Tourist were an Auckland band who teamed up with Manic Street Preachers producer Greg Haver, who’d previously worked with 48May. So Tourist’s first single “Do You Feel the Cold?” has a very clean, epic pop sound – and it’s a good match.
According to an article at NZ Musician, in addition to their NZ On Air funding, Tourist also received $1500 from Positively Wellington Business – the Wellington region’s former economic development agency – for shooting the video in the capital. There’s even a little graphic proclaiming the video was made in Wellington.
But despite this, it’s not a hugely Wellington looking video. The locations have a certain familiarity, but it’s all shot at night and avoids the iconic Wellington streets, or it shoots in an indistinct blur. While other Wellington videos involve the bustling night life of Courtenay Place, Tourist stick to the deserted roof of a parking building or a stroll along empty Lambton Quay. And no one goes to Lambton Quay at night – it’s all closed.
We just see Tourist playing the song, with the occasional shot of the lead singer walking along the empty streets. It ends up being a fairly ordinary pop-rock music video – very straightforward, very inoffensive. And strangely enough it makes me miss the sort of videos of genre mates the Feelers, with their fun, over-the-top rockness.
Best bit: car park number 28, the unsung hero of the video.
Next… we’re halfway there.