Sounds like summer

Summer just got louder.

Long the traditional season for bands to hit the beaches, fans to hit the festivals, or for folks to try to cram in all the fun they hadn't had and dancing they hadn't done in the past 12 months into one New Year's Eve, this high season for live music seems higher, wider and deeper than many before it. There are the traditional coastal pub tours, where local bands get to meet their public up close, and whole pack tours of Kiwi groups hitting the highway (we'll tell you more about all of that inside this special summer music section).

Not only is there the usual influx of overseas stars for fixtures like the Big Day Out, foreign headline acts are hitting at the rate of nearly one or two a week until early March.

Heck, even Meat Loaf is coming to play two dates.

He follows veterans such as Bryan Ferry, who is doing two shows at the Auckland Civic on January 31 and February 1.

"I think it's been at least 10 years since I was last in New Zealand," says Ferry, "so I am very much looking forward to it. The band I'm bringing has [guitarist] Chris Spedding and [drummer] Paul Thompson, actually it's the same people who've been with me for the past three years and appeared on the Roxy Music tour. So that makes it possible for us to do an interesting set, a wide repertoire with lots of colours, some Roxy Music material and, of course, my solo work. And we've got two back-up singers who are very good, so it's going to be a good show for the audiences, I hope."

Also there's David Bowie, who takes his Reality tour to Wellington's Cake Tin in mid-February, Chrissie Hynde's Pretenders playing Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch a few days later, and the return of blueswoman Bonnie Raitt.

"Has it been 11 years since I was last there?" Raitt asked TimeOut. "Wow, it's been a while then, too long. I'm looking forward to coming back to New Zealand, it's been far too long - and I've got a nephew who was part of the computer animation team that made Gollum in Lord of the Rings, and he's been down there for three years, so I'm really looking forward to seeing him, too."

To that list add a couple of 70s placename acts - soft-rockers America ride back into town on their horse with no name in early February and Chicago play in Queenstown and Tauranga on January 31 and Waitangi Day respectively.

Even new wave is the stuff of classic rock tours with the B-52s and former Go-Go Belinda Carlisle joining the original Aussie idol John Farnham at the Mission Estate concert in Hawkes Bay on February 28. Acts of a more contemporary nature are heading this way and not just to the Big Day Out. American goth-pop band Evanescence - one of the breakthrough acts of this year - pop into the Auckland Town Hall on January 8.

English folk-rock duo Turin Brakes are at Auckland's Regent the next night before heading to Wellington's Indigo. And what many see as the best hard rock act on the planet, Californians Queens of the Stone Age, get to make up for their gremlin-plagued set at this year's Big Day Out, with a show at the Auckland Town Hall on January 13.

The biggest local tour of the summer? Well, it isn't some rock band, but what could well be the triumphant return of classical pop export Hayley Westenra, who plays a five-date New Zealand tour in the main centres from mid-February.

THE BIG SUMMER TOURS

Who: FEELERS, ELEMENO P, STERIOGRAM

What: Triple bill of popular pop-rock bands

Dates: Altitude, Thu Dec 18; Roadhouse, Papakura, Fri Dec 19; Glenfield Tavern, Sat Dec 20; Empire, Mon Dec 22; London Shed, Tue Dec 23-24; Waihi Beach Hotel, Fri Dec 26; Coroglen Tavern, Sat Dec 27; Brewers Bar, Mt Maunganui, Sun Dec 28; Whangamata Beach Hotel, Whangamata, Mon Dec 29; Butlers, New Plymouth, Tues Dec 30; Shed 2, Napier, Wed Dec 31; Duke of Marlborough, Fri Jan 2; Mangawhai Tavern, Sat Jan 3; Wade Tavern, Silverdale, Sun Jan 4

Who: BLINDSPOTT

What: West Auckland nu-metal mob cap off a big year. Tour was to have included hip-hoppers Deceptikonz, but they've since pulled out.

Dates: London Shed, Pakuranga Thurs Dec 18; Poenamo, Fri Dec 19; Control Room, Sat Dec 20; Duke of Marlborough, Russell, Sat Dec 27; Mangawhai Tavern, Sun Dec 28; Coroglen Tavern, Coroglen, Mon Dec 29; Brewers Bar, Mt Maunganui, Tue Dec 30; Reef Hotel, New Plymouth, Fri Jan 2; Taupo Events Centre, Taupo, Sat Jan 3; Shed 2, Napier, Sun Jan 4.

Who: GOLDENHORSE AND BROOKE FRASER

What: Girls' night out, sort of, with the female-fronted Goldenhorse and 2003 golden girl Fraser - on her first big tour since release of chart-topping debut album - teaming up for a night of sweet tunes. The band and Fraser also features as part of the Beach Day Out tour.

Dates: Helensville Grand Hotel, Sat Dec 20; Dogs Bollix, Newton, Mon Dec 22, Tues Dec 23; Whangamata Hotel, Fri Jan 2; Pauanui Community Centre, Sat Jan 3; Coroglen Tavern, Whitianga, Sun Jan 4; Duke Of Marlborough, Russell, Tues Jan 6: Mangawhai Heads Hotel, Wed Jan 7; Waihi Beach Hotel, Thu Jan 8; Spa Hotel, Taupo Fri Jan 9; Starlight Ballroom, Wellington Sat Jan 10

What: PARTY PACK

Who: Package tour of guitar bands (Fur Patrol, Augustino Crumb, Revolver, Dead End Beat and Stylus77) and varying guest stars (Jordan Luck, King Kapisi, Dave McArtney)

Dates: Thurs Jan 1, Whangamata Hotel; Coroglen Tavern, Whitianga, Fri Jan 2, Sat Jan 3; Mangawhai Tavern, Sun Jan 4.

What: BEACH DAY OUT

Who: Nesian Mystik, Scribe, Zed, Goldenhorse, Brooke Fraser, Augustino and the WBC in a mid-afternoon to evening concert tour designed for an all-ages audience

Info: Live in concert

Who: FUR PATROL & PAN AM

What: Melbourne-based Fur Patrol get reacquainted with the various provincial venues with support from much-admired Auckland rock trio Pan Am in between being part of the Party Pack and the Big Day Out.

Dates: O'Flahertys, Napier, Wed Jan 7, Thurs Jan 8; Boiler Room Whakatane, Fri Jan 9; Wade Hotel, Silverdale, Sat Jan 10; Brewers Bar, Mt Maunganui, Mon Jan 12; Scotty's, Gisborne, Tues Jan 13; Golden Cross Hotel, Wed Jan 14; Adrenalin, Whangarei, Sat Jan 17