Welcoming an Outkast

Big Boi, one half of Outkast, will play from his back catalogue. Photo / Supplied

Among the international announcements this week is one-half of missing-in-action hip-hop hit duo Outkast, Big Boi, who is coming to Auckland to play in August at the Logan Campbell Centre.

Big Boi, real name Antwan Andre Patton, became one of the biggest names in hip-hop when he and his friend Andre 3000 formed Outkast in 1991 and proceeded to bring to the world catchy hits Miss Jackson, Rosa Parks, and Hey Ya.

Big Boi's solo hits include I Like the Way You Move, on his first solo release Speakerboxxx, which was released with Andre 3000's The Love Below in 2003.

Since then the pair have concentrated on film but Big Boi's sophomore solo album Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, released last year, also received rave reviews.

He promises to play an extensive back catalogue, to give his Kiwi fans a chance to see the closest thing they might experience to an Outkast gig. Support acts will be announced in May.

Australian electro-dance-pop-rock pirates Cut Copy are also on their way over with gigs in Auckland and Wellington at the end of May to celebrate their ambitious third album Zonoscope.

These promise to be euphoric hands-in-the-air type parties, at San Francisco Bathouse, Wellington, on May 25 and the Studio on K Rd in Auckland on May 26. Tickets are on sale today through Ticketmaster and Under the radar.

And fellow (but more mellow) Australian exports the John Butler Trio are performing their fifth studio album April Uprising in Auckland on May 6 and in Wellington on May 7. Tickets are also available today through Ticketmaster.

Those nostalgic for the days when they had enough hair to make a mohawk a viable lifestyle option, might be pleased to hear about the forthcoming show by Steve Ignorant, former frontman of early eighties English punk oufit Crass.

Ignorant and band will be playing songs from the Crass' heyday at Wellington's Bodega on Saturday June 18 and Auckland's Kings Arms the following night.

-TimeOut