Gish made a special guest appearance for NZ Music Month celebrations in Levin.
A roaming New Zealand comedian and busker made an impromptu appearance at an annual music festival held in Levin.
Justin Hansen, better known by his stage name Gish, joined in with the New Zealand Music Month celebrations at the weekend, playing music, singing songs and taking on the role of MC on one of the main stages.
Organiser Paul King, of Kings Sound Centre, said Hansen had wandered into his shop a couple of days earlier, asking if he could play a few songs outside the store.
As the conversation continued, he ended up offering his services to perform at the festival.
“He was really great. I hope he comes back next year,” King said.
“I heard him singing and he was amazing. He came into the shop and we started chatting and he agreed he would MC for us. What a guy. He was there right ‘til the end.
“He’s got a great personality and was laid back and was ... perfect. When he came on stage wearing a dressing gown ... I thought he’d just come from the supermarket down the road.”
Hansen introduced performers, told jokes and sang songs himself, and interacted with the crowd, giving away prizes throughout the day.
King and his wife Eboney kicked off the annual music festival in 2014 and it has grown every year since, but he said the weekend’s festival was the biggest yet.
It involved 50 acts appearing on several stages throughout town, from brass bands to poets, ukulele groups, death metal and reggae bands, folk musicians, country singers and rappers.
There was even a karaoke machine set up in one takeaway restaurant while on the corner by the Post Office heaps of instruments were provided for people to pick up and jam with.
“When you think about how many people were involved, there would be hundreds of musicians,” King said.
“It starts off a bit slow in the morning but people drive through town and stop and it’s not long before there’s a big crowd.