Wellington musician Matiu Te Huki returns to Thames this weekend as part of his nationwide Upward Spiral tour.
Last year, when Matiu performed at the Back Room, his high-energy loop act had the whole room dancing away their cares.
Matiu’s soulful roots music has a strong Māori flavour, using haka, chants and traditional Māori instruments, backed by grabbing grooves, deep, beautifully crafted basslines, funky rhythms and magical melodies that stay with you well after the show ends, all held up by a pillar of Pacific passion and top-class technical precision. As a composer, the soul-stirring messages in Matiu’s music are positive, inspiring and unifying.
This Saturday, in a performance at the Thames South School hall (Te Kura o Te Kaueranga), he’s opening for local five-piece Joy Collective. Consisting of Dylan Wade, Nur Peach, Alex Ivanoff, Seonaid Espiner and Danley Tonkin, the collective contains multiple songwriters and performs in a wide variety of genres. These include rock, soul, blues, reggae, funk, folk and pop, among others.
