A while ago I saw that long time Canadian pop/rock singer, Bryan Adams would be touring Australia. One of my favourite songs is Summer of 69, which is about sex by the way. As you'd expect because I go to a lot of concerts I bought a ticket to his show at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Sydney.
Before every concert I always look online for the setlist and to see who the opening artist is. Opening for Bryan was Australian singer, Mahalia Barnes, the daughter of rocker Jimmy Barnes who was in Cold Chisel and has a solo "singing" career. I use quotation marks because Jimmy cannot sing, but more about that later.
Mahalia opened and she was one of the better support acts I've heard. That was until she turned political and referenced yesterday's state election. She complained about the lockout laws and basically indicated that people shouldn't support the Liberal National Party. Two things:
1 - Live music still exists.
2 - Artists shouldn't turn political because it's really alienating. Not everyone is left wing. Some people are right wing.
I will briefly talk about the lockout laws though. Generally speaking the lockout laws have become a Labor, Green, Keep Sydney Open and Liberal Democratic Party issue. If the lockout laws are ever to be reversed then Labor and the Green Party need to stop using it as a policy platform. I'm right wing and I'm against the lockout laws but when Labor and the Green Party make it a policy platform they alienate and exclude right wingers from the debate.
I could write an entire blog on how the lockout laws have killed Sydney's music scene and how the majority shouldn't be punished for a couple of tragic deaths, but that's not what this blog is about.
This blog is about Bryan Adams' tour to Australia and New Zealand.
You may or may not know that following the Christchurch Mosque Massacre he cancelled his show schedule for March 17th at Hagley Park, close to where the Mosque shooting took place. He has said in interviews that he was traumatised.
The tour was in support of his new album, Shine a Light and he dedicated the title track to all New Zealanders. Shine a Light had been written with Ed Sheeran. The dedication was possibly the best moment of the show. As I've written in previous blogs, I always love when artists talk to the audience and make it personal. That's exactly what he did, and it was really great to see that he was personally impacted by the Christchurch massacre, great to see in the sense that he actually cared. I love when artists care about world events. This may be a contradiction, but Bryan Adams didn't make it political at all. He just said that it had been a "traumatic experience" and left it at that.
Afterwards he sung Heaven, which has been covered by numerous artists including DJ Sammy, which until tonight was the only version I was familiar with. I had no idea Bryan Adams had sung the song originally. The original is fantastic if you haven't heard it.
Another highlight of the show was when he sung his biggest song, Summer of 69 and a short time later When you're gone which he had originally recorded with the Spice Girls singer, Melanie Chisolm in 1998.
I haven't been hugely familiar with Bryan's music and like I say, I was only there for two songs, but I also discovered his song, 18 til I die. Lyrically this is a fantastic song that is basically about being young at heart. I absolutely loved it.
The purpose of a tour is to promote your music that people may not know about and Bryan Adams succeeded in that.
He did make one mistake though which was in the encore which came after a main setlist of 22 songs, bringing the total to about 28 songs. He invited Jimmy Barnes to the stage to sing with him. I don't know what song they were trying to sing but Jimmy Barnes absolutely wrecked it. Jimmy Barnes has an awful gravelly voice and I wouldn't even say he sings. How he's had a long standing rock career is beyond me when his voice was pure torture to listen to.
I lasted about 2 minutes before I had to walk out. His voice was that bad and I was not impressed. I missed the final two songs of the encore so about five minutes all up. That's no big deal as I'd heard all the songs I wanted to.
There was one funny moment where Bryan sung a song, I'll always be right there, with Keith Scott on guitar. He restarted the song a couple of times, and the second time he said, "fucking hell" but it was funny because he incorporated it into the melody when he went back into the song because saying, "I can't say 'fucking hell' in the middle of a love song". It was one of those moments where you had to be there.
So other than Mahalia Barnes being political and other than Bryan Adams inviting Jimmy Barnes to the stage for the encore it was a great show and I loved his dedication to Christchurch.
