Winston Watusi Music Plus

We're thinking of changing the name of The Watusi Country Club to Fortress Watusi.

It does feel that way at times. Since last week's column Covid has arrived; as we were warned, the arrival has been swift.

It seemed every day this past week there was word about Omicron, of friends or family or work colleagues getting it or isolating because of it or of a business closing because of it. There's a lot about.

As a result I've found myself becoming a little paranoid and not really going out as I regularly would. Opportunities have come up for drinks at a bar, invitations have arrived to go hear a band and I've hummed and hawed a bit. And then stayed home.

I realise that this is not how you're meant to behave. The whole thing at the moment isn't 'keep yourself locked down”, it's 'take personal responsibility”. Which means we should all be going out as normal and frequenting hospitality, entertainment and retail businesses because if we all take the proper and sensible precautions – triple vaccination, masks, social distancing – we make it safe enough for us not to catch and spread the disease and help these businesses survive.

Dilemma

I know that. I've read it and heard it and understand it. But still the doubt lingers…I consider myself a pretty rational person but it's hard not to listen to that voice in the back of your head that says: 'It's only a couple of months – perhaps I'll just be a bit of a hermit for a couple of months, stick to contactless pick-ups and Uber deliveries: waiting's not exactly the end of the world”.

Perhaps it's just that these are early times. Current modelling suggests a peak around mid-March then a gradual decline. I'm sure my feelings – and I don't think I'm alone here at The Fortress – are not unusual in any way while adjusting to a shifting reality.

But if, like me, you're spending more time at home, either enforced or through choice, perhaps I can recommend a good movie to pass the time. Here are three musical treats that might help while away those unfilled hours…

The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground – Todd Haynes has form with previous musical films Velvet Goldmine (glam) and I'm Not There (Dylan). But those were fiction. This is a gloriously stylised documentary, making heavy use of Andy Warhol Factory footage of the band and displaying a plethora of rare clips. It may gloss over areas of band-infighting and other controversy but it's a rare documentary that is as good-looking as it is informative.

The Summer of 69

Summer Of Soul – in 1969 in upstate New York there was Woodstock; back in the city there was the Harlem Cultural Festival. One event took more than 50 years to be widely seen but now can be and is a simply dazzling array of great music. Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, BB King, Herbie Mann, The Fifth Dimension, The Staple Singers, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Sly and the Family Stone, and more. Seriously great music and a unique cultural document.

The Sparks Brothers – Edgar Wright (Sean of The Dead, Last Night in Soho) made this terrific, affectionate film about the enigmatic, prolific and remarkably long-lived band Sparks. It is a joy to watch and just about as eccentric as its subjects. I can't begin to explain the band's weird brilliance so perhaps it's better to just watch.

And that reminds me: the Tauranga Film Society starts it's new season on Thursday, March 10, at the Rialto Cinema with Chilean director Sebastián Lelio's acclaimed 2017 film A Fantastic Woman. It centres on headstrong, vivacious and happily-in-love Santiago bar singer Marina Vidal, played by the sensational trans actress Daniela Vega in her screen debut. When her lover dies, Marina finds herself, a trans woman living with an older man, immediately suspected of foul play.

Film Society films happen every second week at 6.30pm with a full 12-month membership costing $90 (Seniors $80). You can find all pertinent information and contact details at: nzfilmsociety.org.nz/tauranga.html