Fat Freddy's Drop perform to a sold out crowd on their recent European tour. The band plays at Northland Events Centre, Whangārei, on Thursday.
Fat Freddy's Drop perform to a sold out crowd on their recent European tour. The band plays at Northland Events Centre, Whangārei, on Thursday.
Fat Freddy's Drop is the biggest roots band in New Zealand, but such is their international pull, they've just come back from a sold out tour of some major European venues.
In a sign of just how big the band is becoming you need to look no further than their recent gigs in London.
Back in 2009 I saw Fat Freddy's at a tiny pub in Brixton, with a crowd of about 200 (and most seemingly expat Kiwis). They've just played two sold out shows at the prestigious Brixton Academy - a feat that many a major Brit band would be delighted to achieve.
This level of success will no doubt see the band playing overseas more often so Fat Freddy's gig at Northland Events Centre in Whangārei tomorrow may be the last chance to see them for a while.
Thursday's gig also features reggae group The Black Seeds; Kerikeri singer, songwriter and actor Troy Kingi - who won Te Mangai Paho Best Maori Artist and Best Soul/R&B Artist at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards; and DJ legend Norman Jay MBE.
Scott Towers (AKA Chopper Reedz) told the Northern Advocate the band was looking forward to kicking off its latest NZ tour in Whangārei on Thursday and warned that he band was "tight as" musically after its gruelling, but highly enjoyable European tour.
Chopper Reedz (AKA Scott Towers) of Fat Freddy's Drop.
''We always love playing at home, no matter how well we do overseas. But it was amazing to have such a great tour over there and play in some big venues. Two nights (at the Academy) was insane,'' he said.
''And we love Troy Kingi so it's going to be brilliant to have him playing with us too. Troy's a really talented guy and we love his performances, both on his own and with the many other people he has recorded with.''
The next European tour will likely include plenty of stadium gigs and festivals and Towers said Thursday's gig at the Northland Events Centre, will set them in good stead for that.
''We were up in Kerikeri last year (January 6 at Kainui Road Vineyard) and we had a great time, so we're really looking forward to coming up there again. Playing at he stadium will be really good. In New Zealand you often play the same venues all the time so it will be nice to freshen things up,'' Towers said.
''We've always talked about hosting a big festival here so I suppose this will be a it of a practice run for that in some ways as it's a mini-festival really.''
He's hoping for a crowd of up to 8000 in Whangārei, which isn't too bad, considering they've returned from a triumphant European tour playing 30 shows to more than 400,000 people, including some of the biggest EU festivals and selling-out all of their headline shows including Zitadelle in Berlin and Brixton Academy.
Towers promises the crowd will get to hear all the Freddy's hits as well as some brand news songs that have been road tested in Europe, including 114, Kamo Kamo and Special Edition.
He said Kamo Kamo is about the vegetable, "but we also love Kamo in Whangarei. In fact so much so we named it twice, just like New York, New York.''
Fat Freddy's Drop NZ Summer Tour 2019 dates:
Thursday 3 Jan: Toll Stadium, Whangārei, Special Guests The Black Seeds, Norman Jay MBE, Troy Kingi.
Saturday 5 Jan: Wharepai Domain, Tauranga, By Special Arrangement: Salmonella Dub feat. Tiki Taane, Norman Jay MBE, and Troy Kingi.
Monday 7 Jan: Thames Racecourse, Thames - Coromandel. Special Guests The Black Seeds, Norman Jay MBE.
