Blindspott hit the road after long layoff

Blindspott's Shelton Woolright, Dave McDermott, Damian Alexander, Marcus Powell and Brandon Reihana.

Auckland heavy metal band Blindspott were a touch reserved about their second album End the Silence before its release in May.

Their self-titled debut album was highly acclaimed and went to No 1 on release four years earlier and fans wanted more of the same.

A couple of line-up changes altered the band's dynamics and reviews of the latter album were more mixed, but nevertheless it also went straight to No 1, achieving a double for Blindspott that no other New Zealand rock or pop band have achieved.

The band admits marriage, children, the odd personal challenge and two new members made it hard for them to get momentum to make End the Silence, but they're pleased they did.

"At the moment it's selling along the lines of the first album," Marcus Powell said after the band's recent trip to Japan.

"We're the first New Zealand band to have both the first and second album debut at number one. This one has gone platinum and we're stoked about it."

Powell says there were initially a few anxious times with the DJ no longer being part of the band's five-strong line-up, but the new twin-guitar attack has worked well.

"Losing the DJ we lost that hip-hop element, which for the first album I think did really well.

"We had a lot of hip-hop fans listening to that album and not having that with this album we were quite worried, but obviously it has got us a lot of new fans," Powell says.

Recent shows in Australia with locals Karnivool, and in Japan at the huge Summer Sonic festival with the likes of metal heavyweights Metallica and the Deftones show they've retained their international appeal.

Powell says the Japanese fans were as passionate as ever, tracking the band and offering gifts to them and their families, and the festival itself was huge.

"It's hard to put into words. Our stage was a 10-minute bus ride from the main stage, it was massive," he says.

It will be a different story when they begin a national tour starting in Napier on October 4, but the more intimate settings will work in the crowd's favour.

Powell says the band is looking forward to touring its home country after a long layoff.

"We're stoked to be on the road again. We've been trying to organise a national tour for a long time but so many other things have happened.

"This is the first opportunity we've had and we're really grateful to be able to get out on the road."

* Blindspott Tour dates and venues:

Roadhouse, Papakura, Oct 6; Grumpy Mole, Rotorua, Oct 12; Altitude, Hamilton, Oct 13; The Studio, Auckland, (all ages and R18 shows), Oct 14; Colloseum, Palmerston North, Oct 19; Subnine, Wellington (all ages and R18 shows), Oct 20; Riwaka Hotel, Nelson, Oct 21; Copper Block, Blenheim, Oct 22; Tillermans, Invercargill (all ages and R18 shows), Oct 25; The Outback, Dunedin, Oct 26; Sopheze on the Bay, Timaru (all ages and R18 shows), Oct 27; The Civic, Christchurch, (all ages and R18 shows), Oct 28.

- NZPA