Lamentably, the first rock concert I ever attended was ELO [with their 'amazing laser light show'] at Western Springs in 1978. The first concert I attended under my own steam was an underage rage [i.e. no alcohol sales] at His Majesty's Theatre four years later, featuring popular NZ bands like the Screaming Mee Mees and the Newmatics.
The Newmatics were a ska band with a lot of soul music influences on their sleeve. They had a great born section that regularly blew their microphones will playing live. You'll have to excuse the primitive video with its attempts at comedy, the song's actually about police brutality! Take careful note of the dancing in this video...
Not sure I ever got to see The Instigators live in concert. They had a definite love affair with The Clash [and, inevitably, Siouzsie and the Banshees], mixing punk, rock and reggae influences. Look, there's that weird running on the spot dancing style in the crowd again. Tragically, I did a lot of that when I was younger and fitter.
And here are the Mee Mees, a very early track and a typically primitive video. Watch out for the foot stamping and/or running on the spot dancing. Note the winklepicker shoes, which I still tend to wear. Union Jack flags show up a lot in early 80s Kiwi music videos. Somehow Brit culture was always cooler - punk, ska, mods.
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