The security at the ICC was also lacking compared to other times I've been. There was no bag check and given the recent events in Christchurch I wasn't impressed with that either. I hope the ICC ramps up their security for future shows.
I also could have done with side big screens because the stage lights did block some of my view and I couldn't really see Bryan's face. I can't blame the venue for that though as I'd chosen a cheap seat for this concert.
I'd give it a 4/5.
Monday, March 25, 2019
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
That time I spoke to Jacinda about a massacre back in 2012
The year was 2012. I was doing my post grad in Communications at Auckland University of Technology. My specialisation was Journalism. I was also working as a media monitor/content writer. On the side I volunteered for the student magazine, Debate as a columnist and article writer. I had a regular dating column called It's in his kiss, which was based on Carrie Bradshaw's Sex and the City. I've always had an interest in the serious issues though so I wrote serious articles. I wrote articles about crime, Kyle Sandilands and I also had a How to guide.
After the Colorado cinema shootings in July 2012 I was fascinated because unlike the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, the Colorado cinema shooter hadn't turned the gun on himself.
I was going to write an article that centred around the mental health of mass murderers, why they do it in the first place, why some choose to end their own life and why some choose not to. For that article I had planned to interview a few pyschologists and I also chose to interview then NZ Labour list MP, Jacinda Ardern. I emailed Jacinda's office and she personally replied and I may be wrong but I think I set up the interview for 3 or 4pm on a Thursday afternoon. I then created my list of questions.
I asked her about the Orlando shooting, what action she would like to see taken and a couple of other things that I genuinely do not recall. If memory serves me right though, we did talk about mental health and we did talk about prevention. I recall her being very compassionate and kind.
This was evidenced in the interview when my building had a fire alarm. She offered to end the interview and continue it later but I didn't want to do that so once the beeping had stopped we carried on with it.
After I interviewed her I also interviewed an Australian psychologist by the name of Susan. I don't recall what she said either but I don't recall her being as warm as Jacinda was.
Jacinda really seemed to care about people and their mental health.
That has been displayed this week in response to the Christchurch Mosque Shooting that occurred on Friday. She has been so kind and caring towards the families of the victims, the entire Muslim community and NZers in general.
I think I steered clear of questions about guns and wanted to focus on the tougher issue because at the time I remember thinking that to ban guns would just be to put a band aid on the wound and that it wouldn't actually solve anything. I have since changed my tune but realistically, in an ideal world I'd like to see gun ownership cut and people given better access to mental health support services. On that note, I really hope that the paramedics and other first responders on Friday are receiving adequate medical attention.
Although nobody would ever wish an event like this on their worst enemy, if there's any world leader you'd want in your corner it's Jacinda and throughout the years she's always been a very kind, caring and considerate person.
There's no real point of this blog. I guess I'm just a little spooked out that I interviewed her about a massacre back in 2012 not even knowing back then that she would be Prime Minister of New Zealand or that she would be the one who would be the face of the nation dealing with such an atrocity.
I would be lying if I said I asked her what she'd do if it ever happened in New Zealand because to be honest, I don't think the thought even crossed my mind. I think I really wanted to get her views on the linkages between mental health and massacres.
I also guess I'm talking about it because although I want the assailant to receive the death penalty, I do want to understand what can drive a person, anyone to such a henious crime. How can someone be so angry and evil that they don't think what they're doing is wrong? Back in 2012 neither Jacinda nor I had the answer and sadly that's the case today. I do agree with her that a little kindness goes a long way.
After the Colorado cinema shootings in July 2012 I was fascinated because unlike the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, the Colorado cinema shooter hadn't turned the gun on himself.
I was going to write an article that centred around the mental health of mass murderers, why they do it in the first place, why some choose to end their own life and why some choose not to. For that article I had planned to interview a few pyschologists and I also chose to interview then NZ Labour list MP, Jacinda Ardern. I emailed Jacinda's office and she personally replied and I may be wrong but I think I set up the interview for 3 or 4pm on a Thursday afternoon. I then created my list of questions.
