Archive
Past Shows
Venues, write-ups and photos from the road so far.
The Commercial Hotel
We had a triumphant return to an old stomping ground when we played at the last real pub in the city. Quart bottles, loud music and a great crowd! Thanks to the team at The Comm for having us, we’ll be back soon!
Rock the Hills 2
Another great fundraiser event organised by some passionate locals with a love of all things music!
Rosemary’s Bar
Following the successful Asgard gig we were invited to play a follow up show in support of Say or Do’s upcoming release with Danny Rascal. The gig really went off and we even had some troopers come to see us down from the Waikato for the night. Awesome bands, awesome night. Thanks Taupo.
Asgard Alt-Rock Takeover
A great crowd come out in New Plymouth for an awesome night of live music at the newly opened Asgard. Will a real musicians club vibe the night was enjoyed by all as they were treated to a stacked line-up of killer bands including Say or Do, Kessel, Girl I Wanna Be and Late for Life Drawing.
Vintage Weekend Caboodle
Whanganui's biggest weekend was a smashing success once again and we were thrilled to be asked to play the main stage for a prime mid afternoon spot! It was great to also play for a few friends that had travelled and not see us before. A great day had by all!
Shannon’s Fundraiser
We had no hesitation whatsoever in answering the call for Shannon when she needed support the most while battling some health issues. The Whanganui band scene really came together for this one and a great time was had by all. Numerous bands donated their time and talent to the cause. And we can now happily report that Shannon is now back to full health. Amazing!
Pauls Road Festival
The 13th annual Pauls Road Live went ahead in Whanganui East after a nervous week, with the country dropping back to Covid-19 alert level 1 at 6am on the morning of the show. Cloud and the odd shower did nothing to put anyone off.
Back to the Lucky Bar
A small but enthusiastic crowd gathered to see us play a few new tracks and celebrate our fist gig back after lockdown. The Mean Owls played an awesome set and the entire night was well received.
Vintage Weekend Caboodle
Another great year at the Whanganui Vintage Weekend Caboodle. Invited back for the second year, Kessel played a great set in front of an enthusiastic crowd enjoying the weather and refreshments.
Kessel & In Business
We had a great crowd in for the night and fun was had by all. Our good mate Aaron Gash joined us on acoustic guitar to do some pared back versions of a few tracks which went over well.
Serious Happiness
A small but enthusiastic crowd gathered to see Elephants Gerald, Kessel and Serious Happiness on what was a great night of original music.
Rock the Comm!
Well we all had a fantastic time at Rock The Comm on Saturday! What an epic event! Great sounds were belted out from cover bands 440, Evenflow and Burn the Machines before we followed up with an hour long set.
Kessel, The Jacks and DTD
We had the best time on Friday playing to an awesome crowd with our old mates The Jacks from New Plymouth and new friends Dusk Till Dawnz from Palmerston North. All the bands put on epic performances and we couldn’t have been happier with the turn out. Thanks to all our friends and workmates that came along to support also. You guys rock.
Chronicle Records Event
With the recent break-in at Chronicle Records setting not only the studio back but the Wanganui muso community as a whole, Kessel decided to spearhead a bit of a fundraiser for the great team at Chronicle Records to recoup some of what can never really be replaced.
Vintage Weekend Caboodle
There was an awesome turnout for Mainstreet Whanganui and The Vintage Weekend Caboodle for Wellington Anniversary Weekend. Kessel took the stage just after 3pm and got plenty of attention! Thanks to everyone that came to support us and to the Mainstreet team for including us in such a great event.
Mark’s Fundraiser
Our good mate and Jason’s former neighbour Mark has suffered a bit of a health set back so to help out his partner Sara has rallied together musicians and friends from all over the place to put on an awesome fundraiser that including bands, auctions and other fun activities.
Live at Lucky!
We had another brilliant time at Lucky where we took advantage of a larger stage that was used there the night before. A roots band was in town previously and Matt and Georgie received their first ever noise complaint!
Whanganui Musicians Club
We had an awesome night down at the Savage Club Hall for the May the 4th edition of the Wanganui Musicians Club. A great crowd stayed up with us the whole time and we ripped out a couple of our new tracks, Crowded Room and What You Choose to Take, which were both really well received.
Private Show – Nick’s 30th
We had a great night down at Frank Bar for our mate Nick’s 30th. Guitarist Tim teamed up with long time friend Aaron Gash to play an awesome acoustic set before we hit the stage. Our set was really well received and we debuted two new songs, ‘Crowded Room’ and ‘What You Choose to Take’. The night was topped off by some great covers and everyone had an amazing night!
