April #11
This month we talk shipping containers (or is it art?), kava cafes, Charlie Chaplin, an end of Ramadan feast, and local stalwart Mr Pickles.
As always, send us your tips, gossip, and local discoveries to hello@thewaikatodraft.com or slide into our Insty DMs.
ScuttlebutT
Matt Stark says our footpaths suck. And he’s right. But just wait until he hears about the state of our everything else [insert your pet hate public infrastructure issue here].
We’ve been transfixed and perplexed by the ongoing saga of David and Barbara Yzendoorn’s shipping container installation piece. Is it art? The Environment Court ruled that it is. And now they want to install a public toilet. After neighbours objected to their application to build a multistorey duplex, the Yzendoorns installed the piece (or, shipping container, if you prefer) last year to symbolise their frustrations with the resource consent process. As you can imagine, opinions in the neighbourhood are mixed. Is this a triumph of lawfare over NIMBYism? Is it just IRL trolling? I started this paragraph thinking it wasn’t art, but now I kind of feel like it is - art provokes, after all.
Waikato Times’ reporter Sarah Morcom has a last hurrah with the Founders Theatre.
There’s a new Kava cafe in Huntly, opened by professional wrestler Tok Fale - the TuiTui Voa Kava Cafe, modelled off similar establishments he’s seen in Hawai’i.
We’re in for a fancy new hotel; we’re crossing our fingers and toes for a genuinely good hotel restaurant, maybe even a spa, and a pool overlooking the river, with drinks served poolside.
River Riders now offers accessibility-friendly e-trikes for hire.
Councillor Andrew Bydder bragged at a recent council meeting that he and Geoff Taylor are having a contest to see who can wrack up the most code of conduct complaints. (Each complain costs a minimum of $700 to invitation, and then costs rate payers $5,000 to mediated, if required. We note that Cr Bydder splits his time between banging on about ratepayer money being spent frivolously and launching into profanity heavy tirades to council staff.)
While on the topic of the council - this year is one where the council revises its 10-year-plan. If you like or dislike the way this city is headed don’t forget to submit - feedback closes 12 April.
You might’ve caught Jesse Mulligan’s rave review of Mr Pickles, declaring that it isn’t just good by Hamilton standards, but would easily make a top 50 listing of Auckland restaurants. More on Mr Pickles, and our recent great night there, below.
Keep an eye out for a crowdfunding campaign to keep Paul Darrah’s Progress Pillar, which was just one of many impressive erections you may have seen around the city as part of the Boon Sculpture Trail, in March.
What’s On
IRL
Women’s sport continues to ascend - Seddon Park hosts two ODIs as the White Ferns take on England on 4 April (the day we’re sending this out - you might still make it!) and 7 April. Tickets.
Our top pick of April events has to be Eid al Fitr (which finishes on either Thursday or Friday - it depends on the moon) on Saturday April 13, from 11am to 5pm, at the Claudelands Showgrounds. It will feature food stalls representing more than 35 cuisines from the various ethnicities that make up the Hamilton Muslim community.
Poet Nadia Freeman is performing her work The Girmit at the Waikato Museum, 21 April 2024 (from 4 - 5 pm) - a missive told through poetry and electronic music, she tells the story of her ancestors and indentured labour from India to Fiji. You can read a little background, here, from RNZ. Tickets.
If you’re loving the current bright and slightly wild floral trends at the moment - pick your own flowers with Tomtit Farm, on Saturdays from 9am - 1pm. Rush and you’ll catch the dahlias. Follow the sign on Webster Road, Matangi.
ANZAC Day commemorations take place at the Cenotaph in Memorial Park at 6 am and 10 am on the 25th.
Music
By Adam Fulton
Heavy Easter. April 5. Last Place. Tickets.
A night of proggy psych, featuring Psygon, Static, Du Trois and Shotgun the Couch
Repairs album release. April 19. Last Place. Tickets.
Longstanding Tāmaki Makaurau noise-rock trio Repairs celebrate their album release, alongside Empress and Halcyon Birds
Home Brew. April 20. The Factory. Tickets.
One of Aotearoa's most cherished contemporary hip hop acts grace the stage of the Factory as part of their nationwide tour
Dartz. April 20. Last Place. Tickets.
