L.A.B making big moves as New Zealand moves into Covid 19 alert level 1

L.A.B performing at the Good Vibes festival in Rotorua earlier this year. Photo / Andrew Warner

It's been a big week for Bay of Plenty band L.A.B.

They've announced their biggest solo show yet, are putting finishing touches on their next album and are getting ready to shoot a new music video.

While Covid-19 and all the restrictions that have come with it have hit the music industry hard, L.A.B lead vocalist Joel Shadbolt said he and his bandmates - Whakatāne Kora brothers Brad and Stu, Pāpāmoa bassist Ara Adams-Tamatea and Wellington's Miharo Gregory - were excited for their next musical ventures.

On Tuesday, the day everyone outside of Auckland moved to Covid-19 alert level 1, L.A.B reached a major milestone, announcing their biggest show to date.

The show, scheduled for Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium on March 27, will also feature Kiwi musicians Ladi6, Ria Hall, and up and coming talent Mako Road and Mount Maunganui band The Leers.

It will be the final addition to L.A.B's summer schedule for 2021 and will feature a full-length two-hour set, which will see them perform tracks from all three of their albums, plus new material from their fourth album, L.A.B 4, due to be released in December.

Shadbolt said they were hoping to draw a crowd of between 10,000-15,000 people - a mindblowing potential audience for the lads from The Leers - Matt Bidois (lead vocals, guitar), James Kippenberger (lead guitar), Jacob Buchan (bass, background vocals), and
Jack Furniss (drums) - who will open the Mt Smart Stadium gig.

In July, The Leers played their biggest gigs as a support act for L.A.B at Claudelands Arena in Hamilton and Spark Arena in Auckland. It was their first arena show and Bidois from The Leers is grateful to L.A.B for bringing them on board once again, to perform their first stadium show.

Before that, Bidois said the biggest crowd they had played to was about 800 people.

"They're definitely helping us out, we're super grateful," Bidois said.

While students at Mount Maunganui College, Bidois and his bandmates used to watch Shadbolt in his element playing music and now getting to play alongside him and the rest of L.A.B was an exciting progression.

Tickets for the Mt Smart Stadium show on March 27 will be available from Ticketmaster from September 29.