Open/Close Toolbox
Copyright is retained by the photographer and/or contributor. Please do not reuse without permission.
Format: Photograph
Linked To
Location (city or town)
Copyright
Copyright is retained by the photographer and/or contributor. Please do not reuse without permission.
Menu
"The Complex " - at the Band Rotunda, Dixon Park. early 1970`s.
Expand/collapse
About this image
DescriptionThere have been some posts referring to Dixon Park. Here is a photo of Complex taken on the band rotunda at Dixon Park in early 70's. It was used as a promo photo when we played at Nelson Mardi Gras.
Keith White
Happy to say I'm still playing (in Australia) - I never stopped. I remember the West Coast band days with great affection - I was in The Spartans, Westsiders (two different incarnations), Fourth Edition, Familiar Faces, Harlem, Luce (briefly), Complex and, finally, Solitaire, before circumstances led me away from Greymouth and a journey that took me to many places. Happily, I'm still in touch with many of my old band mates. Got a gig tomorrow night - my wife and I are very busy performing in all sorts of places.
Complex was formed in 1970 and lasted till 1975.
The Ember Lounge started out as the Safari about 1966,and later became the Market Place.Date of Photo1970`sMap[1] ContributorJohn Low
Keith White
Happy to say I'm still playing (in Australia) - I never stopped. I remember the West Coast band days with great affection - I was in The Spartans, Westsiders (two different incarnations), Fourth Edition, Familiar Faces, Harlem, Luce (briefly), Complex and, finally, Solitaire, before circumstances led me away from Greymouth and a journey that took me to many places. Happily, I'm still in touch with many of my old band mates. Got a gig tomorrow night - my wife and I are very busy performing in all sorts of places.
Complex was formed in 1970 and lasted till 1975.
The Ember Lounge started out as the Safari about 1966,and later became the Market Place.Date of Photo1970`sMap[1] ContributorJohn Low
Shown in this image
Category Information
Category Tagmusic
From Facebook
LinkFacebookDate Created20th April 2018CommentsMargaret Moore Great photo
Rebekah Fairhurst Geer Yayy!! Good times :-)
Jan Clarke Great memories of Thursday nights at the Railway Hotel!
Margaret Moore Yes Jan Clarke Thursday nights at Railway hotel. It was the place to be in Greymouth
Peter East Is that Mr Lee Grant on the far right?
Margaret Moore No. John Low from Runanga
John Low No Peter its me , but Lee Grant copied my style lol
Margaret Moore Cause he did John.
Pat Pfeifer That sure brings back memories. I second a renunion show.
Erol Goodall
Erol Goodall In reply to your post Heather. Complex was formed in 1970, and as it happened shortly after, hotels began to have music in their bars. It wasn't planned that way but our timing turned out to be very beneficial to us. We had a very busy few years until we called it quits in 1975.
Martin Burt Some of you guys were in another band that came after Complex. There were quite a few hokitika based bands through there too, and more so i the 80s. Big Wheelie and the Hubcaps springs to mind
Judy Cairns topcat playing at the league rooms after a game at runanga simple says comes to mind
Peter East
Peter East I know thats John. My attempt at humour! John, Budge and I were in a band earlier than Complex. Called The Charades
Roseanne Winstanley My two favourites were "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" and "Smoke on the Water"
Colleen Gibb Mine was "by the devil I was tempted " and Three dog night's "black is Black...and heaps more.......all good !!
Cotrina Reynolds Big Wheelie and the Hubcaps are still playing around Hokitika did you ever play at the Ember Lounge? Errol Erol Goodall
John Low Yes, we actually opened it whenJack Pegley who owned the Union in those days decided to build a lounge bar to attract the new market following 10 o'clock closing. We had some great nights in its heyday.
Erol Goodall Heather, The Ember Lounge started out as the Safari about 1966,and later became the Market Place. Yes, i did play in all three venues in various bands. If you are referring to the band name Complex Heather, i'm unsure as to which of the boys came up with it. I suspect it was either Ken or John.
