Music fest fans spoiled for choice
Music festivals, once a rarity in New Zealand, are suddenly flourishing – with a multitude soon to be staged throughout the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Coromandel regions.
The first and possibly most noteworthy event is Bay Dreams, which will be held at the Baypark Stadium near Mt Maunganui on January 2.
Topping the billing for the daylong festival is the popular French performer DJ Snake, who has collaborated with numerous musical luminaries including Justin Bieber on the song Let Me Love You, and he also produced tracks for Lady Gaga’s album Born This Way.
Also in the Bay Dreams line-up is Cleveland-based rapper Machine Gun Kelly, Los Angeles indie-pop band Foster the People, Californian R&B/hip-hop artist Kehlani and Detroit rapper Danny Brown.
Half a day in duration, the Coro Summer Fest on January 13 is a much smaller-scale festival that is being held on private land just north of the Coromandel township. Limited to just 350 tickets, the lineup might not have as many internationally renowned acts as Bay Dreams but it does have Sola Rosa Sounds System, The Bollands, Bernie Griffen and the Thin Men, Sonic Delusion, Acetones and Oakley Grennell.
The Soundsplash festival is again being held at Raglan on January 19, 20 and 21 and it boasts a mix of acts from New Zealand and further afield. Psychedelic reggae fusion band Ocean Alley, multi-genre group Shapeshifter, and Perth-based electronica duo Slumberjack are among the artists taking the stage.
The Christian music-oriented Festival One will be staged at Mystery Creek from January 26 to
29. The line-up includes Tenth Avenue North, a pop band from West Palm Beach in Florida, Nigerian/Kiwi ‘‘Afrofunk’’ artist Unchained XL,
Meanwhile, the inaugural One Love festival will transform Tauranga Domain into a Rastafarian paradise. As its title suggests, the January 27 and 28 festival will feature a plethora of reggae and roots acts including Shaggy, who became a household name with a string of hits in the
1990s and 2000s, including his breakthrough single Oh Carolina.
Other genre luminaries set to play include Aswad, Black Uhuru, Ardijah, Herbs and Kora.
Returning after a three-year hiatus 2018 is the Ruapuke Roots Festival, which will be held in the little community south of Raglan on February 9, 10 and 11.
Reggae pioneer Mikey Dread, who collaborated with The Clash on their hit single Bankrobber features on the billing for this festival, as does fellow genre veteran Speng Bond.
New Zealand dub act Unitone Hi-Fi; selector/MC partnership Dubhead and Tuffy Culture; Raglan lyrical artist Jinja Cat and Auckland DJ Cian O’Donnell can also be seen and heard.
February 23 to 25 sees the annual Splore festival being staged at Orere Point on the Firth of Thames. Hip-hop star Dizzee Rascal headlines this year’s event.
The English rapper’s body of work includes his 2010 international hit Bonkers.
Also in the Splore line-up this year are Kody Nielson, Ria Hall, Aroha and Tali, and the Danish DJ known as Courtesy.
Music festivals were for many recent decades a once- or twiceyearly event, such as the Sweetwaters, Nambassa or Neon Picnic events of the 1970s and 80s. However since the runaway success of the Big Day Out festivals from the 1990s onwards, more and more festivals have been added to the annual calendar.
A recent – and now conspicuously absent – staple of the festival calendar in recent years is the Sundaise Festival at Dickey Flat, near Waikino. Sundaise appears to be no longer a going concern after heavy flooding forced a premature end to this year’s event in March.
Requests for clarification from festival organisers were not able to be responded to at press time.