Wednesday
Hollywood Avondale, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
Sunday, May 24th
I caught Wednesday twice on their 2024 Aotearoa tour, hot off of the buzz of their incredible 2023 record Rat Saw God. Their second stop saw them surrounded by punters from every angle at the Camp A Low Hum Square Stage in Wainuiomata, which was one of the most immersive and mind-melting live music experiences I’ve had.
With the band’s recording guitarist MJ Lenderman exploding with his solo record Manning Fireworks later that year and Wednesday cementing their place as alt-country masters through the release of Bleeds in 2025, their return to Aotearoa at a theatre as grandiose as The Hollywood Avondale was basically inevitable.
But who was responsible for bringing one of the best bands in the world to our country?
A few weeks back, Carmel Benett of MusicHelps delivered an impassioned speech at the 2026 Taite Music Prize ceremony, directly dissecting the horrific state of the New Zealand music industry’s support from the government while arts and culture minister Paul Goldsmith sheepishly sunk into his seat. The closing line “No local act, no visa!” earned her a standing ovation inside NZICC’s Te Paepae theatre.
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As major promoters and global superstars get as much money as they need through our governments’ controversial allocation of its Major Events Fund, local independent promoters are left to contend with the tough post-COVID live music landscape alone. Just last week, Reuben Bonner of Banished Music confirmed that beloved Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland festival The Others Way could no longer continue.
The passion inside the Hollywood Avondale as Wednesday concluded their final Aotearoa tour stop, however, proved that placing New Zealand music front and centre is the best way to keep international bands coming back for more.
Each city of the tour had their own locals kicking the night off — Mim Jensen in Ōtautahi Christchurch and Mudgoose in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington — and it was the turn of Awning in Tāmaki Makaurau. All these acts sit alongside Wednesday well, but Awning are evidently cut from the same cloth that’s stained with tears, wine, and blood.
Image: Awning Credit: Isabella Rose Young
Ever the maximalists, Awning’s three guitarists took to the stage with the welcome addition of percussionist James McEwan filling out the six-piece band. Soon after belting out “Cardboard Boat”, the band called upon their ‘fifth Beatle’, sound mixer Mason Fairey, to adjust their levels before launching into “Mast”, another track from their self titled debut.
Bandleader Christian Dimmick’s vocals sat above the mix with the same tense energy of his gritted teeth, joined by a cacophony of harmonising guitarists on the hook while they weaved their axes between each other.
Awning’s songbook is sprawling — each time I’ve seen them, there’s a fresh batch of songs and ideas, leaving you wishing they brought back your favourite track from the last time you saw them. (I’m sure my year 10 music teacher would have given them shit, though, for occasionally facing away from the crowd and towards each other.)
Image: Awning Credit: Isabella Rose Young
The Wednesday band members then tinkered with their tools, including Karly Hartzman’s weapons of choice for tonight, a bedazzled Stratocaster and a sparkly Danelectro. You could argue that the aesthetic contradicts the extremes of Wednesday at their loudest, but the dynamics gave the crowd a strong sense of nostalgia — Hartzman’s black lipstick, piano tights, and untouchable aura felt like an homage to ’00s scene attire, while reimagining that brief period in which emo bands were charting for the 2020s.
After letting us know they were being “real fucking brave” for getting the show going despite some technical difficulties, the band launched into their last album’s opener, “Reality TV Argument Bleeds”, with a scream.
Despite the passing years, during which Hartzman has delved deeper into what her vocal cords can achieve, her voice sounds in even better shape than when they last toured here.
Image: Wednesday Credit: Isabella Rose Young
She isn’t the only one with chops on display — pedal and lap steel player Xandy Chelmis has taken on the backing vocal duties from Lenderman after his solo project took off, providing the necessary lower harmonies that retain the emotional pull of each song. While he doesn’t have as strong of a twang in his voice, he makes up for it by pushing the pedal and lap steel to their absolute brink. I can’t emphasise how integral he has become to their sound — as he set up before the show started, I heard other returning Wednesday fans admitting they had selected their spot in the crowd for the best view of his seated chaos.
Hartzman was chatty between songs, saying she was overcompensating for “the great Awning tuning silences of 2026” between sets before telling everyone to see them again and support their local bands — though she apologised for accidentally sneezing on a punter while watching their set from the back.
The band constantly reminisced about their last Aotearoa visit, shouting out Whammy, Camp A Low Hum, and even Hobbiton while singing the praises of our music scene. Seemingly mid-set, Hartzman had the idea to invite Awning percussionist McEwan back on stage with a shaker to round out the sound of their most country track, “Phish Pepsi”, and Hartzman giggled through the “We smoked weed out of a pepsi can” line.
Between singing crowd favourites like “Pick Up That Knife” and “Bath County”, the band gave teasers of their next sonic direction, covering “Far Away” by Martha Wainwright and eventually debuting a new track, tentatively titled “Dune 2”, as a tribute to Robbie, who took the band snorkelling in Aotearoa last time and did their head in with the Americanised and Kiwi pronunciation of the Denis Villeneuve epic’s title.
Image: Wednesday Credit: Isabella Rose Young
These tracks leaned into the softer side of Wednesday, seen earlier in the night through renditions of “Formula One” and Bleeds’ leading single “Elderberry Wine”. I gave my legs a break for the latter track and watched from the Hollywood balcony, which was possibly my best decision of the night as the loudest crowd singalong reverberated upwards and united the crowd of country dads and alternative teenagers below.
Before launching into the penultimate song, the eight-minute epic “Bull Believer”, Hartzman took a break to prepare her voice one last time and acknowledged the state of both their country and our own.
They made it clear they were the least conservative country band out there, with a “Fuck ICE” being echoed across the crowd and the band imploring the Kiwis to vote out any politicians that want to destroy trans lives this November.
They implored the crowd to destroy their vocal cords through the breakdowns of “Bull Believer”, the mosh quoting Mortal Kombat‘s “Finish him!” in complete catharsis.
Image: Wednesday Credit: Isabella Rose Young
Before they finished, Hartzman took one more minute to outperform their 2024 selves — who physically could not continue after the former tracks final moments — in her rendition of “Wasp”, another Bleeds track where Karly let go of her guitars for the first time that night to let the band rip at their most post-hardcore.
With their second tour here now complete. Wednesday and their fans in Aotearoa will never get sick of each other.
Because there’s a reason that bands like Wednesday, brought here by Strange News and Banished Music, are far more likely to return without needing millions of dollars in funding to be convinced.
Local promoters ensure visiting bands see and book local openers, play independent venues and community festivals, which gives them a valuable insight into our country’s music scene.
There will never be a paycheck more lucrative than that.
