Russell Crowe's band lines up three NZ dates

Russell Crowe is coming to New Zealand as he left it - as an aspiring rock'n'roll singer. The Oscar-winning actor will play three New Zealand dates at the end of next month with his band The Ordinary Fear of God.

The band contains some members of previous Australian backing group Thirty Odd Foot of Grunt (those initials apparently mean they don't have to respray the road cases) as well as former Swingers/Midnight Oil bassist and recent Dave Dobbyn sideman Bones Hillman.

Crowe has tried to maintain his other calling, as a musician and songwriter, as his screen career has taken off,

After releasing a few albums with Thirty Odd Foot of Grunt, and the canning of the Australian movie Eucalyptus early last year, Crowe recorded his first solo set, My Hand, My Heart which includes nine Crowe-penned autobiographical songs including Mr Harris, an ode to his late Gladiator co-star Richard Harris, as well as a cover of Nick Cave's Breathless.

Crowe and band will play at the Leigh Sawmill (in a dinner and show event) on Thursday March 30; SkyCity Theatre, Auckland on Friday March 31 and Wellington's Illot Theatre on Saturday April 1.

Whether his set will include any Russ Le Roq favourites from his early Auckland days could not be confirmed.