AW & Community Treatment Order – Goblin: March 14, 2026 (13th Floor Concert Review)
AW and Community Treatment Order…two noisy, post-punk bands, and a hipster DJ. Perfect for a good night out at Tamaki Makaurau’s now-not-so-secret old-worldy backwater tavern. Change… The folk at Goblin have moved the stage, maybe recently, maybe a while ago, it now sits in the middle of the room, the DJ relegated to a tidy corner, it feels embracing.
Community Treatment Order
I last saw CTO with Ringlets last year, so I checked out their bandcamp in advance, toru songs: Husk and Apathy have a Smiths/Monochrome Set vibe. Avoid the last one – Frances of the Mist, though maybe it sounds better live?
The five are not so squeezed in, the audience is, as the flow to and from the smoking patio is constant, it amuses that these travellers must mix with the rough types. There is a setlist, old-kura, but as the vocalist espoused, it’s in red pen, so under the minimalist red lighting, it’s unreadable. There’s also a fill-in drummer, Jessie, I missed the name of her band, they haven’t fired the old one, he’s just missing or in limbo or washing his hair..
Tonight CTO sounds schizophrenic, early on the material is simplistic, rudimentary, any band of competent (and tonight, all five are more than competent) musicians could create. It was later, in particular after the ‘red-pen’ muse, that CTO became somewhat alluring, it forbodes a leans into an americana influenced tune that creates quite a different vibe in the room.
Yes, when Community Treatment Order starts swinging, bringing to bear their gothic country vibe, when they free up Katie to punch out some grunty bass rhythms, when they match it with the duelling guitars that the players finesse and fold over, that is when CTO comes alive. Add the Ennio Morricone elements, the false ending in the final anthem, the croonerish vocals, all the elements are there for success.
Intermission: While the DJ, Matthew Crawley, spins an eclectic mix including Julee Cruise and James White and the Blacks (or similar) a hand flicks lighting switches, darken the whare, there’s a hope that the massive disco ball that dominates the heavens will begin, but alas, no…
AW
And a drummer waited patiently….
I recently saw Andew Wilson’s previous incarnation Die! Die! Die! At Port Noise (Festival) in Lyttelton last month, they were sick, but really, now, AW just kick it.
With three on the floor, the band had space, bassist Morgan was free to swing, and Kim had his own kit, meanwhile Andrew had the lion’s share, and later he took more. The space is jammed now, the smokers precariously balancing their cocktails, taking care, and kindness of strangers prevailed.
Songs, they mostly feature from AW’s debut album The Nerve, some like The Nerve had never been played live before (the current tour), many I recognised (Thief of Joy) from shows at Cupid Bar and The Old Folk Association. The audience danced, moved as much as they could, in a post-punk way. As Kim and Morgan created a solid drums & bass sound, a canvas upon which, using his guitar, Andrew created Jackson Pollock like aural depictions. It was this space created, when AW reduced to just vocals and DNB, that magic truly happened, yes enjoyment peaked when Morgan’s vamped basslines and Kim’s floor tom rhythms ruled the room, as Andrew wildly (at times) voiced the narrative, and minimistically afflicted his guitar.
There was Andrew in the crowd, guitar and mic stand, an anthem at the end, but no wished for, called for, one-more, just joy and discovery for some, for all. AW tour the nga Motu during March.
Simon Coffey
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AW:
CTO:
