Duncan & Prudence Our Blog

The Newtown Festival has always appeared to be one last incredible Summer day before Wellington turns a corner to face its Winter. I always struggle with a niggly throat immediately after the day from sheer exhaustion. 75,000 people! Did you hear? What a rip-roaring success. Newtown, you really know how to pull off a she-bang. A couple of times out on the stall I talked to our Constable who seemed keen to stop and chat with everybody. He told me the Key Success Indicators for the day were No Arrests, All Lost Kids Found, and Smiles left on Faces throughout the day. My word, I thought, that’s what I call a Community Constable.
Duncan & Prudence sponsored the Green St Stage and the neighbours’ review has been nothing but thumbs up, so we’re feeling pretty flash, albeit still too tired to really register. Poor old Tessa had to leave for Nelson for her Nana’s funeral, so we were one down in staff numbers. Tessa, as you know, is now our Chief Screen-printer, so our traditional same day rush service for festival goers turned into my gotta-be-in-two-places-at-once logistics nightmare. To tell you the truth, I didn’t see much more than a 50 metre radius around my corner all day.
Luckily my Mum and Dad were around. They came up initially to supervise our children while we worked hard, but James and Grace got into the Festival spirit and took turns busking at the stall, leaving Nennie and Pampa able to work the table out front when I went in for screen-print sessions. Nennie was our top model for the day sporting her aqua t-shirt dress with hibiscus on the hip. I reckon she single-handedly nabbed us a whole new demographic. Just because you’re retired don’t mean you can’t rock this late Summer must-have, grandma, or for that matter visit my blogsite. People, do me a favour and email this link to a parent near you. Grandmas need to know.
As it turns out, Wellington’s had day after day through March of more glisteningly beautiful Summer days. So if you still feel like wearing shorts and tanks, we’ve got some last late stock still available and our last tshirt dresses are for sale. Our stripey tank dress has been fun to sell in all the bright trims – there’s one in pink, one with slate and one with white trim left for sale also.
But for those of you getting ahead on what to wear change of season, we’re already stocking the merino tank dress. Mmmm, merino. As usual, we put what we sew out as soon as we can, and by the end of that week it’s all gone again, so if you don’t see any, please leave your number so we can give you a call and put it straight in a bag for you to come pick up next time.
Duncan made me a gorgeous steel grey merino V-tank tunic for my brother’s wedding. This dress is so classy and so simple to make I wouldn’t be surprised if he graded it and sold them in the store. Keep checking the winter windows or come in and put pressure on the man himself.
Hey, check me out with my new hairdo! That’s right, I had a true Britney Spears moment in the bathroom and chopped all my blonde off. Duncan calls me Tabby Cat (I missed 1mm here and there of peroxide, and it blends nicely with my emerging grey) but secretly I think he hates it. Typical: he found it deeply satisfying having a wife with long blonde hair. But I love it. I’m rocking the Victoria Beckham au naturel (and enlarged). I was worried, I must admit, when I stood halfway done in front of my mirror and suddenly felt like singing “oops, I did it again…” No, I haven’t suddenly lost the plot: I’ve simply just gone back to my roots, and it feels great.

Duncan & Prudence had such a good vibe hosting the stage last year that we decided we’d offer our services every year (until we get sick of it) and take the Green St stage off the Festival Committee’s hands. Wow they have enough to worry about with one of the biggest festivals in Wellington, multiple other stages to organise, the city council breathing down their necks about road closures, and this year the Wellington Hospital having their official opening on the same week. Whew!
I bet some of you thought you’d missed it, thinking it’s the first Sunday of every March, but No! For some reason they planned it for the second Sunday in 2009 and thank goodness, because the weather sucked the weekend prior. Hopefully Ranginui will stop crying for his girlfriend for this Sunday, but just to be sure, we better all say a prayer (and one to that Tawhirimatea while you’re at it; It would suck if he blew all day).
Duncan & Prudence have some groovy sounds lined up on the stage this year, including Duncan’s own band The Boganvillers and yours truly (gulp) doing a solo set of my love songs (some hate songs) for my man, as promised in my Valentine’s post last month. We had a practice run gig at The Adelaide on Thursday night that went down really well, with people dancing by the end of TBV’s set and one chick with dreads hanging off my husband later wanting to take him home. My chest swelled with pride (and then I decked her in a classic catfight out on the street – nah just kidding, I actually considered a threesome, she was hot, albeit smelly).
For the love of Green St we put the invite out to all our neighbours down the street and picked up the talented Tony Riven who will play his line up of written-after-midnight masterpieces. This guy got a great reception last year but it hasn’t gone to his head – I saw him in line at the bank this week and watched him visibly shudder with nerves when I mentioned the gig. There’s also my extremely talented nephew Barnaby Chun (yes, Mike’s son) bringing his band of hot young Vic students the Tin Soldiers. They’re doing a line up of Beatles covers, so bring your kids AND your grandmothers.
Dr Beaver’s up for a set of the coolest music you’ve never heard before. Don’t be put off by his name, it was GIVEN to him by disgruntled venue organisers in New York who couldn’t reach him in time before the poster went to print promoting his show. Then it sort of stuck when the show went down so well he ended up in bed with four groupies at once and gave each of them the best licking they’d ever had. These days he has a wife, and she’ll most likely be there on Festival Day- you can’t miss her, she’s the one grinning constantly from ear to ear.
As usual on Festival Day we prepare a launch of bastard tees and have our own stall table in the hopes of meeting and greeting 25,000 new customers into our store. We’ll be operating a same day print service (no rush fee) and if we can manage, same day hem jobs on jeans. So be sure to come early for the service, take your time seeing the rest of the Festival, then come back to pick up your stuff. Take a bastard home with you from the Newtown Festival!
For the full run-down on what’s happening at the Festival, click here to go straight to the Festival website.