Melbourne’s Checkerboard Lounge to perform in Palmerston North for the first time

From deep within the veins of Melbourne’s music scene, Checkerboard Lounge has become a cult-like underground institution.

Melbourne blues band Checkerboard Lounge are touring New Zealand for the first time, performing in Palmerston North on July 4.

The band have been entertaining Australian audiences for more than 30 years and are the brainchild of songwriter/vocalist/drummer Carl Pannuzzo.

Checkerboard’s improvised blues demand honesty, integrity and truthful musicianship, he said. From standing ovations at festivals to crammed inner Melbourne pubs, no two shows are the same.

Band members have included some of Australia’s best blues exponents, such as Ian Collard, Jeff Lang, Broderick Smith, Steve Teakle, and Richard Tankard.

Pannuzzo will be joined on stage in New Zealand by guitar master Shannon Bourne and Hammond virtuoso Tim Neal.

A veteran of Melbourne’s music scene, Bourne’s career began as a sideman to blues legend, Chris Wilson.

Neal is a highly sought-after Aria award-winning multi-instrumentalist and Australia’s foremost exponent of the Hammond organ.

The Details

What: Checkerboard Lounge

When: Thursday, July 4, 7.30pm

Where: Globe Theatre

Tickets: nz.patronbase.com or from the venue