I asked her about the Orlando shooting, what action she would like to see taken and a couple of other things that I genuinely do not recall. If memory serves me right though, we did talk about mental health and we did talk about prevention. I recall her being very compassionate and kind.
This was evidenced in the interview when my building had a fire alarm. She offered to end the interview and continue it later but I didn't want to do that so once the beeping had stopped we carried on with it.
After I interviewed her I also interviewed an Australian psychologist by the name of Susan. I don't recall what she said either but I don't recall her being as warm as Jacinda was.
Jacinda really seemed to care about people and their mental health.
That has been displayed this week in response to the Christchurch Mosque Shooting that occurred on Friday. She has been so kind and caring towards the families of the victims, the entire Muslim community and NZers in general.
I think I steered clear of questions about guns and wanted to focus on the tougher issue because at the time I remember thinking that to ban guns would just be to put a band aid on the wound and that it wouldn't actually solve anything. I have since changed my tune but realistically, in an ideal world I'd like to see gun ownership cut and people given better access to mental health support services. On that note, I really hope that the paramedics and other first responders on Friday are receiving adequate medical attention.
Although nobody would ever wish an event like this on their worst enemy, if there's any world leader you'd want in your corner it's Jacinda and throughout the years she's always been a very kind, caring and considerate person.
There's no real point of this blog. I guess I'm just a little spooked out that I interviewed her about a massacre back in 2012 not even knowing back then that she would be Prime Minister of New Zealand or that she would be the one who would be the face of the nation dealing with such an atrocity.
I would be lying if I said I asked her what she'd do if it ever happened in New Zealand because to be honest, I don't think the thought even crossed my mind. I think I really wanted to get her views on the linkages between mental health and massacres.
I also guess I'm talking about it because although I want the assailant to receive the death penalty, I do want to understand what can drive a person, anyone to such a henious crime. How can someone be so angry and evil that they don't think what they're doing is wrong? Back in 2012 neither Jacinda nor I had the answer and sadly that's the case today. I do agree with her that a little kindness goes a long way.
Friday, March 15, 2019
NZ terror attack: peace not war shall be our boast
Here's a blog I had hoped I would never be writing. I suspected it would happen at some point, that eventually there would be a terrorist attack in New Zealand. I certainly didn't think it would happen in Christchurch of all places.
I was at work when the news started coming in. A friend sent me a message on Facebook saying: "Shooting in CHCH at the Mosque. 6 dead. Check stuff".
When I read that phrase I was shocked and immediately check the news. Given I am a writer and studied journalism at university I always like to verify information.
Anyway, it was true. There was an unfolding situation at a Mosque in CHCH. That ended up being much worse than first suspected. I listened to the radio all day for updates while working.
Throughout the day the death toll kept on rising and then around 6pm, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed a death toll of 40. That number would later rise to 49 where it has been for the last few hours, however there are still 48 in hospital.
Newstalk ZB's coverage was brilliant today and it is very clear that New Zealanders are feeling the pain today over this terrorist attack. It's the worst terrorist attack to ever happen in NZ. To put it into context, 49 dying in NZ in a terrorist attack is the equivalent of 2600 in America. That means it's the equivalent of the 9/11 twin tower attacks.
The really sad part is that it was an Australian who carried out this senseless attack on innocent people. Nobody has the right to take another person's life and nobody has the right to get violent with other people. The Australian who allegedly carried out these attacks released a manifesto online stating the reasons and the basic gist is that they wanted to stop invasion of Western nations.
I don't want to focus on them too much but it seems hypocritical because they went to New Zealand specifically to carry out this henious terrorist attack against innocent people. While details have not yet been released, children are amongst the dead.
Instead, what I want to focus on in this blog is how to stop terrorist attacks in the future because nobody should ever feel unsafe where they live, let alone in a place of worship. They should feel safe to go about their daily business.
