On February 28 this year, iconic Auckland pub the Kings Arms finally closed its doors after nearly 120 years in business.

The pub has now been bulldozed to make way for a new apartment block.

That's what happens to New Zealand's musical history, as the Kings Arms goes the way of The Gluepot and so many other venues. There's more money in apartments than music.

But this wasn't unexpected. Maureen Gordon, the pub's landlady for 35 years, died shortly after selling the building in 2016 for $7.4 million.

Her daughters continued to run the venue until one last February bash.

The Kings Arms had been a music venue since 1988 and had hosted everyone from The White Stripes to The Black Keys and pretty much every happening Kiwi act. Many Tauranga bands had played there, too many to mention. Kokomo launched their ‘Bigger Than Brando' album at The Kings Arms and Larry Morris arranged the first big Ritchie Pickett tribute concert there.

A new album

And now, posthumously for the venue, B-Side Band, Tauranga's intrepid bunch of neo-rockabilly revivalists, have released an album recorded live at The Kings Arms. I think there's something rather cool about that.

A last lone bugle call over a lost battlefield. The CD stems from a set the band played for a get-together of supporters from the 1960s Auckland nightclub scene (the likes of Bo Peep, Galaxie, Montmartre and Mojos), which included a one-off reunion by the legendary Human Instinct.

The B-Side Band is an interesting outfit. The band was formed 15 years back by the twin musical forces of Simon Elton and Paul Parkhouse. During that time they've released – I think – two CD EPs, two full-length albums, one ‘Best Of' collection, and this new live album.

From three to four

I may have missed something...Simon is a veteran of the NZ scene, having played with Auckland pub-rock band The Furys back in the 1980s and been Ritchie Pickett's bass player for several years. Simon was responsible for some of Ritchie's later live CD albums as well as retrospective sets from the Furys. Paul is also a Kiwi music veteran, a harp and sax player and mercurial songwriter.

With Simon playing rhythm guitar, Paul on sax and harp – they both sing – and a drummer, they formed a trio, initially to play exactly what the name suggests – rockabilly from the 1950s onwards – but concentrating on the ‘B-sides', the road less travelled. Years later they are now a quartet, but still have no bass player, having co-opted Ian ‘Beano' Gilpin (Brilleaux, Kokomo) on drums and Mike Kirk (Kokomo) on guitar. It's an eccentric choice. Two things stick out in their music; one being their attention to material that has some tie-in with NZ, the other is Paul's evocative original songs. On the new CD the former is on display, with nods to the La-Di-Das and Tommy Adderly, though there are only a couple of Paul's songs, the opening instrumental and his always-entertaining ‘Remuera Cowboy'.

As to the album – simply entitled ‘Live At The Kings Arms Tavern 2016' – it's 16 tracks of warts and all B-Side Band, often at its best when the band are at their most aggressive. At moments like this the band gain a real power and it becomes almost a post-punk grunge attack on the blues with Mike Kirk's coruscating guitar lines bouncing off Paul's wild harp and general chaos only a thrilling moment away.