NZ Music Month Highlights Week 4

MORE NZ MUSIC MONTH HIGHLIGHTS

We’re heading into the last week of NZ Music Month 2008 now, but the gigs and releases show no signs of abating… There’s still plenty going on this week if you want to get out and about and check out some local tunes – and why wouldn’t you?

This morning we were stoked to be in the studio at The Edge while the winner of the Little Town, Big Gig competition was called live on-air by Opshop’s Jason Kerrison to let him know he’d won. All month long Kiwis have been vying for the chance to have the band play the Official Closing Gig of NZ Music Month 2008 in their regional town, and thanks to Telecom, The Edge, C4, and 15-year-old David Daglish’s winning entry, the band head to Greymouth to take their big show to the Regent Theatre this Friday night. The show is all-ages and free to the public – limited tickets are available from 4pm Wednesday at the Regent Theatre foyer.

Another major NZ Music competition comes to a close this week. With the hundreds of entries nationwide whittled down to a final five finalists, MTV Kickstart is going down to the wire. Who’ll take the honours this year? It could be Bear Cat , Cause For Alliance, Clap Clap Riot, Lydia Cole, or Trigger Theory . Find out when the judges make their call at the live finals taking place in Auckland on Friday, and look out for the TV special airing on MTV later in June.

You don’t have to live in Greymouth or Auckland to see something special this week. Tane and the Kiwi, a magical and educational concert for children featuring Jennifer Moss and the Vector Wellington Orchestra is performed in several spots this week. Based on Alwyn Owen’s How the Kiwi Lost his Wings, Tane and the Kiwi is, like Peter and the Wolf, a story told in music. However, instead of wolves and grouchy grandfathers, the characters in this story are portrayed by the birds of Aotearoa, each represented by a different orchestral instrument. You can see Tane and the Kiwi at the following performances this week:

Wellington Monday 26 May Michael Fowler Centre 10.30am
Palmerston North Tuesday 27 May Regent on Broadway 1.15pm
Masterton Wednesday 28 May Rathkeale Trust House Theatre 1.15pm

There are a few other gigs that take our fancy in the capital this week too - Wilberforces, Sharpie Crows & Rifles play Mighty Mighty on Thursday, Grayson Gilmour does his thing at San Francisco Bath House on Friday, and The Have play one of their last NZ shows at Bodega on Saturday.

Also on Saturday night at a slightly less familiar live music venue – the Wanganui Speedway Clubrooms no less – is a New Zealand metalfest of sorts, with Backyard Burial, Nort, Midnight Metal Symphony, Omen, Imperil, and Pariah blasting out sets from 6pm.

Elsewhere around the country on Saturday 31st there’s plenty more to catch on the last day of NZ Music Month. Connan & The Mockasins play Christchurch’s Dux de Lux (not sure if it quite counts as a Super 14 afterparty); The OUSA Battle Of The Bands Finals are on at ReFuel in Dunedin; Otis Mace and Greg Franco play the gorgeous Fleurs Place in Moeraki and have a delicious meal while they’re there too, no doubt; tastefully-titled Hamilton gig The Circle Jerk takes place at Diggers Back Bar with Wilberforces, Mobile Stud Unit & more; and in a fitting end to a May crammed full of NZ Music goodness at Auckland’s Galatos, check out the Round Trip Mars Riot , itself crammed full with SJD, Phelps and Munro, James Duncan, The Naked and Famous, Maiden Hong Kong, and Stinky Jim jostling for position onstage over the course of the night.

It’s been an awesome month for shows so far. Do yourself a favour and make sure you don’t miss out - head out to at least one local venue and give it up for our musos one more time… Check the gig guide at www.nzmusicmonth.co.nz for something that takes your fancy!

ENDS

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