Wake up – Oscars dream’s for real
‘We’re very proud to be asked, and to be part of this major event.’
LOWER HUTT band California Dreamers need dream no longer, after being invited to headline a pre-Oscars bash in Hollywood.
The 1960s and 70s covers band will be flown to California by Lord of the Rings fan network The One Ring, put up in a luxury pad in the Hollywood Hills, and will perform at a fan party the day before the 87th Academy Awards this month.
The US$220,000 (NZ$303,000) crowdfunded ‘‘One Last Party’’ will be a tribute to all six Middleearth films, as the epic series finally comes to an end. The last film, The Battle of the Five
is nominated for an Oscar in sound editing.
‘‘We’re extremely excited about it. It’s a dream come true,’’ said singer William Kircher, who also happens to play dwarf Bifur in the Hobbit movies.
‘‘We’re very, very proud to be asked, and to be a part of this major event.’’
As well as Kircher’s connections, the band endeared themselves to Tolkien fans when they recorded a Led Zeppelininspired cover of Hobbit tune Misty Mountains.
Led Zep filled their songs with Lord of the Rings imagery, providing another link to Kircher’s favourite music era, he said.
And Kircher goes even further back with director Sir Peter Jackson, having starred in a liveaction musical version of Jackson’s splatter film Braindead at Downstage Theatre in 1995.
‘‘The score was fantastic. What was horrible was being spattered with gallons and gallons of blood, made of maple syrup, coffee and cochineal,’’ he said.
Filming the Hobbit movies brought yet more suffering for Kircher’s art, including being tied to a spit roast and sitting in a barrel while dead fish were poured over him.
‘‘It was a wild fantastic ride.’’
Eastbourne-based California Dreamers began in 1999 as a oneoff act for a school carnival, the
adventure,
a joke being parents doing Mamas and Papas covers, but kept scoring bigger and bigger gigs.
Kircher’s wife, Nicole Chesterman Kircher, sources outrageous costumes and, in keeping with the band’s theatrical style, performs in character as ‘‘one of Mick Jagger’s first wives’’.
‘‘We’ve got some really shocking harmonic stuff that’s very showcasey, but also some very groovy dance numbers,’’ she said.
After the Rings party the band will perform on a fantasy-themed cruise off the California coast and hope to record some original music. Cracking America would be nice too, Chesterman Kircher said.
‘‘Although I’m just as happy to break New Zealand, Australia – or the Polynesian islands would be a good one.’’