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Live music fans are in for a real treat in January when two legendary Kiwi bands, Fat Freddy’s Drop and Shapeshifter, return to the region for a New Year show at Matakana Country Park.
Summer Haze on January 4 will also star Australian festival rockers King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, plus a number of other acts yet to be announced.
While Shapeshifter are Matakana regulars, last performing in 2020 before Covid-19 struck, it’s eight years since Fat Freddy’s played in the region, when both bands played the Matakanaval festival.
The groups said they were stoked to be returning to Matakana Country Park for what promised to be one of the definitive live music events of the summer.
“We’re stoked to perform again with our good friends Fat Freddy’s Drop and alongside the incredible Australian rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard this summer,” Shapeshifter said in a statement. “Matakana, we can’t wait to perform for you, stay safe and catch you soon.”
Shapeshifter’s PDiggs, Sam Trevethick and the rest of the band are New Zealand’s leading electronic outfit, producing “a stadium-sized sound” with layers of drum and bass, jazz, funk, rock and electronica over solid bass culture foundations that work especially well live.
“The essence of Shapeshifter live is that we are completely 100% un-sequenced – no laptop click track. We play ‘off the grid’ using analogue and digital synthesizers,” Trevethick said.
Fat Freddy’s Drop has played more than 1000 live shows since they formed in the late 1990s, including over 500 in the UK and Europe and 33 Australian tours. The seven-piece combo, led by vocalist Dallas Tamaira, aka Joe Dukie, has a huge following for its chilled roots blend of reggae, dub, r&b, jazz, soul and techno, as well as their cool improvisations. Picking up musical styles and sounds like souvenirs as they travel the world, Fat Freddy’s remains Kiwi-as at their core, with Aotearoa, Māori and Pacific Island life and culture still their main inspiration.
Although maybe not as familiar to local audiences, Melbourne psych-rock band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are guaranteed to win a tonne of new fans at Summer Haze. They play a wild and eclectic mix of music, from jam-band rock and thrashing head-bangers to conceptual epics that borrow from prog and synth-psych.
Since forming a decade ago, King Gizzard’s ascent has been as rapid as it has random, with a prolific output of material – one of their most recent recordings, the double album ‘Omnium Gatherum’ was their 20th studio release, but they are releasing another three – yes, three –next month.
Info and tickets: www.summerhazenz.com
