Disclaimer: Staff writer Zoe Eckhoff is a band member of Ammonita, who were interviewed for this news article.
OUSA’s annual Hyde Street Party on April 5th left its typical trail of Look Sharp costumes, crumpled cans, smiley face baggies, and students happily tired from six hours of boogie banked in the sun. But some disgruntled bands claim that diversity quotas, disorganisation and miscommunication behind the scenes cast a cloud over the experience.
Now in its 28th year, Hyde Street Party is one of the most iconic days of the Otago student calendar, with tickets so coveted they’re only available through a lottery system. “Like fish to water, thousands of costumed students flock to the little street each year to sink piss under the open sky, accompanied by sausage sizzles and the comforting drone of DnB,” as Critic described the event in a 2023 history of the party.
Given the event’s status, Hyde Street Party is the Super Bowl half-time show for student bands (outside of Pint Night). There are three stages at the event and a setlist of acts for each. It’s the responsibility of each flat to sort the bands or DJs for their stages with OUSA’s help (as the general organisers of the event), who Critic has been told provided a guide for events management suppliers – including Southern Events. The guide also included encouragement for a “diverse approach, particularly to genre”.
The “diverse approach” is where things became misconstrued. Southern Events, who were hired by flats to organise equipment and acts, appear to have interpreted this to be an emphasis on diversity of gender. Multiple bands Critic Te Ārohi spoke to reported strange interactions with Southern Events in order to fill this supposed quota.
Ammonita, a female-presenting punk rock band, performed at flat number 4 at Hyde. They got the gig after seeing a post on Instagram by Southern Events asking whether there were bands with women members. Alt-rock band FÜBAR also responded to the post, saying that while they were all dudes, “We got a gay guy.” In a screenshot shown to Critic, Southern responded, “That’d lowkey be [all good].” FÜBAR ended up going out of their way to have a female singer join for the day, too. It was a move Southern said would make them “much more appealing for OUSA. It’s just politics, but it’s their main focus.”
Another band, One Day, was also asked if they had any girls in their band. “It was weird them asking about genders in the band for a street gig,” drummer Jamie told Critic. Southern can be seen in screenshotted messages asking One Day whether they had any female artists, again explaining that OUSA “needs diversity, aye”. When One Day responded that their singer was female, Southern replied that they’d “put them on”.
OUSA told Critic Te Ārohi that Southern Events clearly had misconstrued their intentions. While they’re “committed to supporting diversity and inclusion across all its events as we represent all students” the emphasis was on genre, and said they would review as necessary to make sure everyone was on the same page next time round.
Southern Events’ manager Morgan told Critic, “We put a lot of extra effort into this for Hyde Street and ran what we consider the most diverse line up Hyde has ever seen, which we think is the reason that it was such a hissing success. Of course, if we offended any artists by being too direct with our inquiry for diverse acts, then we apologise, and I guess will look to inquire in a more friendly manner from now on.”
But confusion over a supposed diversity mandate wasn’t the only issue bands had. Ammonita and FÜBAR both complained of unprofessionalism from organisers (with some flats switching from Southern to Gravity midway through organisation) that made it unclear whether they would be able to play at Hyde. Ammonita were “fucked around” right up until a week before Hyde, until which point they weren’t able to confirm whether they were playing, let alone which stage or time. “I think it’s extremely unprofessional, and just really annoying if people haven’t got their shit together,” said the band’s drummer Karl.
FÜBAR didn’t end up playing at all after what their drummer Gregor described as a “fuck around” with Southern Events. Despite repeated messages seeking to confirm their band’s slot, Southern failed to respond until a reply that said they could “buy a ticket if you want to get on the lineup.” Gregor wasn’t pleased. “We weren’t too keen on going to Hyde unless we were playing.” The last they heard from Southern was on the 25th of March – just over a week away from Hyde itself – before a prompt ghosting. “I’d expect them to have a bit more together, I guess,” said Gregor. One Day reported a similar Casper-like experience. “[Southern] expected us to supply mostly everything, and then the comms just went dead,” Jamie told Critic.
Purple Dog – who played at Gentlemen’s Club flat, run by Southern – did not report any issues with Southern. “The comms were fine overall,” vocalist Imogen told Critic. “Sound check on the day was quite disorganised,” she said, and informed us that she “was not told about any diversity quota.” Morgan told Critic, “We did miss a morning band sound check due to a slightly delayed set up. However, this was quickly rectified by the proffesional [sic] sound tech we had on hand, and from the first tune to the last drop, the day went seamlessly.”
Southern Events provided a written testimony from the Gentleman’s Club in their defence (which Critic confirmed was legit): “We partnered with Southern Events to assist us with the stage set up, sound technicians and some assistance with artists [...] Morgan was super keen to get involved and [Southern Events] came round to make sure our flat was viable straight away. We then worked with these guys to create an artist list and set times to secure the host from OUSA. Southern Events professional approach made [them] the first pick for OUSA and it was all go from there.”
At the end of the day, it seems students had a great time and enjoyed the diverse line-up of local acts. Except FÜBAR. They stayed home.