New gig for Womad-bound band
Taranaki’s Fin Rah Zel hoping for audience of all ages at Inglewood town hall concert
ATaranaki indie soul band has announced a concert in Inglewood to warm up for their Womad performance. Fin Rah Zel will play a gig at Inglewood’s town hall on February 25. Lead vocalist Brian Norton says he and drummer Ben Payne were brainstorming ideas for a summer gig.
Having grown up in Inglewood, Brian knew about the Inglewood Town Hall where he once took to the stage in school plays. He says the heritage decor makes it the ideal venue for the kind of concert he had in mind — inclusive and welcoming to everyone.
With a 250-seat capacity, he says he’d love to see the building filled with music lovers spanning several generations.
“It’d be cool to get lots of different people, so you get that interaction between generations. It’s about the art and the connection — we’re not trying to sell music to a certain demographic. That mentality of ‘who does your music specifically cater to?’ — that’s a marketing approach. I think anyone can relate to our music, so I want to bring ‘anyone’ together.”
This month’s concert will be the first time Fin Rah Zel — named after the sorceress from the classic movie
— performs with its new members, including female vocalists Liana Hart and Frau Knotz.
Brian worked with Liana and Frau at New Plymouth’s Spiegel Fest in November 2022. The two women also sang on the 2022 Fin Rah Zel track
Other new members are Wakaia Tamehana and Ben Payne.
Performing music to multiple generations has become increasingly important to Brian, who started the band 10 years ago.
The idea was reinforced when he played guitar for his grandfather at Jean Sandel Retirement Village in New Plymouth four years ago. Brian didn’t know his grandfather once played piano and trumpet as a young man until he was in the rest home, where he began playing piano again.
“When Pop passed away, I still went up there and played guitar for the people in the dementia unit. The ladies who worked there asked me to come along.”
Residents in the unit enjoyed live music, he says.
“We got instruments out and they tapped along, some were doing their own thing. The women who organised it said it helped them to relax.”
Singing with legendary Wellington-based group Fly My Pretties at WOMAD 2023 on the Bowl stage “really inspired me to go hard with my music,” Brian says.
He has been releasing solo acoustic tracks on Spotify as well as recording new singles with the band during the past year.
“My songs are different from the band — more soul, folk, with vocals and acoustic guitar.”
He won’t be playing his own songs at the Inglewood show, but Fin Rah Zel will release a new single on Friday, March 15 in the lead-up to Womad.
Fin Rah Zel plays at the Womad Kiwiana BBQ jam session at the New Plymouth Board Riders Club on Wednesday, March 13 and their show on the Dell stage at 3.30pm, March 16. Brian will also moonlight as a foodie, doing Taste the World at Womad, where musicians get interviewed about a favourite recipe — a vegetarian curry for Brian — which a chef proceeds to cook.