Sol3 Mio enticed back

Musical trio Sol3 Mio - Amitai Pati (left), Pene Pati and Moses Mackay - were fed a feast of kai moana when they last visited Whangarei in 2014.

In other regions Sol3 Mio are brought baking and knitted socks but in Northland they are fed crayfish "bigger than my arm".

The musical trio consisting of tenor brothers Pene Pati and Amitai Pati and their baritone cousin Moses Mackay have added another Whangarei show to their On Another Note tour on Thursday, March 17, after tickets for the band's show at the 2000-capacity ASB Stadium on March 16 have almost sold out.

The Northern Advocate spoke to Pene Pati about Northland seafood, the pressure of singing a Maori song in front of Hatea Kapa Haka group and meeting rising young Kaikohe opera singer Kauwiti Selwyn.

"You know what?" Pene asked. "We weren't going to come to Whangarei and we had a few days off. We questioned [tour promoters why we weren't] and they said it was due to logistics ... but now we have a second show."

It may have been the plethora of seafood they were fed while visiting during their 2014 tour that enticed them to return. Northland opera singer Kawiti Waetford studied with Sol3 Mio in Cardiff, Wales, and told them to visit his whanau while they were in Whangarei. So they were welcomed on to Paratene Te Manu Marae in Ngunguru and in good Northland fashion they were fed like kings.

"We went to a marae and they put up the most incredible feed - there was crayfish bigger than my arm," Pene said.

He said they were welcomed on by Hatea Kapa Haka Roopu, who performed a song for them and put on the pressure.

"We had planned to sing a Maori song but [Hatea] got up and sang and I said 'guys cut it, cut it', so we sang a Samoan song instead," he laughed.

During their last visit they also invited young rising Kaikohe opera singer Kauwiti Selwyn to their sound-check. Kauwiti sang with Sol3 Mio and the meeting featured on Campbell Live at the time.

I told Pene that Kauwiti had his sights set on the NZ Aria Competition next May - the contest which had launched the careers of opera stars such as Pene.

Pene said they hoped to explore more of Northland during this year's visit and had a piece of advice for our Northland talent: "I think self-belief is important because when we were young we grew up singing, everyone could, so we didn't think we had a talent."

The two Whangarei concerts will present material from their new album, along with favourites from their debut album and beloved classics.

A 12 hour presale for the new show begins at Thursday, January 21 at midday, with general release tickets on sale from midday on Friday, January 22. Tickets will be available from Ticketek.