Wellington metal band find new Whanganui venue after original gig scrapped

Bulletbelt will be supported by Pull Down The Sun and Hadees Drudge for their gig at Stella Restaurant & Bar next month. Photo / Dark Arts

Wellington metal band Bulletbelt will still bring their Warlords tour to Whanganui next month, after their original date at Frank Bar and Eatery was scrapped.

The band will now play at Stellar Restaurant & Bar on Saturday, November 14.

Drummer Steve Francis told the Chronicle the band were about to make the long drive from Wellington to Kaitaia to begin their nationwide tour, and he was "super stoked" to be able to come to Whanganui after all.

"We had a whole bunch of venues messaging us out of the blue offering to help out so that was awesome," Francis said.

"That outpouring of support showed that 99.9 per cent of people in Whanganui just want to see live music and see good things happen.

"We'll have local boys Pull Down The Sun playing, who've just released an amazing album and are doing great things, so we're stoked to have them on board. We're bringing a Wellington band called Hadees Drudge with us as well, who play melodic, old school metal, so it's shaping up to be a really fun night."

Francis said the band made a special Satanic Panic T-shirt to mark their run-in with Frank Bar and Eatery.

"We put out a pre-order yesterday and sold 50 in one day. The design is a bit of homage to heavy metal imagery, and the band certainly don't believe in fictional things like the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny or Satan.

"My 7-year-old still believes in the tooth fairy though, and we'll keep that going as long as we can.

"Tickets for the show at Stellar are selling really well, and hopefully all the old Sepultura fans from 20 years ago dust off their black T-shirts and come along.

"Those black T-shirts probably don't fit any more, but it'll still be a rager of a night."