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Flight of the Conchord’s Bret McKenzie is among a collaboration of much-loved Kiwi musicians and songwriters appearing at the Sawmill Café in Leigh on Saturday, December 1.
The Congress of Animals’ Strange Caravan Tour also features Age Pryor of Fly My Pretties and the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra; Ben Lemi of Trinity Roots and French For Rabbits; Justin Firefly of Fly My Pretties and the Woolshed Sessions; and Nigel Collins, who has toured with Flight of the Conchords and is with the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra.
The Congress of Animals started out as a series of jam sessions between old friends, but over the past 18 months has grown from an ad hoc hangout into a full-blown musical partnership, according to Age Pryor.
“Justin, Nigel and Bret were getting together to try out tunes, and I joined when I happened to be in Wellington – Justin and I had done the same thing before, in jams that became the Woolshed Sessions album. The multi-talented Ben Lemi was the last to join the group, and turned out to be the missing piece of the evolving jigsaw,” he says.
Age says the Congress of Animals format is much like Fly My Pretties, with different group members each performing their own songs and the rest of the group supporting them.
“There’ll be a big variety in songs and styles, some killer musical moments, and probably a few unexpected twists and turns – for us as well, because it’s all very new,” he says.
“We’re treating this tour as a one-off special event, and although there are no set plans for the future, we’ll hopefully keep working together in one way or another. We have more songs we want to record in the studio, and we will have an album, Luxury Motel for Cats, releasing on December 7.
“Hopefully there’ll be more opportunities to perform live, too. But there’s nothing set just yet… this is very much an exploration and we’re trying to keep it all fresh and in-the-moment.”
Tickets cost $35 from undertheradar.co.nz. The café will be closed from 4pm to 6pm for set-up, then open to ticket holders only from 6pm. Main doors open at 8pm.
