This weekend I want to go to . . .
Western Springs Stadium
Janet Jackson, 50 Cent, Black Eyed Peas, Jason Derulo — if you want to throw New Zealand’s biggest party, these are the guests you want. They’re here, along with countless other international and local acts, for a colossal one-off concert showcasing some of the world’s most renowned and respected RNB and hip-hop royalty and it’s this weekend. Don’t get the date wrong, though. It might be called Friday Jams Live but it happens on Sunday when the sun is meant to be blazing. (See full story in today’s TimeOut.)
Friday Jams Live, Western Springs Stadium, Sunday from 4pm.
Basement Theatre
If a drone could come down to Earth and share her story, what would she say? It’s not a trick question, but the start of a lowkey show that the Edinburgh Festival described as “daring posthuman theatre”. Using live poetry, music and video, Scottish poet Harry Josephine Giles tells the story — so far — of one of the most frightening pieces of new technology, riffing on a drone’s-eye-view of anxiety, violence, surveillance, work and survival. International sound artist Neil Simpson and live video artist Jamie Wardrop join Giles on stage for a performance mixed new every night making for groundbreaking multimedia gig theatre.
Drone, Basement Theatre, until Saturday.
Auckland Town Hall
Salina Fisher is one of our most talented violinists and composers. How talented? Good enough to have her latest composition — working title New Work — played by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra on a bill that also includes Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (soloist Ning Feng performs that one) and Neilsen’s Symphony No 5. For the record, Fisher is the youngest winner of the SOUNZ Contemporary Award — she was 23 when she collected the 2016 prize and won it a second time a year later. Now based in New York, she’s in demand around the world so this is a rare treat.
APO Conflict & Triumph, Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall, tonight.
Two days later, a very different beat will ring out from the Auckland town hall. The Bootleg Beatles have been around for years longer than the band they cover, clocking up 4000 shows — including England’s
Bootleg Beatles, Auckland Town Hall, Sunday.
PumpHouse Theatre
If you’re looking for a whimsical and poignant comedy (and the reviews have put you off going to the cinema to see Last Christmas) , the play Heroes may be a surer bet. Written by the great playwright Tom Stoppard, the story is about three war heroes spend their days reminiscing and plotting to escape the home for retired soldiers that they live in. But an idealist, pragmatist and fence-sitter don’t make advancing those plans easy. There’s anarchy, laughter and a reminder that unlikely and enduring friendships can form through shared experiences. It’s also a great chance to see three of New Zealand’s finest actors — David Aston, Bruce Phillips and Stephen Papps — together on stage.
Heroes, PumpHouse Theatre, until Sunday.
Pah Homestead
And good things really do come from shared experiences. Just look at the success of Isla Flamenca, who first performed in July 2018 and have rapidly become a popular addition to Auckland’s music scene. The instrumental group, with strong traditional flamenco roots, brings tradition and the New World together in a concert that tells the story of how Spanish explorers took the music of their homeland around the world for it to eventually mingle with AfroCuban and indigenous rythms to create a new sound.
Isla Flamenca — Guitars and Galleons, Pah Homestead, Sunday 6pm.