John Low
John Low oops I have made a mistake here I thought you had referred to The Copper Room - Ember Lounge was mostly played by our predessors Familiar Faces
John Low Complex was chosen based on some discussion amongst ourselves based on the complexnature of just forming a band.
John Low In contrast the Tremors was named after the nature of our geological climate during the mid 60s and the inangahua earthquake.
Ken McGeady Hi John..yes finding the name was a complex problem so we settled on that! For the record I had the Ember Lounge for three years...renamed after the Safari days. Great touring bands in those days. The LaDeDa's, Simple Image, Formula....Sharon O'Neil....to name just a few. Lots of stories to tell......
John Low Gead - you were a legend
Ken McGeady ..the master Erol at work on the drums....I loved the Gibson....but not sure what my eys are doing!!
Ken McGeady The pictures were taken at the Reefton School Ball I think...
John Low Suits!!! - Must have been
John Low a Caberet
Ken McGeady ..dig the ties!...
Erol Goodall You are correst Gead, it was the Nurses Ball in Reefton. Suits and all.
John Low Gead you concentrating on the Harmony
Ken McGeady ...Reefton gigs were always great fun....and some interesting memories!..
Were The Epic Dance band a Westport band?
Ken McGeady ..loved those harmonies John. Crosby, Stills etc....
Erol Goodall I think you could be correct Heather. There's a couple of good Westport names there.
Roger Howell Keith White will tell you Ken that I came up with your nickname "Gead". We thought that it was punchy and to the point compared to pronouncing your proper name!!
Ken McGeady ..gee ta Roger!......and all these years Ive been blaming "Wax". ...all good...love it!
Carol Lamb Wow love this picture... Great memories, great music...
Suzanne McGeady Can’t wait!!
James Codyre Look at that hair?
Michele Thomson Just as we remember you John Low Oh to turn the clock back Great memories great music
Pauline Schafer The Good Old Days! Great band and great music! I used to sneak into the Ember Lounge in my teens too. Ken McGeady, I met the widow of the singer from Simple Image last week in Coolangatta. She's living here now. They moved to Sydney shortly after Spinn...See More
Marilyn Paterson Oh remember the music!! The dances with such great bands that we had on the Coast were so good!! I’m sure that was the best era of all!!
KerrieandLeigh Hopkins Ahh the memories Erol GoodallRob Southon
Those were the days
Lyn Thompson
used to play in that in 1950s...
Wayne Leckie
Great photo!
Anne Miller Mcmillan
AWSUM PHOTO
Leigh McGeady-Lee
Lol Ken McGeady
Jillene Magee
Great picture
Pauline Naylor
Great photo My favourite local band od the early 70s.
Neroli Nolan
great memories
Lewis Williams
My favourite Southland Hotel band
Bazza Morland
I was 'way' too young to remember this band !
Kay Nichols
They played at our high school social in 1969
Linda Crisp
Great photo!
Kerry Molloy
great memories had them play at my first wedding.
Amy Crawford
Gus Martin
Clare McDonnell
woop woop
AnnetteandNick Harrison
A fantastic band. Great memories!!!!
Marilyn O'Donnell
Great days they were
Brydie-Anne Gladstone
Wayne Gladstone
Andy Grigg
The Beatles?
Bruce Truman
Lee Christie I know it is not you, but wow, guy in the middle could be you
Velma Donaldson
Sue Teen , Helen Rutherford
Helen Rutherford
Those were the days!
Jennie McKinnon
What a great time we all had.
Jennifer Noble
Good days, great memories
Sandra Arnott
Budgie and John low!Shirley Arnold
Cuz Erol Goodall
Dianne Blythe
Great band
Bobby Turner
They were awesome.
Paul Meikle
Luv Bell bottom jeans can you still get them ?
John Low
Sadly EROL passed away last year. (front left) - very good musician, great drummer.
Valda Ford
Our cuz… loved their Neil Diamond hot august night rendition.. they were so good!!
Cherie Hunter-Wright
Great band. Brings back happy memories of Ian and I dancing the night away in a local Greymouth hotel.
