Oskar Herbig, Dylan Storey, Brendan Turner, Callum Gentleman

Thursday September 8th 8 pm $10

The Gig before The Storm

Oskar Herbig

Dylan Storey

Brendan Turner

Callum Gentleman

The calm before the storm....?

On Friday 9th September the world (yes the whole world) starts throwing oval balls about.

So get into Happy on Thursday 8th Sept & get into some music before that carry-on kicks off. 

OSKAR HERBIG will be laying down some sexy Americana sounds.

DYLAN STOREY will let your ears know why half the bands north of the Rimutaka Hills want him to hang out & play with them at their gigs.

Plus BRENDAN TURNER & CALLUM GENTLEMAN will be playing The Capital for the 1st time as solo cats.

The Dickens vs Coney Island Swamp Monster

Thursday September 15th 8 pm $5

Ladies and Gentlemen! 

In the red corner weighing in at one Rod Stewart haircut, a pair of spectacles, a glazed smile, and an angels voice, Wellington's finest & freshest fucked up folk act: CONEY ISLAND SWAMP MONSTER! Fast becoming my favourite band, watch as they attack with the one two kick drum combo. Be caught off guard as Rupert summons the dead through his guitar and Meghan lays them to rest with her devasting harmonies and soothes them back to the grave with the effortless beauty of her violin melodies. Stand in awe as Finbarr confounds us all with his multi instrumental magic...like Smeagol and Gollum, banjo and accordian. And then the knock out punch as Liam croons through his absolutely disarming and moving set of songs dredged from the swamp of his soul. Teetering on the edge. Fragile and furious in the same breathe. In love and broken hearted. I am down forthe count...

…And Justice For All - Meat, Blackjack, Original Flame, Manikk Jamm, Girl Lillian

Wednesday September 7th 9 pm $5

For This month's music and artists' social club Happy is playing host to a Mini Festival, with 5 bands prepared to make the night one to remember...

BIKINI ROULETTE and ROBERT!

Friday September 9th $5 Doors from 8 pm bands start at 10 pm.

"It had to happen - and now, at last: Two of the citie's most exciting new bands are going to tear it to pieces, side by side at HAPPY on September 9th! 

BIKINI ROULETTE: the new rock/r&b, gutter-funk sensation - and the psychedelic rock country blues folk Explosion that is ROBERT!"

Vinyl Friday - August

Friday 26 August 5.30pm free entry

Vinyl Friday is back this... er... Friday, with a theme of Punk Old & New.

OK, that's just a semantic trick to link the disparate themes of this month's five-star selectors, but if anyone can construct a more plausible Venn diagram between protopunk and English folk music I'd be grateful. Playing for your amusement and education this month are:

KEITH ALDERSLEY

Keith intends to take us back to the roots of punk with a selection that involves not just the famously unfamous (New York Dolls, Stooges, Television) but the genuinely obscure (Doctors of Madness, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Radio Birdman). Lovers of conceptually robust primitivism (i.e. me) will be in seventh heaven.

PATRICK VELVIN

Patrick will be unearthing crucial tunelets from the vaults of the English folk/rock scene of the 60s and 70s, with occasional forays to the colonies for a bit of perspective. It's a reminder that there was a time when holding a finger in your ear and trying to sing like a hobbit was quite a rock and roll thing to do. Led Zeppelin thought so anyway.

Fuyuko's Fabels, City Oh Sigh, Ben

Thursday September 1st 8.30 pm  $5

Fuyukos Fables and City Oh Sigh join together at happy for an evening of some of wellingtons finest music,

City Oh Sigh is a trio of classically-trained musicians that carefully crafts soulful songs, capturing audiences with their softness and beauty. The band combines unique instrumentation with subtle elements of folk and minimalist pop to emerge with a sound that is both difficult to categorise yet warmly familiar.

Fuyukos Fables currently playing as a five piece bring new tunes, fresh faces, extra noises and more voices. With lush arrangements and heavy on the vocals fuyuko's fables are a mix of folk,country and rock that come together in simple easy songs. BEN opens up the night playing his beautifully spacious and introspective acoustic tunes .

$5 on the door doors at half Eight
http://fuyukosfables.tumblr.com/
http://www.cityohsigh.com/
http://fellowcreator.bandcamp.com/album/free-from-fear

Grasshopper Presents Tom Martin, Richard Prowse, Karen Jaine, Joseph Jujnovich

Wednesday August 31st 8 pm $5

The Grasshopper Presents

Acoustica

Great local talent on stage for this night of original acoustic material. Come check out some of Wellington's undiscovered musical gems in the relaxed and fun atmosphere at Happy.

Richard Prowse is a double bass soloist who plays improvised jazz standards, world music and original pieces. He achieves a cello like sound with the bow and his unaccompanied pieces have quite a unique sound.

Karen Jaine brings to the stage a set of acoustic melodic songs with heartfelt emotive lyrics, instrumented with a sultry powerful voice her mix of country folk pop will have your toes tapping and your hearts breaking.