Possibly the best known of Last Place house bands Dartz celebrate their LP launch, alongside Martial Law and Speed Dating
Another Fucking Problem. April 26. Last Place.
New Tāmaki Makaurau hardcore band AFP (featuring members of Dial, Exit Fear, Human Resource) play their debut Hamilton show. Alongside Kirikiriroa's only stadium crust act Easy Off and newcomers Martial Law.
Theatre
By Louise Drummond
The Borrowers, Riverlea Theatre. 6-20th April, times vary. Tickets.
You may have seen the live-action film, or you may have seen the Ghibli film Arrietty, or you may have read the book as a kid. Either way, most will know that the Borrowers is about a group of tiny people who live under the floorboards of a human house. It's a great story that I'm sure the kids will love, and I personally love seeing the creativity of the set design and props crew with concepts like this.
Madagascar the Musical, Clarence St Theatre. 12-14th April, times vary. Tickets.
If you've seen the Dreamworks movie, you'll know the plot and you'll know it's a good laugh. This will be a great show to take the kids to as a celebration of surviving Term 1. Just make sure you can handle repeated renditions of your kids’ "I like to move it, move it" afterwards.
Chaplin the Musical, Meteor Theatre. 13-20th April, 7.30pm. Tickets.
As you may have guessed from the title, this is the story of Charlie Chaplin in musical form. The cast and crew behind this show are fabulous; a great option if you want something a bit more grown up after the school holiday shows.
The Sun and the Wind, Meteor Theatre. 24-26th April, times vary. Tickets.
This play, written by Tainui Tukiwaho, was shortlisted for the Adam NZ Play award in 2022, and has received excellent reviews for its run in Auckland’s Q Theatre, described as "an ode to whaanau and connection".
Helios, Meteor Theatre. 27th April, 8-9pm. Tickets.
A contemporary retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Helios – the sun – and the fall of Phaeton. This is a performance from the UK award-winning group Wright&Grainger, who have won all sorts of awards from Fringe Festivals worldwide, so it's great to have them perform in Kirikiriroa.
Movies
By Jason Marshall
Anyone else feel old whenever a Skins alum headlines a major movie? Just me? Dev Patel makes his directorial debut and stars in Monkey Man, a gritty underworld crime thriller whose tumultuous production sounds almost as precarious as anything seen on screen. “Possibly the most ferocious mainstream action movie since The Raid,” writes Phil de Semlyen in Time Out. Trailer. April 4.
Writer-director Alex Garland (of the mind-bending Ex Machina and the profoundly underwhelming, nonsense-strewn Netflix-released Natalie Portman vehicle Annihilation) returns with the frighteningly plausible Civil War, depicting an America where social divisions have escalated all the way to sedition and armed conflict. Kristen Dunst, Wagner Moura and Jesse Plemens’ always unnerving face star. Trailer. April 11.
Late night TV always seemed like a difficult gig to me, doubly so when you’re broadcasting live. So it must really throw a spanner into the works when your show gets hijacked by the literal devil and he wants to talk about how the host got famous. Late Night with the Devil is a spooky-looking found footage horror tale that seems to have nailed the look and feel of 1970s TV, and poses the question we’ve all wondered: What if Johnny Carson had to fight satan? Trailer. April 11.
You’re a tennis prodigy and the hottest girl in the world. Your career comes to an abrupt halt due to injury. You end up taking a coaching role, but fall in love with both of your students. At least, I think that’s what’s happening. Zendaya stars in Challengers, from director Luca Guadagnino (of the sumptuous Call Me By Your Name). Can it dethrone Match Point to become the champion of the sexy tennis love triangle subgenre? Trailer. April 18. (Sneak peak Ladies Night screening at the Regent on April 17, tix $30 inclusive of a drink and an ice cream.)
What we put in our mouths this month
You don’t really need a newsletter like ours to tell you about Mr Pickles, who’ve been slinging great food and cocktails with a river view, since 2018. It’s one of those places where everything’s so consistently good, that it’s hard to know what to order. So we opted for the tasting menu ($75 per person, or $90 pp with dessert), and our expert server brought us everything we’d been eyeing up, alongside some pleasant surprises. We’re total control freaks, but here’s a vote for putting the professionals in the driver’s seat.
