Culture

he recently reopened Empire tavern on Princes Street has “special memories” for Martin Phillips of The Chills, as it is one of the regular venues the band played at during the heyday of Flying Nun bands in Dunedin.

The only remaining member of The Chills’ original line-up, Martin Phillips has been keeping the band afloat for many years with a bunch of younger musicians. 
Unfortunately, I missed the support band, Idiot Prayer, but word has it that they were fantastic. During the show we were to learn that Phillips held Tiddy Smith, the vocalist, in his arms as a baby. Awwww. After a slight delay, Phillips having lost his guitar somehow, as well as the drummer, the set got off to a bit of a shaky start. 
Three songs in, I still wasn’t impressed. Phillips’ vocals were stilted, and the drums far too loud. Amidst the bobbing grey heads of a sold-out crowd “remembering the old days,” I was slightly worried that my expectations would be dashed. However, after a few more songs, something clicked and The Chills were on fire! Phillips seemed more relaxed, and if it were not for his beer gut, this could have been The Chills playing at the Empire 25 years ago. The hits started rolling. ‘Pink Frost’, ‘I Love My Leather Jacket’, ‘Heavenly Pop Hit’, ‘Wet Blanket’, and more. Phillips’ crowd banter was impressive – every song had a story, and he was full of fun facts about the history of the Empire. Playing to a home crowd of old schoolmates (Phillips went to Logan Park High School), friends, and family, the band was having a great time and so were we. Towards the end of the show, Phillips was getting a sore throat. “I’m not the young chap I once was”, he admitted. Despite this, the performance got better as the show went on. Things wound up with the Cat Stevens cover ‘Matthew and Son’, which they made sound a lot less lame than Cat Stevens does. 
Gearing up for a few shows in Australia, the band were not as tight as they could have been, but this did not make it any less enjoyable. Here’s to many more good shows at the Empire – get along and check out a part of Dunedin’s musical history!