Tom Martin plays folk sounds with rock and roll influences set to songs of yearning and tall tales. Love of telling stories and creating personal mythologies blends into acoustic balladeering. Shades of Dylan, Lou Reed, Neil Young and randomness. Jumps around a lot.

Joseph Jujnovich plays funky, quirky pop fused with rap/spoken word and performance poetry. He loves to tell stories and rock the stage with his twelve string guitar.

Alda Rezende Quintet

The Last Thursday of every month. 9 pm $10

Featuring heavy weight players; Lucien Johnson, Jon Rae, Patrick Bleakly and Noel Clayton.

In her home country of Brazil, Alda Rezende is something of a household name. Her career has been a mix of all manner of music styles including jazz, bossa nova, samba, classics, electronic music and pop – she can do them all! From being the soloist singer of an opera accompanied by a symphonic orchestra, to singing alongside some of the most traditional old style samba groups in Brazil. 

In New Zealand, Alda has Worked Wellingtons Jazz circuit and recently appeared on Loops O.E. Brazil album. 

Souled Out - Northern Soul and Ska

Friday August 26th Koha Entry
Right after Vinyl Friday

Monica Yoeman, and Zoe Cook

Wednesday August 17th 8 pm $5

Two girls experimenting 

with folk, alt country and a touch of blue grass. Playing both solo and teaming up together. Bringing with them a cellist, a violinist, a rhythm section and some funky guitar. 

Come and enjoy a Wednesday night of female musicianship (with a few guys thrown in for good measure) and some good vibes. 

Killing Bear, The Lost Boys, and Mangle and Gruff

Saturday September 10th Door 9pm Bands 9.45pm $10 

Killing Bear began stunning 

crowds around Wellington in early 2010 

with their high energy live shows, 

original, quirky and wildly rocking tunes and videos. Now a year after releasing their 

debut self produced album, Wild Beasts, Killing Bear are excited to give you their new 

EP Rebirth. 

Rebirth is not your average run of the mill EP, it's much more than that. It's both EP and 

comic book, with the music reflecting the story and the story reflecting the music. The 

comic is illustrated by Cormac, the singer/guitarist of the band. The comic tells a story 

about a man by the name of Frank Williams and how he becomes tangled in an epic 

adventure with the ghost of an ancient warrior who goes by the name of Killing Bear. The 

music on Rebirth has elements reminiscent of an audio book as well as having epic 

rocking songs intertwined. The comic and the audio together will give you an experience 

you have never seen occur in rock history before. 

KILLING BEAR are: 

-CORMAC FERRIS guitar/lead vocals 

-ZACK DREDGE keys/vocals 

-TIA MICHAEL HUNKIN BEAUFORT drums/vocals 

Thndercub, Blue Onsies, The Boxcar Rattle

SATURDAY AUGUST 20th 9 pm $10

Thundercub is a three-piece sound machine from Dunedin, whose aural assault has its origins in the math-minded 

electro-noise spectrum. If it were ever biologically possible (c’mon science!) to create a bastard love-child of Final 

Fantasy VII, Battles, HDU, string theory & The Mars Volta; Robert Christgau would implode, 

the space-time continuum would be torn another one and you may come close to Thundercub. 

Thundercub has been churning out space-grunge since 2009, bewildering audiences 

with their operatic ear-worms built on complex guitar loops, drum beats and synthesized oddities.  

Thundercub release their 5-track debut EP "Thundercub" this August seeing them return to the North Island for the first 

time since CALH2011. The first single and music video "Falcor" premieres online at http://www.undertheradar.co.nz/ 

August 15th, free to download, although they will never match the grand intensity of their live show. 

Friday August 12th Kittentank, the Raskolnikovs, Terror of the deep and Volcana

Friday August 12th 9 pm $5

Poetry in Motion Ken Arkind and Carrie Rudzinski USA

Wednesday August 24th $10 or $5 concession

First off, forget what you thought you knew when you heard the word....poetry.

Two of America's finest performance poets are about to descend upon the Coolest Little Capital in the World and engulf us in a whirlwind of words and wonder!

This is poetry like you have never seen it before.

Ken Arkind and Carrie Rudzinski, with local performers Micah Timona Ferris, Ali Jacs and Duncan Hope (all spoken word artists/performance poets)

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=197653236955804

French for Rabbits, Hula Hope

Thursday August 18th 8pm. $10

French for Rabbits are a dream folk duo based in the valleys of Wellington, New Zealand. Since they crept shyly into the open in February 2011 they have brought a few tears to the eyes of listeners and tried ever so hard to not have shakey knees on stage. Brooke Singer used to write songs for the new-folk group 'Ragamuffin Children' and John worries about the future, and plays guitar.

To raise some funds for their upcoming E.P release they are holding this special concert for which they will provide biscuits and other treats. They will be joined by the lovely Hula Hope on the night.