Tour news: Baauer to Harlem Shake across NZ

Baauer is on his way to New Zealand.

Get your animal onesie on, grab some props and prepare to dance like it's early 2013 all over again - Harlem Shake creator Baauer is coming to New Zealand.

The American DJ, whose Harlem Shake dance craze become an out-of-control internet phenomenon last year, is set to play three New Zealand shows in late February.

He's set to perform at Dunedin venue Sammy's on February 25, Wellington's Hunter Lounge on February 26 and the Studio in Auckland on February 27 with Canadian DJ Ryan Hemsworth in support.

Harlem Shake was released in 2012 and was a No. 1 US and New Zealand hit, but it wasn't until early 2013 that the video's dance craze really took off. The clips typically involved people sitting in boring scenarios like offices or lounges, until the song's beat kicks in and the video's stars start dancing erratically - often wearing different clothes and brandishing an odd array of props.

The best are compiled in five-minute YouTube compilations which have had tens of millions of views, and was parodied by animated sitcom The Simpsons in a video called Homer's Shake.

But not everyone had a great time dancing to the song. Fonterra worker Craig Flynn was sacked, but later won his job back after the company discovered a YouTube video of him performing the Harlem Shake at the dairy giant's Takanini plant.

And 15 miners working in the Agnew Gold Mine in Western Australia lost their jobs for their part in a Harlem Shake YouTube video, which owners said violated safety procedures.

Baauer - real name Harry Bauer Rodrigues - has other songs to his name, but none that have had the same impact.

He's a trap and house music fan who has worked with Just Blaze, Jay-Z and Major Lazer, and is known for his remixes of songs by No Doubt, The Prodigy and Disclosure.

Tickets for the shows cost $25 and are on sale now from Dashtickets.co.nz.

In other tour news, veteran American alt.rock outfit Sebadoh are returning after a 19-year gap - though the band's main man Lou Barlow was here last year as part of a reunited Dinosaur Jr tour.

Barlow and bandmates Jason Lowenstein and Bob D'Amico start their New Zealand jaunt at Wellington's Bodega on Thursday, March 27, play Christchurch's Churchills on Friday, March 28 and then Auckland's Kings Arms on Saturday, March 29.

- TimeOut