Liam Finn to light up ZooMusic

Auckland City Council
Media release

22 January 2008

Liam Finn to light up ZooMusic

At Wild Bean Cafe ZooMusic on Friday 1 February Liam Finn will play one of his last New Zealand concerts before heading to the United States. Fans of Finn are encouraged to make the most this gig and show their support for conservation in the Sumatran region.

The front man of Betchadupa, Finn released his solo debut album I'll Be Lightning in July 2007 – which includes the singles Gather to the Chapel and Second Chance – to rave reviews, including being named in Rolling Stone’s list of “10 artists to watch in 2008”. The magazine is full of praise for his style of performance, calling him “a dynamic performer”.

While Finn’s star is on the rise, there are no second chances for many of the world’s endangered animals. All concerts in the series will be raising funds for key conservation projects. Finn’s gig will help to fund a Wildlife Protection Unit in Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, Sumatra. These units help to protect the flora and fauna inside the national park, and prevent wildlife crime.

“We are extremely grateful to Wild Bean Cafe ZooMusic for supporting the units. These units are a collaboration between government, local community groups, and non-governmental organisations, and have proven to be the most effective way of protecting both habitat and wildlife in Indonesia,” says Leif Cocks, President of the Australian Orangutan Project.

“The destruction of the Indonesian rainforest accounts for 25 per cent of global emissions of greenhouse gases, making the protection of Indonesian forest the single most effective means to combat global warming.”

The opening act (6pm to 6.30pm) will be the Danny McCrum Band, a four-piece group who will perform an acoustic-based set blending rock, funk, blues and pop. Following them will be Odessa (6.45pm to 7.30pm), performing their unique blend of rock and R’n’B from their album The Prize. Liam Finn will take the stage at 7.45pm accompanied by Eliza-Jane Barnes, daughter of Jimmy Barnes.

Your ZooMusic ticket is also your entry to the zoo – so come early to explore the zoo and check out your favourite animals. Please be aware the band rotunda area will closed off in the afternoon to enable safe equipment set-up.

Tickets are available from Auckland Zoo and Ticketmaster.

Wild Bean Cafe ZooMusic Concerts for Conservation series 2008, in association with Juice TV, The Radio Network, Monkey Bay wines, MusicWorks, Millennium Hotels & Resorts, and Vidcom.

ENDS

About Bukit Tigapuluh National Park and Wildlife Protection Units

The area is an important area of remaining lowland forest on Sumatra. These forests represent a biologically rich habitat type and are one of the most threatened. This biological ‘hotspot’ is home to 660 plant species, 192 species of birds, 98 species of fish, 59 species of mammals and is the last refuge to several critically endangered species including tiger, orang utan and golden cat.

The main threats to the area are illegal logging, deforestation for planting of palm oil and animal poaching.

Wildlife Protection Units (WPU) were established in 2004 to tackle small-scale illegal logging operation along the Manggatal river in the north of an orang utan reintroduction station. This task was achieved quickly, and three months after WPU started its active patrol scheme all illegal activities stopped along the Manggatal river.

Primary objectives of WPU’s operating in Bukit Tigapuluh are to:

• control the parks boundaries to prevent encroachment of the national park

• monitor elephant population outside the national park to prevent poisoning of elephants

• mitigate human elephant conflicts

• recapture and translocate orangutans from the conversion areas

• conduct anti poaching patrols

• investigate wildlife crimes

The Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund supports Sumatran based conservation efforts through the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Project, 21st Century Tiger and Wild Bean Cafe ZooMusic conservation projects.

Event Details:

- Wild Bean Cafe ZooMusic 2008: Sunday 20 January – Friday 29 February (6pm – 9pm)

- Tickets available from Auckland Zoo www.aucklandzoo.co.nz (09) 360 3805, or Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.co.nz (09) 970 9700. Service fee applies.

- Limited capacity venue. Tickets expected to sell fast – advance booking recommended Prices: Adults $27, Children (4 – 15yrs) $12 and $70 for family pass (2 adults, 2 children).

- For accommodation options in Auckland visit www.millenniumhotels.co.nz

- Friends of the Zoo receive a 20% discount on above prices

- Picnic hampers and VIP enclosure details on www.aucklandzoo.co.nz

- ZooMusic is a licensed event and no BYO is permitted.

Concerts for Conservation:

- Liam Finn: Friday 1 Feb, supporting Wildlife Protection Unit in Sumatra’s Bukit Tigapuluh National Park

- Hollie Smith: Saturday 9 Feb, supporting 21st Century Tiger, Kerinci Seblat National Park, Sumatra

- The Phoenix Foundation: Sunday 17 Feb, supporting Asian Rhino

- Katchafire: Friday 29 Feb, supporting native frog recovery.

ENDS

ABOUT AUCKLAND ZOO

Auckland Zoo is an enterprise of Auckland City Council. It is home to the largest collection of native and exotic wildlife species in New Zealand (over 1300 animals and 179 species) and attracts over half a million visitors annually. It is becoming increasingly well known nationally and internationally through the award-winning television programme, 'The Zoo'. At the heart of all Auckland Zoo's work and activities is its mission: "to focus the Zoo’s resources to benefit conservation and provide exciting visitor experiences which inspire and empower people to take positive action for wildlife and the environment". Auckland Zoo is a member of both the Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks & Aquaria (ARAZPA) and the World Association of Zoos & Aquariums (WAZA).

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