I was Auckland last week to see Children’s Hour perform to a gathering of music fans at the Laneways Festival. Held in Aotea Sqaure in central Auckland the site has pedigree as the focal point for the infamous Queen Street Riots in 1984. I was dubious about the locale but it works well. Grass to sit on if you need to, the handy Town Hall clock to keep time by and plenty of aesthetically friendly trees to soften the brutalistic style of much of the surrounding architecture, all combined to welcome and relax my naturally agitated frame of mind when venturing outdoors.
Liking to be on time I arrived early enough to experience midday sun and heat. It was relaxed and there was plenty of space and fresh air. And the bonus of witnessing a bristling Children’s Hour set. I worked with the band between 1982 and 1984 when they released a single and EP on Flying Nun. They were the first Auckland group our then South Island based label was to work with. A band that teamed an intense musical drive splattered with some of the popular twisted themes of the day as well as the bands own preoccupations and interests.
Children's Hour at the Rumba Bar in the early 1980s. L-R: Grant Fell, Chris Matthews and the late Johnny Pierce. Photo: Carol Tippet
On this occasion the band are originals Chris Matthews, Grant Fell and Bevan Sweeny with Rob Mayes stepping in for the late Johnny Pierce. They roar as fiercely as ever cranking along a deep grooved track seldom traveled by others. The set builds includes the favourtes from the Washed Away 7” single and the Flesh EP climaxing with standouts “Looking for the Sun” and “Caroline’s Dream” before ending with a fine version of The Gordons “Quality Control”.
Children’s Hour – ‘Caroline’s Dream’ (1983, Dir. Chris Knox)
They are an important band in our music history. They represent some of the darker thoughts and themes that circulated in the early 1980s but were highly creatively original but were also heavily influenced by other New Zealand artists such as the Nocturnal Projections and The Gordons as much as anything else happening in the world of music.
Children's Hour. L-R: Johnny Pierce, Chris Matthews, Bevan Sweeney and Grant Fell
The 2005 collection of their live material ‘Looking For The Sun’ on Failsafe Records is a good indication of this. And we will be re-packaging and re-issuing the Flying Nun recordings later this year.
It has to said that this is a band best suited to a small space at night and seeing them on a big outdoor stage in the middle of the day seemed a little incongruous. But the main victim of this juxtaposition was myself catching far too many rays of face melting sun in their presence.
- Roger Shepherd
