So Little Space, So Many Men

It can be confidently said that the ultimate decision to attend the free End of Daze festival, which commemorated the official end of lectures for the 2005 academic year, was a wise choice made indeed. The spirit that was present throughout the entire year and which has made my time at university such an exciting experience so far was out in force and embodied in the party atmosphere that the numerous bands produced. Copious amounts of cheap alcohol only served to amplify the revellers' ecstacy at their newly-achieved pseudo-freedom (with exams still to come, it's not quite time to completely let one's guard down just yet).

The absolutely vast majority of people were unflappably happy -- my seemingly-generalised statement can be justified as most probably true, by the fact that I do not believe I came across a single person yesterday who was anything short of exponentially excited. Perhaps in Darcy's case he could even be said to be dangerously excited, in light of the fact that he was performing various loud exclaimations whilst resplendent in a security guard uniform. However, this was not exactly the textiled status of Darcy for all of the day, as you will undoubtedly hear somewhere along the grapevine.

A marquee spanned the raised, grassed area in the quad and provided the venue for the musical acts, as well as a hotbox effect that one cannot discern as being intended or not. Early on in the piece, shortly after things commenced at two o' clock in the afternoon, numerous DJs along with pop-punk bands provided the soundtrack -- which was relatively ambient compared to that which was to come -- essentially providing a build-up, allowing the hundreds of attendees to get into the groove and drink as much as possible in preparation for the act that everyone had really come for.

The performance of indie pop musicians The Sneaks, with their interestingly-utilised raucous casiotone, along with the thoroughly impressive show put on by Wellington-based funk band OdESSA, both heralded in a significant hyping-up of the audience as the afternoon drove on towards the inevitable climax. OdESSA's energetic and danceable rhythm, powerful and polished vocals, and seemingly arty attitude was particularly well received by the now-massive crowd. As their vocalist called out "Hands up who's drunk yet!" just about the entire audience standing immediately in front of the stage under the marquee threw their hands in the air and yelled cacophonically in acknowledgement.


It was just past eight o' clock before the long-awaited headline act, the almost-ubiquitous Electric Six, hailing from Detroit in the United States, took the stage to a deafening reception from members of the crowd, now all in varying states of intoxication and obviously present in their largest numbers yet. The quirkily-dressed and fittingly-mannered rockers proceeded to rip into their fantastic and energetic set which was also to turn out to be an epic one. Complete with lightning bolt-bearing guitar straps, white suit jackets, wiry hair, deliciously oversized sunglasses and comical expressions and poses, the Electric Six were virtually picture perfect.

As expected it was the anthemic hits Dance Commander, Gay Bar and most of all Danger! High Voltage that involved among the most enthusiastic performances from the band and the spectators alike. Suddenly everyone's inhibitions came loose -- even looser than throughout the hours beforehand -- resulting in an orgy of pogo dancing, beer throwing and elbow-in-facing. Overly vigilant security guards attempted to subdue the masses' sheer happiness to virtually no avail, frequently reaching into the crowd and grabbing random revellers, who then simply shrugged the presence of authority off to continue on their quest for absolute fun. A lesbian couple danced furiously to Gay Bar, assuming a significant area of space on the "dancefloor" (which was actually merely grass) as their own. When they began to hook up they were pulled apart by a security guard but then insisted on continuing, in their new position a further metre away from the guards.

The mindblowing, climactic performance proper of the Electric Six continued for a solid hour, only for the inevitable -- that is, the band being cheered on to perform an encore -- to emerge, extending the show by a further twenty minutes. The wonderfully eccentric vocalist Dick Valentine colourfully explained to the audience that Americans are envious of New Zealand, and dramatically announced that "Americans will be coming to New Zealand on vacation for centuries!" As the performance concluded, heavy thrashing on the drums was accentuated by Dick Valentine's epileptic flailing of his arms, the most aggressive guitar work by John R. Dequindre, Johnny Na$hinal and The Colonel, and Tait Nucleus's amazing swirling keyboard effects. "I think you're very special," Dick Valentine casually and straightforwardly told the audience for the umpteenth time that night, as the Electric Six made their final departure from the stage. Those present at the End of Daze festival had not been left disappointed. Electric Six had delivered a fitting end to the academic year and quite possibly established themselves as the first great event of a fantastic summer to come.