alloy highlight capping but otherwise black, which was compounded by...
The pre/post-show gloom
Both events at the NZICC were the same so I wonder if pre/post-show lighting is a venue, not artist, preference?
From door open to performance start the lighting level in the seating areas was extremely low. The F1 event (pre-show photo below) had gyrating chevron pattern spots scanning the seat area, absent last night, but both nights had people firing up their phone torches to navigate the steps and find their seats if not being directed by ushers with torches. This just seems bizarre before the show starts?
The Sound
Sound wasn't really a factor for the F1 event, it was fine but only had to convey people talking with some brief motorsport related video clips.
Bic's show was already fairly well sold when I booked, and I'd not seen the theatre as that was well before the venue opened. I thought where I chose—Row S, a few rows up the tiered seats, offset to the right (as the middle was sold) but away from the walls—would be OK.
Visually it was, the elevation meant unimpeded views (similar to the F1 event photo above), but I was initially disappointed with the sound.
When opening act Silicon started—led by former Mint Chicks member Kody Nielson (with Bic on drums)—I thought there was something wrong. The vocals were thin, with bass overwhelming them, and a sound quality that I can only compare to cheap audio equipment being overdriven to distortion.
I was on axis with one of the main overhead speaker arrays, but midway back in the space (so not close) and away from immediate surface reflections. When they spoke, not that they did much, between tracks there was a strange, almost tinny, sound to the mics.
The sound was poor to start with but seemed to improve after the interval (but only to OK'ish) for Bic's set. I'm not sure if it was the space, the mix, the speakers, or maybe just where I was sitting but there was a 'harshness', 'sibilance' in Bic's voice I've never heard before, live or recorded.
Over the past few years, I've seen her perform in the Town Hall (with band), Aotea's Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre (with orchestra), an outdoor stage in Parrs Park (#MARANGA festival a couple of years ago) and all sounded better to me!
A few months ago, I had intermittent sinus induced tinnitus. During the consultation my GP asked me if I had any hearing loss and I replied: "How would I know?".
That was prompted by reaching age 8-9 before an eye test, and spectacles, revealed to me that the world wasn't fuzzy in the distance for everyone. Turns out there was a reason I preferred TV to movies...
Sinus meds sorted the tinnitus long ago but I had a hearing test a couple of weeks ago out of curiosity. I know my hearing is fine, well within normal range, for my age.
The NZICC crowd handling logistics are poor
For the F1 event I made the mistake of using the venue's carpark. I expected it to be expensive (and it was at ~$49 for ~4.5 hours) but traded that for accessibility as was taking some with slightly limited mobility home after.
What I didn't anticipate was how hard it would be to exit due to a combination of poor building design and, maybe, operational issues.
Getting in
Vehicle entry/exit for parking is from Nelson Street, essentially a split right from the existing SkyCity parking. That level (L1) was full, so I parked and accessed the Convention Centre from Basement 1 (B1) parking via lifts to (L1) then up the escalator to the Hobson Street main atrium (L3).
The event ticketing said Door E, but all the doors on that level are numbered with no directional signage, that I saw at least, for 'Letter' doors. I knew the theatre was upstairs, from reading about the complex, so followed the escalators up to Level 5 and first sight of a 'lettered' door...
Getting out
After the F1 show (remember ~2,800 people exiting at once) there was already long queues for the Level 5 lifts, so we took the escalators down to Level 1 (Nelson St). All the escalators are double, but it seemed half were locked out, or just not operating, so effectively half their capacity was not available.
From Level 1 there was no sign of escalator or stair access to the basement carpark levels beyond. There was already lots of people queuing for the two lifts there (see the red box below) that seem to be the only access from that level to four levels of basement parking. From the plans there are another four lifts accessing other parts of the carpark from the upper levels.
Although large capacity—maybe 20 people?—the reason for the queue was lifts arriving from upper levels already full. Someone asked a staff member about stair access to the carpark, a double door beside the lifts was unlocked but those who explored that soon came back as it just led to the laneway outside!
Once we eventually got a lift it was a quick trip down one level to B1. There you exit into a lift lobby that is barely larger than the lifts serving it. It also contained a single parking payment machine, which meant a queue, and general confusion as those waiting to pay hindered new arrivals spewing out of packed lifts.
There was little space outside the lobby, just a path next to a vehicle lane, leaving those accompanying a driver waiting to pay no space to linger. How this got approved in a brand-new venue is beyond me?
Don't park there, it's cheaper and faster
For Bic's show I parked on the street nearby, $0 as arrived after 6pm, and after the show took the escalators to Nelson St Level 1 and walked to my car about 1km away faster than it took to get to the basement, never mind pay and exit the venue carpark last time.
The venue is new, maybe this is just early days operational learning, but my recommendation is not to park at the NZICC if attending a show there.
Subconscious red sunsets...
The post header image is a crop of the photo below, taken from the Te Waha theatre lobby outside Door E just before the show. It's a close up taken from the outlook over Freemans Bay, Ponsonby, Herne Bay framed so the sun was behind a red pane of the stained glass.
The thing is, I wasn't consciously thinking of the show title when I took it, just playing with the phone zoom and light through stained glass. It wasn't until Bic introduced, sang, 'Red Sunset' that conscious cogs engaged...
Bic's Setlist
- Glass Atrium
- Paris in the Rain
- Precious Things
- Get Some Sleep
- Its Like Summertime
- Escape from Planet Earth
- Birds
- Ghost in Your Bed
- Red Sunset
- Something Good
- Bursting Through
- Home Run
- Hey Little One
- Listening for the Weather
- Gravity
- Drive (Solo)
- Sway
Footnote: All — are human generated, I liked using them before AI did😄
