Australian Crawl: Rockers plan to Light Up the night

Expect to hear old favourites when James Reyne and his band land on our shores.

Aussie Crawl frontman strides out with Rod Stewart. By Paula Yeoman

James Reyne is best known in New Zealand as the frontman of Australian Crawl and the voice of Aussie tunes like Reckless and The Boys Light Up. But the question, asks the singer, is how much of his solo work do we know on this side of the Tasman?

"I know Australian Crawl, and certainly the early solo stuff of mine, got played on New Zealand radio, but I don't know how much people know over there," he says.

With that in mind, Reyne is hoping for a bit of help from a Kiwi band member when devising the set-list for his upcoming support slots on the Rod Stewart tour. "Our bass player Andy is a New Zealander who has been living in Australia for at least 20 years, so he'll be able to tell me, 'That one was a hit, that one wasn't, so don't do that one'.

"So at least we have some connection. We'll be using Andy's presence in the band to really endear ourselves to New Zealanders," he jokes.

Reyne co-founded Aussie Crawl in 1978 and just two years' later the band hit the big time with its debut album, which spawned The Boys Light Up, Downhearted and Beautiful People. The song Errol came in 1981, from the album Sirocco, followed by arguably their biggest smash hit, Reckless, from the 1983 EP Semantics.

And to answer Reyne's earlier question, he had moderate success here with his solo offerings, with songs like Fall Of Rome and Motor's Too Fast charting. But of course, it was nothing like the success of the Aussie Crawl anthems. So it makes sense that Reyne will heavily weight his sets on the Stewart tour to those classics, songs he says he still loves performing.

"I probably enjoy it more now than I did when I was younger. I sort of know what I'm doing now," he says of touring. "I know how to tour and I know how to look after myself. And look, I know that when I'm singing in Dunedin with Rod Stewart, I'll be going, 'Playing music got me here'.

"I've been to New Zealand quite a few times over the years, but I still get a buzz out of it. I'm thinking, 'Because I started writing some funny little songs in my bedroom, I get to do this'. It's amazing," he says.

Before starting the Australian leg of the tour, Reyne had never met Stewart but says he knew he couldn't go wrong supporting such a legend.

He adds that he'll likely catch some of the British singer's concert after his support slot each night. But these days, it's early to bed and early to rise. "I'm not big on drinking when I'm working. Partying every night - I can't do it. I just feel lousy the next day. I like to run and I like to keep fit. So I'll certainly check out his show, but I'll be heading back in the hotel most of the time," he chuckles.

• James Reyne is supporting Rod Stewart on his New Zealand tour. Stewart plays Forsyth Barr in Dunedin on April 11 and Vector Arena in Auckland on April 13 and 14.