‘You can’t shake the showbiz out of me’
Thirty years between gigs is long enough for Mockers frontman Andrew Fagan, discovers
New Zealand music fans whose memories stretch back to the mid-1980s will likely have the image of Mockers frontman Andrew Fagan etched in their minds.
Fagan was the first New Zealand pop star who looked and acted like a pop star, thanks to his flamboyant dress sense and the way he and his bandmates carried themselves on stage – he was every bit the peer of Adam Ant and Billy Idol as he was of his Kiwi brethren like Dave Dobbyn and Tim Finn.
The beloved new wave band were a staple of New Zealand’s pop and rock scene throughout much of the 1980s, and photos of Fagan adorned many a teenager’s wall during that era.
Most of those teenagers will now be well into their 40s. And some, who live in Hamilton, had the opportunity to experience a small, but no doubt personally significant moment of musical history last night, when The Mockers played their first live show in about 30 years at Altitude bar. Wellington audiences get their chance to get in on the act at the San Fran on Sunday.
The question is, will Fagan be dusting off the old wardrobe?
‘‘There’s no dust on it,’’ the 54-year-old guffaws. ‘‘I still have the apricot New Romantic jacket I bought from a second hand store in Timaru in 83. I’ve been wearing it for some of my [new band] Andrew Fagan and the People shows.
‘‘You can’t shake the showbiz out of me.’’
Fagan, as well as Brett Adams (guitar), Geoff Hayden (bass) and Tim Wedde (keyboard) comprise the core lineup, which will be augmented by Phoenix Foundation member Chris O’Connor on drumming duties.
It will be an opportunity for fans to hear and sing along to songs like Forever Tuesday Morning, Swear It’s True, One Black Friday, My Girl Thinks She’s Cleopatra and Shield Yourself.
‘‘The material is all there. We have all just been re-learning our parts ... I’ve got a bit of a task remembering all the lyrics. They are all there, somewhere in my mind. I just have to dig them all out.’’
What kind of show can the punters expect?
‘‘It will be a real life experience ... It will be a little bit of history revisited. It will be a show by The Mockers, circa 85 ... a classic retro sound.
‘‘It is going to be real fun for us. I mean, we have to take it all seriously. But everything is going to come alive.’’
This year could be a big year for bands of yore reforming and touring. Oasis seem likely to set aside their differences and go on tour; the original Sugababes have a new album coming out; and there are even rumblings of a potential Talking Heads reunion.
U2 are also touring again, performing the tracks from their revered album The Joshua Tree in full, to mark the LP’s 30th anniversary.
So what prompted The Mockers to take the reformation route after 30 years?
‘‘We were asked to play at a beer festival in Christchurch in late January. Everyone was up for it, and it was just decided to add a few more dates around the country ... It really is as simple as that.’’
Fagan is unable to say why the Hamilton venue was selected as the first cab off the rank for the extended get-together, other than it fitted nicely into the touring schedule.
‘‘The last time The Mockers would have played in Hamilton would have been on our last tour, The Emperor’s New Clothes Tour back in 87, at Founders Theatre.’’
That tour was the end of an era and the band, formed in Wellington in 1980. Their sevenyear career took place during a halcyon time in New Zealand’s entertainment scene, and their exploits are now part of musical lore: They played at two of the now-iconic Sweetwaters festivals and the Brown Trout festival in Wairarapa.
They were also in the lineup of the infamous Thank God It’s Over concert in December 1984, alongside Herbs and DD Smash, which preceded the Queen Street Riot. Although Fagan missed the riot – ‘‘I was lucky, I was down at the harbour, getting my boat’’ – there was plenty of aggression evident in the crowd beforehand, including plenty directed at The Mockers themselves.
The experience helped inspire him to write One Black Friday.
‘‘It all just went down ... I remember it as being a not particularly well-organised event. I think the mix of bands was not great – we didn’t go down well with some of the crowd. A lot of the Herbs fans were not particularly into us.’’
Fagan has fonder memories of the Sweetwaters shows and playing at numerous other venues around the country, including the original Hillcrest Tavern in Hamilton.
The reunion tour is, at this stage at least, just a temporary thing.
‘‘I’ve still got my own band, Fagan and the People, and we will still be doing gigs ... and I still have my day job, working on a small ship that heads up into the Pacific and back.
‘‘I’m an able seaman – four hours on, four hours off. It’s a great life.’’
The Mockers Reunion Tour hits Wellington’s San Fran at 8pm on Sunday.