We continue the occasional series wherein Winston expounds on things that currently make him happy. This week it's three shows. During three weekends.

Is that enough to make someone happy? It is if you're Winston and one of the shows has a hypnotist!

Knightshade.

183) Knightshade – last chance to party! It's not often that I plug a gig in Hamilton, but then it's not many gigs that mean saying goodbye to a piece of New Zealand musical history.

Knightshade is finally, after a lifetime of ups and downs, calling it a day with one final show at the Altitude Bar.

Perhaps many now don't remember Knightshade, but in the 1970s and 1980s heavy metal was a delicious new concoction. And for several spectacular years their brand of hard rockin' metal pretty much crossed over into the mainstream. It was Knightshade, along with bands such as The Bronx and The Politicians, that were the foundations on which Hamilton's reputation – for better or worse – as New Zealand's black T-shirt metal capital was built.

The band was first called Clearlite and came from Te Puke. I'm not going to dig deep: They rocked the country, recorded albums that charted and famously supported Deep Purple at Western Springs.

Three years ago it looked like the end of the road when lead singer Wayne Elliot was operated on for asbestos cancer but he and the band returned with triumphant gigs. But all good things come to an end. Wayne's health is not good and this will be the last outing for Knightshade.

Anyone wanting to catch one of the best rock bands to emerge from New Zealand has one more chance: Saturday, August 6, Altitude Bar, Hamilton.

Tickets cost $30 from Eventfinda or ph: 0800 BUY TIX (289 849).

184) You hypnotise me baby! Okay, so I better admit right now – I'm a sucker for hypnotists. It started with a book I read as a teenager where the protagonist hypnotised chickens and dreamed of turning them into a 'chicken army”. As it turned out I struggled to hypnotise even a single chicken, which meant an army was definitely out of the question. Given I was a little irresponsible back then, it was probably for the best.

Anyway, we're talking about The Entertainers Club and back a couple of years ago when they started their monthly shows I mentioned that with such a name they should feature not just music but hypnotists, jugglers, fire-eaters, and more. Well, no sign of fire-eaters, but the club's first – as far as I'm aware – hypnotist, James Marx, is the main bill at Tauranga Citizens Club on Sunday, August 14. Brilliant!

I know nothing about Mr Marx (I like to be surprised), apart from the fact that in 1992 he formed Power Hypnosis which, amongst other things, helps people quit smoking in a single session! I'm guessing that he'll be doing a bunch of somewhat more 'showbizzy” things – getting people to eat onions thinking they're apples always impresses me! But I'd love to watch a mass quit smoking hypnosis: at the following Entertainer's Club gig everyone could get together and see how well it worked...

And wait, in the immortal words of Suzanne Paul, there's more...support set for the night comes from Santiago, a musician I've written about before and of whom I'm a big fan. Santi specialises in Latin roots music, trad stuff and a lot of his own, plays great acoustic guitar, sings very well, and constructs intricate arrangements on the spot with a loop pedal. His music is both accessible and eclectic. Highly recommended.

Things kick off at 5pm. Door tickets cost $15. Chickens optional.

185) A little Brillcream! If you missed Brilleaux's packed acoustic welcome home gig at The Matua you can get the full electric show tomorrow, August 30, at the Mauao PAC's Totara Street. They're supported by new blues band Lounge Dogs, which is a name I got wrong a couple of weeks ago for which I duly apologise. Things start about 8.30pm, tickets cost $15 from Eventfinda or on the door.

watusi@thesun.co.nz