The LEVY BUILDING stands on 20 Commerce Street East in the CBD of Auckland City. Therein starts our tale.
It was opened in 1888 but hit its stride in terms of entertainment in 1942 when it became the YWCA Downtown Club. This club opened in response to fears that a lack of suitable venues in which servicewomen could entertain men might lead to their frequenting hotel bars. A thousand people used the club and its snack bars, lounges and dance floors each day! And while no-one foresaw the rock music future, anyone with a crystal ball could tell that something was going to happen.
Now let’s step back...
The first time a young musician/songwriter walks onto a stage, reality sweeps in and the time and tide of their ambition commences. That moment is a force to be reckoned with. And in this plan of that life there comes a summary impact. And I was one of them! How do all the pointers and fragments of my pursuits fall into an event where all this was realised? Well the reality is known as – will be recalled on future days as – the first gig and it holds fast. And with those recollections come the images, colours, formulations and pragmatics which provide the wherewithal of that event. And so...
Was it like that for me? What will it be like for you?
I was in a five piece band presenting themselves in a folk idiom by virtue of their instrumental lineup. And what was that Mr Chunn?
This: 2x acoustic guitars, bass guitar, violin & flute.
And we were called Split Ends (the 'z' came later in 1974).
In the year of 1972, this lineup was ambitious and the repertoire of its components was often what came to be called ‘folk rock’. So had we immersed ourselves in a long list of folk songs? No, we hadn’t. Then ‘Why?’ Let me explain.
The two acoustic guitars were played by Phil Judd from Hawkes Bay and Tim Finn from Te Awamutu. Tim was taking Political Science and Phil took a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and they lived in the Auckland University Hostel, O’Rorke Hall. The violinist was Miles Golding who was studying a Bachelor of Music and Mike Howard... hmmm. I don’t recall his study regime. The bass player? Me. I studied a Bachelor of Engineering. I was a homeboy studying engineering science.
The month of October 1972 found all five of us gravitating together with the impetus of playing three songs that Phil and Tim had mysteriously written.
Mysteriously? Well Mike, Miles and I hadn’t written anything. Songwriting – words and/or music – sailed around us as we relished the impact but where did they come from? Mmmm. Interesting question. No matter.
The one thing we all believed was that those three songs were brilliant and pointed to a future with promise. So let’s play them. And I learned of a music venue near Auckland Harbour Waterfront called Levi’s Saloon that used to hold dances for soldiers and women. Yes, you got it. The Levy Building.
Why the change of spelling from Levy to Levi’s? No one knew. Levi’s Jeans were the staple clothing on folky/hippy marauders! Levi’s were cool. I rang and a managerial lad of ready steady accent listened to my query and based on nothing in particular offered us a night-time set at Levi’s for the evening of Sunday 10th December 1972.
I didn’t tell him we only knew three songs. I told the other lads and the date was set. We had a gig. We had three songs. We were ready to play. We were locked and loaded. It was a mirage of sorts but the summer weather propelled us. And we drove in my father’s car down to Commerce St and unloaded our instruments. We were nervous but we knew we were doing something special. You could call it THE RIGHT THING.
We walked up the wooden flight of stairs and we heard a folk group playing. Acoustic guitars, mandolin, and more. Their vocals were strong and sailed down the stairs. I had a tinge of competitive nerves. I had anticipated that. It’s in my blood.
Which brings us to you. What will it be like for you?
The first gig MUST be an event that you clutch to your heart. You need to engage with an ambition; with wide eyes, positive motion, a sense of forward acceleration, engagement and a palpable drive.
You are up there to make an impact that will bring the punters to their feet. Don’t think you can’t do it. You will be ready. You must do it. Do not waste the time.
So, if you are making moves such that you are embarking on a performing life, find a venue – anywhere – take the stage and regard your show as a crucial step. Because it is! Let your first time on stage – that magical playground – be an impression you harbour and hold. If there is one person in the audience that walks out after your three songs and tells their friends they have witnessed something special, then you’re on an upward path. That’s what it is. And how did our five piece groups finish their first gig? We played the three songs and hopped off the stage. As we did, two members of the group that played before us came up and said ‘You only played three songs’.
So we did the right thing. We slipped back onto the stage and played them again.