Hate is what caused this crime and to prevent further crimes, hate is not the answer despite what some people are saying on social media. The best answer to prevent crime is to show compassion and love towards other people. Tolerance will stop these attacks.
Terrorists, regardless of what side they represent want to create division but instead, people need to all stand together and unite. They need to show they won't be broken and that they will not perpetuate hate.
Anyone who is suffering mental health issues (sociopathy and psychopathy included) needs to receive help for their issues and they need help so that they don't senselessly murder people, although this is much worse than murder. This was outright terrorism.
Another question that has to be asked is how the assailants got the guns to carry out these crimes. NZ is supposed to be like Australia, with tough gun laws yet somehow the assailant was able to get enough guns and ammunition to kill innocent people.
What's even more confusing is why the assailant has only been charged with murder. This crime extended beyond murder and was a terrorist attack.
I don't believe in the death penalty. I never will believe in the death penalty. I have however said previously that when it comes to treason and terrorism I make an exception and I stand by that. In this particular case, the assailant, whether they acted alone or with others, does not deserve to live. According to media reports, four suspects are in police custody.
The attack was senseless and served absolutely no purpose.
The really sad part is that New Zealanders and Australians are supposed to be family and yet an Australian specifically targeted New Zealand. They specifically targeted a quiet city that's already been through a lot with the Christchurch earthquakes from which it hasn't yet recovered and I can only hope that Cantabrians will be offered emotional and mental health support.
The attack doesn't make sense. That's not to say that all Australians are like this because they're not. The vast majority of Australians are friendly, welcoming, peaceful and would never carry out a terrorist attack. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has condemned the attack, as has NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and NZ Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters. Mr Peters has also indicated that NZ's national security will be looked at in due course.
It would be so easy to blame all white people for this attack, but I have to raise the point, when a Muslim carries out a terrorist attack that's exactly what happens, some people blame all Muslims but the reality there are only a small minority of Muslims who are terrorists.
It would also be so easy to blame all white Christians for this attack but the vast majority have also condemned this senseless attack.
I've read part of the assailant's manifesto (I couldn't read the rest because it was too disturbing) and the general gist was that they hated Muslims, hated immigration and wanted to reclaim their land (hypocritical given they targeted a country they're not even from) which indicates fear. A culture of fear does not help anyone.
Fear is what terrorists want.
The best answer and the best response to terrorist attacks is simply to be tolerant of other people. If someone isn't hurting you, what do their beliefs actually matter? It's not like they're actually hurting you.
So I would have to draw words from the NZ National Anthem because it feels appropriate today.
In the bonds of love we meet.
Hear our voices, we entreat.
Men of every creed and race
Gather here before Thy face
Asking thee to bless this place
From dissension, envy, hate,
and corruption guard our state
Peace, not war, shall be our boast
But should foes assail our coast
Make us then a mighty host
Instead of hating Australians, white Christians, Muslims, immigration etc, people need to come together to keep the peace and be more tolerant.
Hate, anger and fear is what caused this attack. Love is the antedote to it. Only when we treat others with respect will senseless terrorist attacks stop.
And to close this blog, I'm going to leave you with the extended version of the New Zealand National Anthem.
I was at work when the news started coming in. A friend sent me a message on Facebook saying: "Shooting in CHCH at the Mosque. 6 dead. Check stuff".
When I read that phrase I was shocked and immediately check the news. Given I am a writer and studied journalism at university I always like to verify information.
Anyway, it was true. There was an unfolding situation at a Mosque in CHCH. That ended up being much worse than first suspected. I listened to the radio all day for updates while working.
Throughout the day the death toll kept on rising and then around 6pm, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed a death toll of 40. That number would later rise to 49 where it has been for the last few hours, however there are still 48 in hospital.
Newstalk ZB's coverage was brilliant today and it is very clear that New Zealanders are feeling the pain today over this terrorist attack. It's the worst terrorist attack to ever happen in NZ. To put it into context, 49 dying in NZ in a terrorist attack is the equivalent of 2600 in America. That means it's the equivalent of the 9/11 twin tower attacks.
