Gig Review: Cindy

26/09/2026, Valhalla — Words by Tia Cranefield

“Crouching Amongst It All”

The power of live music is not something rarely described. For an artist to finally bare onstage a brewing collection of thought, emotion, and trust in musical expression, is to take one step closer to capturing a connection sought after by all music lovers alike.
On the 6th show of their album release tour, Auckland based punk group ‘Cindy,’ hailed the bustling crowd of Wellington’s Valhalla to frame their performance as a living, breathing, moving, sweating example of this raw power of connection that live performance so potently possesses.

Coming from Nelson, a spot surprisingly occupied by a range of hardcore, metal, and punk leaning bands, I never found myself at any shortage of high energy performances tailored to animated crowds of moshers. Any homesick feelings that I harboured for my community back home were almost instantly evaporated by the outstanding performance of Cindy on Saturday 26th at Valhalla.

Cindy exploded onstage with loving fury, grit, and an undeniable devotion to their craft. The breakneck and frenetic speeds of drummer Arlo Grey passionately honoured the recorded tracks of Jordan Lim from the band’s new album ‘The Way I Do.’ Grey’s quick work propelled into alignment with the unforgiving and crunchy rhythm of the guitar. I was more than happy to take out any ear protection to let the technical precision of James King’s old school rock guitar solos scream into my head. Meanwhile, with mic taped tightly to his hand, Scott Brown’s fantastic and authentically kiwi vocal performance rebounded beautifully off of bassist Gloria Florence’s own voice. Florence later moved the group into a beautiful execution of the albums opening country-inspired track, showcasing the musical versatility of the group as far more than just a punk rock band. Cindy displayed more energy and passion in each passing number, doing punk perfect justice in every corner of their short and fast-paced songs. Despite the quick movement of their set, each song offered its own character, with catchy and chanting vocal lines demanding the crowd yell along.

Not only did Cindy sound fantastic, but the way in which Cindy conducted the crowd throughout their time onstage left me breathless.

The visual spectacle of the show collided into the open arms of the audience and dared the crowd to outperform whatever was going down onstage. Cindy moved their audience with a magic that empowered their listeners to become the show themselves. With one eye onstage and one on the floor of Valhalla, I was enamoured by the presentation of both sides, each working to uplift the other, each exchanging a raw love for live sound. The movement and energy of Cindy’s members ricocheted at immense speeds off of the moshing crowd, who loyally retaliated to every scream and raunchy feedback shriek with joy. The connection from musician to listener was phenomenal, and came alive ever more with each stage dive and crowd surf. Crouching amongst it all, Cindy ruled the space marvelously and rolled out the red carpet for their fans like I’ve never seen done before.

Words by Tia Cranefield