Sharon Kaye
Excellent memories of the Brian Boru and dancing the night away to this fantastic band.
Robyn Smith
My husband (Barry Smith) just told me that they played at his 21st!!! WoW
Ngaire Calder
Great band
Neil Smith
They were an awsome band
Neil Smith
Great nights at the Railway Hotel on Thursday Nights
Carol Lamb
Great music and memories
Diana Ackland
My husband played solo cornet in the 70s we had a ladies committee and got new uniforms and went to Auckland Band Contest .
Ann Robertson
Looking very slim lads
Ian Mehrtens
Good old days .
Bev Johnston
Enjoyed dancing the nights away,
Ken McGeady
...super memories!.... I will never forget. I started work on the Coast and worked with Erol on a daily basis...he was a magic musician. Will always remember the gigs we did, the style of music of the time, and the stories we could tell!.....John, Budge, and Keith were super....it was a lot of fun.
John Sara
They were a really good band
Carolyn Luck
They were a great band.
Keith White, John Low, Ken McGeady, Wayne Gladstone, Errol Goodall
Anne McMillan Miller
That rotunda could tell a story or 2 ?
John Greaney
Great band. Played at the Railway hotel every Thursday night.
Gary Keown
I met ken when I was in the GREENSTONE HOTROD CLUB i have forgotten the name of the pub where i seen them play was just over the road from kens house
Ellen Buchanan
Great memories Thursday nights at the Railway
Charlie Chandler
They used to play at the school social's in reefton. We always requested " born to be wild ". So good, so long ago ?
Jared Scully
I want to say so many peoples real dads
Ian Buchanan
So good at the pubs and the Dances ???????
Stephen Hudson
Hi Keith , I remember you playing with the Westsiders , I think you played in a High School band with my older brother Read Hudson, back in the early 60s , he is still playing as are my brother Chris and I . We both made the move to West Island in the 70s and carved out a living as a rhythm section for hire . I came ' home ' in 2005 , and Chris around 2016 . Mum left the building a couple of years back , but sang at her own 100th birthday party with her sons backing her . I hope you are well , good to see you still at it . Was Rod Beck a Westsider when you were ?
Barbara Fitzsimmons
Love this . How it was no judgment .what you see is what you get . Coasters .a Bread of there own .
Janaka Mary Bartlett
Played at many a school dance re Inangahua College. Great band.
Murray Saunders
I remember solitaire ??
Trish Rennie
Awesome bands from awesome days back then ?
Donna McBrydie
Weren’t we lucky to have such talent. I think John was in my class at GHS.
Bazza Morland
Familiar faces ?
Noreen Gma
Where do you play in Australia
Pam Sosky
This brings many good memories ❤️?
Rata Charlton
Beautiful memories ❤️
Lynda Horne
Handsome dudes.
Raewyn Taylor
Glory days !!!
Catherine Carrington
I remember them playing g at our youth clubs ? Dances
Murray Thomson
Really good band
Rebekah Fairhurst Geer Yayy!! Good times :-)
Jan Clarke Great memories of Thursday nights at the Railway Hotel!
Margaret Moore Yes Jan Clarke Thursday nights at Railway hotel. It was the place to be in Greymouth
Peter East Is that Mr Lee Grant on the far right?
Margaret Moore No. John Low from Runanga
John Low No Peter its me , but Lee Grant copied my style lol
Margaret Moore Cause he did John.
Pat Pfeifer That sure brings back memories. I second a renunion show.
Erol Goodall
Erol Goodall In reply to your post Heather. Complex was formed in 1970, and as it happened shortly after, hotels began to have music in their bars. It wasn't planned that way but our timing turned out to be very beneficial to us. We had a very busy few years until we called it quits in 1975.
Martin Burt Some of you guys were in another band that came after Complex. There were quite a few hokitika based bands through there too, and more so i the 80s. Big Wheelie and the Hubcaps springs to mind
Judy Cairns topcat playing at the league rooms after a game at runanga simple says comes to mind
Peter East
Peter East I know thats John. My attempt at humour! John, Budge and I were in a band earlier than Complex. Called The Charades
Roseanne Winstanley My two favourites were "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" and "Smoke on the Water"
Colleen Gibb Mine was "by the devil I was tempted " and Three dog night's "black is Black...and heaps more.......all good !!