The really sad part is that it was an Australian who carried out this senseless attack on innocent people. Nobody has the right to take another person's life and nobody has the right to get violent with other people. The Australian who allegedly carried out these attacks released a manifesto online stating the reasons and the basic gist is that they wanted to stop invasion of Western nations.
I don't want to focus on them too much but it seems hypocritical because they went to New Zealand specifically to carry out this henious terrorist attack against innocent people. While details have not yet been released, children are amongst the dead.
Instead, what I want to focus on in this blog is how to stop terrorist attacks in the future because nobody should ever feel unsafe where they live, let alone in a place of worship. They should feel safe to go about their daily business.
Hate is what caused this crime and to prevent further crimes, hate is not the answer despite what some people are saying on social media. The best answer to prevent crime is to show compassion and love towards other people. Tolerance will stop these attacks.
Terrorists, regardless of what side they represent want to create division but instead, people need to all stand together and unite. They need to show they won't be broken and that they will not perpetuate hate.
Anyone who is suffering mental health issues (sociopathy and psychopathy included) needs to receive help for their issues and they need help so that they don't senselessly murder people, although this is much worse than murder. This was outright terrorism.
Another question that has to be asked is how the assailants got the guns to carry out these crimes. NZ is supposed to be like Australia, with tough gun laws yet somehow the assailant was able to get enough guns and ammunition to kill innocent people.
What's even more confusing is why the assailant has only been charged with murder. This crime extended beyond murder and was a terrorist attack.
I don't believe in the death penalty. I never will believe in the death penalty. I have however said previously that when it comes to treason and terrorism I make an exception and I stand by that. In this particular case, the assailant, whether they acted alone or with others, does not deserve to live. According to media reports, four suspects are in police custody.
The attack was senseless and served absolutely no purpose.
The really sad part is that New Zealanders and Australians are supposed to be family and yet an Australian specifically targeted New Zealand. They specifically targeted a quiet city that's already been through a lot with the Christchurch earthquakes from which it hasn't yet recovered and I can only hope that Cantabrians will be offered emotional and mental health support.
The attack doesn't make sense. That's not to say that all Australians are like this because they're not. The vast majority of Australians are friendly, welcoming, peaceful and would never carry out a terrorist attack. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has condemned the attack, as has NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and NZ Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters. Mr Peters has also indicated that NZ's national security will be looked at in due course.
It would be so easy to blame all white people for this attack, but I have to raise the point, when a Muslim carries out a terrorist attack that's exactly what happens, some people blame all Muslims but the reality there are only a small minority of Muslims who are terrorists.
It would also be so easy to blame all white Christians for this attack but the vast majority have also condemned this senseless attack.
I've read part of the assailant's manifesto (I couldn't read the rest because it was too disturbing) and the general gist was that they hated Muslims, hated immigration and wanted to reclaim their land (hypocritical given they targeted a country they're not even from) which indicates fear. A culture of fear does not help anyone.
Fear is what terrorists want.
The best answer and the best response to terrorist attacks is simply to be tolerant of other people. If someone isn't hurting you, what do their beliefs actually matter? It's not like they're actually hurting you.
So I would have to draw words from the NZ National Anthem because it feels appropriate today.
In the bonds of love we meet.
Hear our voices, we entreat.
Men of every creed and race
Gather here before Thy face
Asking thee to bless this place
From dissension, envy, hate,
and corruption guard our state
Peace, not war, shall be our boast
But should foes assail our coast
Make us then a mighty host
Instead of hating Australians, white Christians, Muslims, immigration etc, people need to come together to keep the peace and be more tolerant.
Hate, anger and fear is what caused this attack. Love is the antedote to it. Only when we treat others with respect will senseless terrorist attacks stop.
And to close this blog, I'm going to leave you with the extended version of the New Zealand National Anthem.
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