Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Live in February
Acclaimed Seattle hip-hop duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis make their debut NZ appearance this February, stopping in at
Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium on the 21st, Auckland's Logan Campbell Centre on the 22nd and
Wellington's Opera House on the 23rd.
Macklemore (known to his mother as Ben Haggerty) has been a mainstay on the Seattle hip-hop scene since his high school
days, but his obsession with the genre began much earlier. From a ridiculously young age Haggerty and his friends would
make each other mix-tapes of tracks their tender ears should probably have not been listening to.
Haggerty's social conscience was awakened by the de-facto segregation he witnessed at his own high school and adjoining
neighbourhoods. Realising that police only ever fired their guns 'in the hood', he began working in a juvenile
correctional facility as part of their music therapy program.
But his own life has not been without its struggles. An addiction to prescription painkillers led to a fallow period in
the mid 2000s, but when he cleaned up in 2008 he began collaborating with Ryan Lewis which led to the eventual release
in 2012 of their highly acclaimed album The Heist, which floored critics and reached #1 on the US and Australian ITunes sales charts.
The Heist is not only notable for stellar sales but also for its impassioned lyrics about everything from gay rights ('Same
Love'), consumerism ('Wings') sobriety and relapsing ('Starting Over') and even his own discomfort with 'white
privilege' ('A Wake'), aided and abetted by Ryan Lewis' ' vast, daring and layered production'. Together they have
created something truly unique - an instant party-starter that also makes you think.
Thursday 21st February – Forsyth Barr Stadium – Dunedin
Tickets from TicketDirect – On sale date TBC
Friday 22nd February – Logan Campbell Centre – Auckland
with Homebrew
Tickets on sale Friday 23rd November from Ticketmaster
Saturday 23rd February – Opera House - Wellington
Tickets on sale Friday 23rd November from Ticketek
For all show & ticketing info go to www.muchmoremusic.co.nz
Watch the video for ‘Thrift Shop’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK8mJJJvaes
Watch the video for ‘Same Love’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0=player_embedded