Cotrina Reynolds Big Wheelie and the Hubcaps are still playing around Hokitika did you ever play at the Ember Lounge? Errol Erol Goodall
John Low Yes, we actually opened it whenJack Pegley who owned the Union in those days decided to build a lounge bar to attract the new market following 10 o'clock closing. We had some great nights in its heyday.
Erol Goodall Heather, The Ember Lounge started out as the Safari about 1966,and later became the Market Place. Yes, i did play in all three venues in various bands. If you are referring to the band name Complex Heather, i'm unsure as to which of the boys came up with it. I suspect it was either Ken or John.
John Low
John Low oops I have made a mistake here I thought you had referred to The Copper Room - Ember Lounge was mostly played by our predessors Familiar Faces
John Low Complex was chosen based on some discussion amongst ourselves based on the complexnature of just forming a band.
John Low In contrast the Tremors was named after the nature of our geological climate during the mid 60s and the inangahua earthquake.
Ken McGeady Hi John..yes finding the name was a complex problem so we settled on that! For the record I had the Ember Lounge for three years...renamed after the Safari days. Great touring bands in those days. The LaDeDa's, Simple Image, Formula....Sharon O'Neil....to name just a few. Lots of stories to tell......
John Low Gead - you were a legend
Ken McGeady ..the master Erol at work on the drums....I loved the Gibson....but not sure what my eys are doing!!
Ken McGeady The pictures were taken at the Reefton School Ball I think...
John Low Suits!!! - Must have been
John Low a Caberet
Ken McGeady ..dig the ties!...
Erol Goodall You are correst Gead, it was the Nurses Ball in Reefton. Suits and all.
John Low Gead you concentrating on the Harmony
Ken McGeady ...Reefton gigs were always great fun....and some interesting memories!..
Were The Epic Dance band a Westport band?
Ken McGeady ..loved those harmonies John. Crosby, Stills etc....
Erol Goodall I think you could be correct Heather. There's a couple of good Westport names there.
Roger Howell Keith White will tell you Ken that I came up with your nickname "Gead". We thought that it was punchy and to the point compared to pronouncing your proper name!!
Ken McGeady ..gee ta Roger!......and all these years Ive been blaming "Wax". ...all good...love it!
Carol Lamb Wow love this picture... Great memories, great music...
Suzanne McGeady Can’t wait!!
James Codyre Look at that hair?
Michele Thomson Just as we remember you John Low Oh to turn the clock back Great memories great music
Pauline Schafer The Good Old Days! Great band and great music! I used to sneak into the Ember Lounge in my teens too. Ken McGeady, I met the widow of the singer from Simple Image last week in Coolangatta. She's living here now. They moved to Sydney shortly after Spinn...See More
Marilyn Paterson Oh remember the music!! The dances with such great bands that we had on the Coast were so good!! I’m sure that was the best era of all!!
KerrieandLeigh Hopkins Ahh the memories Erol GoodallRob Southon
Those were the days
Lyn Thompson
used to play in that in 1950s...
Wayne Leckie
Great photo!
Anne Miller Mcmillan
AWSUM PHOTO
Leigh McGeady-Lee
Lol Ken McGeady
Jillene Magee
Great picture
Pauline Naylor
Great photo My favourite local band od the early 70s.
Neroli Nolan
great memories
Lewis Williams
My favourite Southland Hotel band
Bazza Morland
I was 'way' too young to remember this band !
Kay Nichols
They played at our high school social in 1969
Linda Crisp
Great photo!
Kerry Molloy
great memories had them play at my first wedding.
Amy Crawford
Gus Martin
Clare McDonnell
woop woop
AnnetteandNick Harrison
A fantastic band. Great memories!!!!
Marilyn O'Donnell
Great days they were
Brydie-Anne Gladstone
Wayne Gladstone
Andy Grigg
The Beatles?
