DISCLAIMER* Critic Te Ārohi sent their hungover designer with no writing experience to document the day. All the writers were more hungover.
On October 3rd, a random street in the industrial area of Ōtepoti was taken over by young musos, politicians, a voting booth, food trucks, a fucking massive Palestine flag, Craig Daniels, several hundred supporters, and a whole lot of political rage. This crock pot of awesomeness was an all-day, all-ages alternative music festival called Rock The Vote – giving some real support and incentive to push youth enrolment.
You’ve probably had some promo shoved in your face in the build-up to this event – hundreds of posters have been pasted around town, and a zine was even created and distributed to give an overview of the bands and the festival itself. However, Rock The Vote was a step above other local alternative music festivals. Critic talked to Natasha Griffiths (DUN Records, and an organiser of Rock The Vote) about the state of our community: “The Dunedin music scene is criminally underfunded [...] While youth enrolment remains far too low.” She brought up how the event was an opportunity to bring attention to these issues. “To put our artists on the big stage they deserve, create a safe third space for young people, and remind people that their voices, and their votes matter.”
This event bridged that gap between rangatahi and politics to make voting feel less like an obligation and more like something that actually belongs to young people. Nobody was telling you who to vote for, but the Greens’ gazebo was giving out free apples – green, not red.
The day started at 12pm and bands played right through to 8pm. The line-up featured local scene legends Motheaten, Coward!, the pink opaque, Grace Gemmell, Deaf Raccoon, Dolly Possum, Talking Furniture, Seek Help!, Sogg, Sivle Talk, Vagina Dry, U-No Juno, Bunchy’s Big Score, Strap, Rheumy and DJ’s curated by Tina Turntables. How’s that for a lineup? The day was also fully broadcast by Retrospect Entertainment, being livestreamed on YouTube with Craig Daniels (Campus Watch) interviewing the crowd between sets. Our local musos are too broke to tour, so this is the next best thing for those beyond Ōtepoti to see what all that Dunedin ruckus is about.
While The Crown’s DANKFEST takes pride in its DIY ethos, Rock The Vote was treated like the real deal. Passer-bys would assume some big out-of-town act was playing, but fuck that. Local musicians played on a massive stage beneath professional lighting and rigging, and a sound system that LCD would be proud of. The production and organisation of Rock The Vote was gifted by Southern Lights and Natasha Griffith’s DUN Records, with all the profit going directly to the performers.
Within a few seconds of entering the festival, Critic was immediately accosted by someone asking if we were enrolled to vote. Critic answered correctly and was validated with a bumper sticker – that’s just one of the many benefits of participating in a democracy. Looking around at the crowd, there was a sea of dyed hair that looked like glorious Mr Skittles threw up on Devon Street.
Shortly after admiring this rainbow, Natasha was kind enough to take Critic to the backrooms of Southern Lights to find some local musicians to torment (interview). Feeling pretty exclusive with the VIP ticket, Critic ended up in the green room and found a bunch of them nervously waiting to play on a stage far bigger than their usual, more humble set-ups. Zac, a member of the pink opaque, was especially excited about the opportunity. “It’s cool to see a showcase of Dunedin's music scene in the form of an actual festival,” he said. “It’s like what you would see in other parts of the country that maybe have a little more ratepayer money or funding initiatives. This had a really great group of people behind it.”
It was like Coachella, but if it was in Dunedin and the weather was always a bit shit. Just like Coachella, many celebrities attended. While politicians didn’t get the mic, Dunedin electorate candidates Victor Billot, Francisco Hernandez, and Rachel Brooking were all there, representing Alliance, Greens, and Labour respectively.
Critic asked Fran if he believes the youth feel listened to by politicians. “Young people don’t feel listened to by this Government,” he said. “[But] they do feel listened to by some politicians. Like, whenever Chlöe walks on campus, she is basically mobbed by students.” However, Fran admitted that the political class and system are largely indifferent to students and young people. “That's why we have to work to change it, to create a system that’s more friendly for young people, for Māori, for everyone.” Some might say young people need to rock the vote. Haha!
Rachel largely agreed with Fran’s sentiment. “There are a whole bunch of politicians on the right who I don't think are very interested in listening to the youth and, in fact, are actively trying to disenfranchise them. We’ve seen that with vote enrolment now closing on the 25th of October,” she explained. Both Rachel and Fran agreed on the fact that art was inherently political, and seemed happy to listen to some tunes and keep chatting policy in between set changes. Not that they had much choice – the music was really fucking loud.
Music has undoubtedly always been something that brings community together, acting as a vehicle for politics throughout history. “Music is art and art is political inherently, and the people who try to be apolitical in their art are fucking pussies,” Tane told Critic, a proud member of Sivle Talk. “Everyone here is very well-motivated, because we are all broke and sad. It’s what brings us together.” the pink opaque’s Zac supported that sentiment, “There’s something to be said about the state we are in right now,” he said. “You look back at the scenes, like, in the 80s, UK punks protesting against Margaret Thatcher and various other movements – that's still alive today.” And it lives on Devon Street.
Aside from one minor hiccup when Bunchy’s Big Score went so hard they fucking killed the generator, Rock The Vote was a roaring success. It proved that getting young people engaged with politics doesn’t just have to be another panel discussion in a lecture theatre, but can just be some pissed-off musicians and a massive stage in a parking lot. If you missed the gig and also need eight hours to procrastinate during exam season, check out the stream on YouTube.