Skate Lucky Rail Jam
So awesome that Matt and Georgie had us back to support the Lucky Skate Jam for youth to enjoy their skating in a cruisy supportive environment. It was such a cool thing to play in front of the ramps while the tricks were ripping out. Sure reminded us of our skating days! Best comment ever from one of the kids to Georgie, ‘thanks for not getting angry at us skating’. WTF. Needs to be more of it, beats iPads.
Private Show – Alex’s 30th
What an awesome birthday bash for our drummer Alex who turned 30 last Saturday! There were epic performances by 9 different bands and everyone had a super cool time. The night was rounded off perfectly by our good friends The Jacks, Pull Down the Sun and The Replicants. The drinks were flowing and so was the dancing and there were indeed a few sore heads on Sunday!
Private Show – Eve’s 40th
Congratulations to Eve who celebrated a milestone this year and decided to get everyone along to Kessel’s hometown of Wanganui. We had a great weekend of camping, partying and rock n roll!
Wheels in Wanganui
We had an awesome time playing on super a hot day for the annual Wheels in Wanganui park up at the Racecourse with all proceeds going to the great people at St Johns Ambulance. Man it was hot up there and the lads certainly deserved a cold beer afterwards!
Fynthetic @ Lucky
A great night had by all with a super energetic crowd in the mood for a good time! It was awesome for us to play alongside our mates from Fynthetic and to put on a show everyone could really connect with. It was cool to have the crowd singing along and the band was super stoked with the set.
Live at Lucky
Another awesome night with our friends at Lucky! Great people, great food and great music. Cheers to 80 Grit who came all the way from New Plymouth to support us and to those that came along to the show and made it such a mint time.
The Citizens
We were privileged again to be playing amongst great company with our good friends The Jacks and other local acts Darkwater and The Leavings. A great show was put on by all involved and it was definitely a night to remember. Hopefully we can pull some strings and get back to New Plymouth again later in the summer.
Levin BBH
A great night had by all with Levin’s local talent ‘Melodies of the Disturbed’ and ‘Fusion’. It was great to get back and play in AEB’s temporary premises at the Brass Band Hall and we were treated to some excellent music by some up-and-coming musicians who will be sure to be noticed on the NZ scene soon!
Lucky Bar
What a fantastic night with our friends down at the Lucky Bar!
NZ Music Month @ Frank Bar
Another great performance from the lads to a small but energetic crowd down at the Frank Bar for NZ Music Month. It was awesome to play again with The Jacks and to meet Anj and Olivia from Ready Sett, a great duo from Wellington.
The Wine Cellar
Well, well, well. What an awesome night in our biggest city – and what a turn out! Kessel can’t thank everyone enough for coming out to show their support! A great crowd indeed and we are super thankful to The Jacks and Duke Landsford for having us on the bill. And what a great little venue at The Wine Cellar on K Road.
AEB
What better way to celebrate Easter than by getting down at AEB in Levin! The venue is an old school out of the way joint down a back alley that is as cool as it sounds. We were supported by Levin’s own The Vermillion Poets that played great blues rock and our great mates from Wanganui, Pull Down the Sun who put on a great set of culturally inspired metal. Mean as.
Whanganui Musicians Club
We were very excited to be playing a spot at our very own Wanganui Musicians Club. The club runs on the first Friday of every month and is well worth a visit to check out a great range of diverse talent from all over New Zealand.
Pauls Road Festival
Pauls Road is an annual music gathering held in Wanganui to support charities. Every year there is a diverse range of different bands and we were lucky enough to be asked to play this year.
Rock the Tron!
Another great road trip away to play with some great bands including Punch Monkeys, Free Fall Rock and Acidmorph at Biddy Mulligans in Hamilton. And it ain’t rock n’ roll unless you’re packing a gun, or so we found out!
Wheels in Wanganui
Well you haven’t cut your teeth as a band until you’ve played on the back of a truck, and the inaugural ‘Wheels in Wanganui’ event held at the Wanganui Racecourse was our chance to do just that! We were really happy to be involved with such a great event to help raise money for some really worth causes.
NYE with TRM
New Year’s Eve at The Royal in Palmerston North with Tokyo Rock Machine and Apollo Steam Train!
The Arena
Kessel launched with a private gig at The Arena in front of a crowd of one hundred music lovers keen to see what all of the fuss was about! The band organised the entire evening themselves, right down to the free chips and recycling and were really stoked at the turnout.