27/03/2026

Gut Health – Whammy Bar: March 26, 2026 (13th Floor Concert Review)

Naarm/Melbourne-based ensemble Gut Health showcased their unique brand of hypnotic dance-punk, no wave, and musical soundscapes to a gratefully gyrating Whammy Bar audience last night. It was the first stop of their debut tour of New Zealand, and they certainly cemented their place within Whammy Bar’s walls.

Gut Health were supported by two exceptional opening acts, each of the three bands bringing their own singular sounds to the stage. Sounds that held pure spirit and self-expression, and were both intentional and unintentional, and messy, and held exacted talent, and hypnotising genius musicianship. And as I had descended the sticky black stairs into the heart of one of Auckland’s mainstay music venues, I realised there was no place I’d rather be, and nothing I’d rather do, on a stormy Auckland Thursday night.

Dick Move

Five-piece Auckland-based band Dick Move kicked off the night. Frontwoman Lucy Suttor led the band with a vivacious energy and a voice that maintained control while showcasing emotional intensity and vocal experimentation. The crowd reflected the energy back to her, moving their bodies in time to the drum, bass and guitar rhythms undulating outwards from the stage.

Slashy, punchy punk influences and party pop sounds were thrown into a blender with political and protest lyrics to create a delicious concoction that the crowd were drinking up until the last drop was gone. One of my favourite songs in the set was one that felt appropriate for the venue of Whammy Bar: Karang-a-Hape. It felt like an ode and homage to the venues they started out in. Try Hard roared in with intensely relatable lyrics and vivid instrumentation. At one point the lead singer reached her hand into the air, feeling the ceiling above her and gripping on for dear life, looking like she was pushing the floor and ceiling apart as she put her everything into the lyrics of the song. They closed their set with Scared Old Men, which featured lyrics so fast it was almost rapping. Tight sound. Flashing lights. Full energy. A perfect finisher.

Dick Move played sixteen short, sharp, high-energy songs that felt grouped into sections, flowing seamlessly from one to the next, finding the snatches of moments in between each section to chat and connect with the gig-goers grouped in front of them. Their set was almost a full gig in itself – when the first band to play is worth the ticket price on its own, you know you’re in for a great night.

Grecco Romank

A lilting, ethereal voice with a sophisticated edge. A guttural low vocal formed in the back of the throat. A maestro on the keyboard, electronic soundscape, and guitar. This is the trio that make up Grecco Romank, a New Zealand dance/electric group that carved their own niche sound into the evening. The three on stage had distinct visual styles. This was reflected in their contribution to the music with their individual flavours, and yet they blended and melted into each other for a cohesive set of layered sounds and dance beats that built to a dance rave feel.

Piss Baby started off their set, the prerecorded samples setting a base layer, and deep guttural singing from vocalist Mikey Sperring contrasting with almost operatic sounding Billie Fee to create a conversation. The soundscapes of Bootlicker and Nobel Grease had the crowd deep in their feelings, eyes closed and bodies swaying to the rolling beats. Before Seethe, the band checked on the sound technician at the back of the room to check everything was sorted, which reminded me it’s a tight partnership between the venue and the bands.

Don’t Get Caught was played directly into the audience, with the band members connecting on an intimate level to their front row fans. Then Animal Money had the three playing off each other in their physicality. Billie singing with her hands caged around her head, Mikey with fully open body language. Damian Golfinopoulos expertly laying a pulsing bass drum heartbeat sample that reverberated around the room. Grecco Romank ended their set with higher energy Get In The Can with heavy drum hits driving the music and a groove to it that had the whole venue moving, warm and ready for the headliners to hit the stage.

Gut Health

Gut Health began by playing Uh Oh, which had a progressively layered start to it. Adam Markmann’s driving bass line set the scene for the rest of the band. Guitarist Eloise Murphy-Hill deftly transitioned between tambourine and guitar throughout the song, as well as providing punctuating backing vocal colour to it. Frontwoman Athina Uh-Oh began with a commanding, confident and controlled voice from the first moment she opened her mouth – and she didn’t falter all set.

The presence and skilled, tight sound led into Juvenile Retention, with Athina’s versatile voice light in the right places, heavier in others, and sighing intimately when the song asked for it. She lifted the mic above her head and stretched the lead out between her arms in an act of showmanship that had the crowd swooning and leaning in towards the stage. Scripture allowed the vocal harmonies between the lead singer and Eloise to shine, as well as guitarist and backing vocalist Dom Wilmott.

Then Wonderful Life burst onto the scene with guitar chords and piercing percussion from Angus Fletcher that perfectly complemented the rolling bass line. Staccato singing was restrained, but hinted at bubbling emotions hidden from view underneath. It was layered with three backing vocals, the multiple voices gave an edge to the band and a unique blend to the soundscapes they created. And showcased their undeniable musicality. The song ended on heavy percussion hits then glided straight into Sex, Lies & Videotape with a reverb effect on the lead singer’s mic creating almost a delayed effect with the lyrics plastering over one another. She looked deep in the eyes of the first row, commanding the room, almost challenging her audience with the intensity of her stare.

Leather Forever and Pretty City ushered in a major pop punk dance explosion, drawing a “chee hoo!” from an appreciative audience member. They then played a new song that they’d only played a couple of times live, but also teasing it may appear on their second, as yet not announced, album. It was Hippodrome, which experimented beautifully with unexpected tonality – distorting, mixing, purposefully not harmonically perfect chords that felt experimental and unrestrained. The frontwoman sang in a way that edged towards chanting, weaving an almost hypnotic sound.

A held note echoed and carried through into Separate States, with the drum beat laid down by Myka Wallace, driving the song. Cool Moderator put the bass line back in full view and added vocals as an instrumental layer in the periphery. Then Beat To Beat exploded in. A partnership between the drummer and bassist powered this one, and perfectly harmonised vocals sat over top.

Stiletto hit the stage. It was one of the best of the evening, and the set finale. Athina had at this point stripped to a black bra with glinting silver, and hot pants, full confidence stalking the stage and showing the whites of her eyes to the audience while she shook her hair and used her hands to paint visions above her head. The bass was crisp, and a complex tempo arrangement elevated the band’s sound. It vibrated between both ears, unable to take every single note in all at once, unable to decide what to focus on.

The crowd screamed for more and of course the band played their encore, returning for The Recipe. It began with full pop punk cowbell and felt like a fitting last moment in the sun for the band before they had to head back out into the pouring rain.

The absence of the sound at the end of their set felt like a loss, like I wanted to grasp on and never let the music end. It was the kind of evening where I forget that the world existed at the top of the sticky, poster-laden stairwell. The gig provided a much needed break from reality, and the three bands each loaned their exceptional unique sounds to the Whammy Bar stage for the night to provide just that.

The whole evening from start to finish was a show of excellent experimentation and musicianship, one I’d love to experience again, but I think would be almost impossible to recreate.

E.J. Rzepecky

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Michael Jeong:

Gut Health: