Sick Of It All return for Kiwi concert

Win a double pass to NY hard core exports Sick Of It All

Wow! Sick Of It All fans are over the moon and tickets have been flying out the door following the recent announcement that the veteran New York Hardcore punk rockers are making a most welcome return to Aotearoa/New Zealand in 2024. Because it is their first visit to our shores in 11 years, campfire stories from the ‘ good old days’ began to emerge immediately the tour was announced, just as they did when fellow label mates Strung Out toured here in October after an absence of, well — far too long! We were all set to tell you that SOIA have returned to Fat Mike’s fold at Fat Wreck Chords and have a new album out through that label, Wake The Sleeping Dragon (look out for your chance to win a copy of that on CD in upcoming issues of this paper) and that this will be one insane night of rocking out. And that their unapologetically aggressive, massively impactful oeuvre includes 1989's debut Blood, Sweat and No Tears, 1994's breakout Scratch the Surface and their run of Fat Wreck Chords albums in the late '90s / early '00s — all of which sets the scene for a run of popular songs, fan favourites and deep cuts at their live show that will be mind-blowing. But, as the old adage starts — then a funny thing happened along the way….. We called into our favourite Lotto/Post Shop in Te Rapa and there we spy a chap packaging up a photocopy print booklet containing stories about rock, punk and hardcore. He’s sporting an interesting array of tattoos too. So, we strike up a conversation with him. Turns out he’s a tattooist, and a street graffiti artist as well. And he’s in a band. He tells us the name and it sounds familiar. “Do you play originals or covers?” we ask. “Mainly originals,” he replies. “Have you done any supports?” we ask. “Well yes. We just supported Strung Out In Hamilton last month.:” “Really?” we say. “We did some promo’s for that – we wondered why your band name sounded familiar.” “Did you do some promos in the Te Awamutu Courier, because one of our members lives over there and rang me when he saw our band name in the paper?” “Yes, that was us,” we replied. “We’re also doing some promo’s for Sick Of it All in Auckland in February next year.” “Really,” he says,. “We’re supporting them as well.” And that dear reader is how synchronicity works. We, for some unexplained reason, were in the same place and at the same time as Garreth Steiner, bassist for hard hitting local band Drop Off Point who have such great tracks to their name as By Your Side, Rat Race, People Die, Voices, Hardcore Pride and Papamoa Alleyways to name but a few. And along the way they’ve garnered nods of respect from hardcore luminaries Jorge ‘Hoya Roc' Guerra and Mad Joe from Wisdom In Chains. Yes, these guys are moving in exalted circles indeed. And that makes for a real rock n roll story. Add in Sick Of It All tracks such as Scratch The Surface, Step Down, Road less Travelled, Injustice System, Take The Night Off, Just Look Around, World Full Of Hate, Clobberin’ Time and Relentless through to popular newbie Inner Vision and this will be a night that will go down in history as one of the greatest hardcore nights of recent times. Support local, travel regional, experience international. Make Galatos your ‘Drop Off Point’ to catch Sick Of It All – the most successful NYHC export on planet Earth!