The music scene in Tauranga appears to be going in every direction at once; it's sometimes hard to keep up.

It's almost enough to inspire nostalgia for the days when there were only about a dozen bands and everyone kinda knew what everyone else was doing.

But with population growth – which is now clogging roads so badly that if they were arteries with cholesterol the city would be heading for a massive transportation heart attack – has also come a fragmentation of the music scene.

I was obliquely reminded of this by the death last week of Gary Ware. Many remember Gary from his years supporting Tauranga Boys' College; others knew him from behind the pharmacy counter; but most older musicians think back to the Amnesty International concerts.

For a good decade, perhaps 15 years, there were annual fundraising concerts.

If I had to take a guess (always a good journalistic practice), I'd say we're talking sometime in the late 1980s - 87 maybe - through until the turn of the century at least.

Well that's what my mouldering memory tells me.

The concerts

They started at Bureta Park through Gary, a long-time Amnesty supporter, and I remember Jane Bonne and Dr Jaz – Neil McKenzie – being instrumental in their early organisation. For many later years, Chris Gunn valiantly lured big names down from Auckland once the concert moved to Baycourt's main theatre.

In between were hits and misses. One year a particularly iffy drummer organised it and neglected to actually book anyone at all, so Ritchie Pickett played the entire show solo at the piano (and was brilliant in a way only Ritchie could be).

But it was those early years at Bureta that had me thinking. You might have Dr Jaz and his latest discovery from New Orleans (I remember Tuba Fats and others strutting their stuff), Ritchie pumping out some boogie, a heavy rock band or two, a couple of folk singers, almost anything...

It seemed a more inclusive time - the full spectrum of the music scene displayed, young punks and old jazz veterans hanging together and actually listening to one another's music.

But I started this talking about Gary Ware. He was a good man and supported good things, be they Amnesty, or Baycourt or Tauranga Boys' or the Arts Festival or much more. He made a difference.

Now I better get onto some gigs this weekend because – damn! – there are a lot of them.

There are three shows on this Saturday night (October 27), so take your pick.

Upcoming shows

The big rock show is at the Mount's Rising Tide – a visit by one of the few Kiwi bands who can genuinely be called 'iconic'. Shihad are here on their 30th Anniversary tour. They will no doubt be Awesome with a capital A and are bringing Kora and Villainy as musical bonuses.

Doors open at 7.30pm and tickets are $80 on Eventfinda.

There are also two small folk shows, both with great promise. At the tiny coffee bar, Folk, at 148 Durham Street, Australian Tim Hart and local Luke Thompson are joining forces to support the release of Tim's second album, The Narrow Corner. Expect cosy and accomplished folk music. Doors open at 6pm, and tickets are $20 via Eventfinda.

The same night, Taranaki soul/folk songwriter Renee Millner will be performing at the Historic Village's Jam Factory to promote the release of her second EP, In The World, along with fellow Taranaki musician Juliet McLean.

You can hear Renee's music online and I'll just quote her press release for an idea of the soul-searching seriousness with which she presents herself: 'It's Renee's vulnerability that makes her songs so relatable. However deeply personal they are, they all touch on themes that are universal and inescapable.

'Who hasn't struggled with doubt, and the search for meaning? Who hasn't felt displaced, or wondered if they're going in the right direction – or going anywhere at all?”

Doors open at 7pm, and tickets are $20 from The Incubator.