Bruce Truman
Lee Christie I know it is not you, but wow, guy in the middle could be you
Velma Donaldson
Sue Teen , Helen Rutherford
Helen Rutherford
Those were the days!
Jennie McKinnon
What a great time we all had.
Jennifer Noble
Good days, great memories
Sandra Arnott
Budgie and John low!Shirley Arnold
Cuz Erol Goodall
Dianne Blythe
Great band
Bobby Turner
They were awesome.
Paul Meikle
Luv Bell bottom jeans can you still get them ?
John Low
Sadly EROL passed away last year. (front left) - very good musician, great drummer.
Valda Ford
Our cuz… loved their Neil Diamond hot august night rendition.. they were so good!!
Cherie Hunter-Wright
Great band. Brings back happy memories of Ian and I dancing the night away in a local Greymouth hotel.
Sharon Kaye
Excellent memories of the Brian Boru and dancing the night away to this fantastic band.
Robyn Smith
My husband (Barry Smith) just told me that they played at his 21st!!! WoW
Ngaire Calder
Great band
Neil Smith
They were an awsome band
Neil Smith
Great nights at the Railway Hotel on Thursday Nights
Carol Lamb
Great music and memories
Diana Ackland
My husband played solo cornet in the 70s we had a ladies committee and got new uniforms and went to Auckland Band Contest .
Ann Robertson
Looking very slim lads
Ian Mehrtens
Good old days .
Bev Johnston
Enjoyed dancing the nights away,
Ken McGeady
...super memories!.... I will never forget. I started work on the Coast and worked with Erol on a daily basis...he was a magic musician. Will always remember the gigs we did, the style of music of the time, and the stories we could tell!.....John, Budge, and Keith were super....it was a lot of fun.
John Sara
They were a really good band
Carolyn Luck
They were a great band.
Keith White, John Low, Ken McGeady, Wayne Gladstone, Errol Goodall
Anne McMillan Miller
That rotunda could tell a story or 2 ?
John Greaney
Great band. Played at the Railway hotel every Thursday night.
Gary Keown
I met ken when I was in the GREENSTONE HOTROD CLUB i have forgotten the name of the pub where i seen them play was just over the road from kens house
Ellen Buchanan
Great memories Thursday nights at the Railway
Charlie Chandler
They used to play at the school social's in reefton. We always requested " born to be wild ". So good, so long ago ?
Jared Scully
I want to say so many peoples real dads
Ian Buchanan
So good at the pubs and the Dances ???????
Stephen Hudson
Hi Keith , I remember you playing with the Westsiders , I think you played in a High School band with my older brother Read Hudson, back in the early 60s , he is still playing as are my brother Chris and I . We both made the move to West Island in the 70s and carved out a living as a rhythm section for hire . I came ' home ' in 2005 , and Chris around 2016 . Mum left the building a couple of years back , but sang at her own 100th birthday party with her sons backing her . I hope you are well , good to see you still at it . Was Rod Beck a Westsider when you were ?
Barbara Fitzsimmons
Love this . How it was no judgment .what you see is what you get . Coasters .a Bread of there own .
Janaka Mary Bartlett
Played at many a school dance re Inangahua College. Great band.
Murray Saunders
I remember solitaire ??
Trish Rennie
Awesome bands from awesome days back then ?
Donna McBrydie
Weren’t we lucky to have such talent. I think John was in my class at GHS.
Bazza Morland
Familiar faces ?
Noreen Gma
Where do you play in Australia
Pam Sosky
This brings many good memories ❤️?
Rata Charlton
Beautiful memories ❤️
Lynda Horne
Handsome dudes.
Raewyn Taylor
Glory days !!!
Catherine Carrington
I remember them playing g at our youth clubs ? Dances
Murray Thomson
Really good band
Editing is temporarily disabled
Cancel EditClick on the image to add
a tag or press ESC to cancel
a tag or press ESC to cancel
West Coast New Zealand History (26th Feb 2026). "The Complex " - at the Band Rotunda, Dixon Park. early 1970`s.. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 5th May 2026 02:47, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/23273