Ngati Ranana, the London Maori Club, has been meeting since the late 1950s, convening every Wednesday at New Zealand House and once a year at the marae at Clandon Park. Many of the Club form an all singing and dancing Maori culture performance group, which provides both traditional and contemporary on-stage shows, that make most warm blooded kiwi homesick.
This August they have been invited to compete in Te Manahua, aninternational Maori performing arts competition, in Hawai’i, where they will be performing against other groups from round the world.
To help them raise funds to pay for the considerable travel costs to the competition, they are hosting an amazing line-up of South Pacifican talent at the Union Chapel on Sunday 20 June. Everyone involved is donating their time and services, with all profits going to cover the flight costs.
The entertainment includes heart pounding log drumming and hip aching dancing from Beats of Polynesia; soulful tunes from LA Mitchell, recently of Fly My Pretties project, and part of Dave Dobbyn’s band; spoken word from titillating Samoan artist, Sistar Spacific; an installation by George Nuku; a piece of Fiji from Ana Lavekau and the grand finale: haka and poi swinging from Ngati Ranana.
Any of you who have seen Ngati Ranana perform at one of our Waitangi Day events or at Toast Festival or elsewhere will be in agreement that they put on a very fine show, and given the amazing acoustics of the Union Chapel, this should be a performance like no other.
To make this event a real success, we must sell 400 tickets and so need the help and support of all you out there.
Advance tickets are on sale now for £12.50 + b/f from Ticketweb (08444771 000 or http://tinyurl.com/ururangi). Door sales will be £20 on the day, plus families can buy special tickets on the door: 2 Adults and up to 4 children for £30.00.
You may know Mr McGlashan from his days in The Mutton Birds, or Blam Blam Blam or possibly even The Front Lawn. Wherever you know him from, you are sure to have heard his songs over the years: “Anchor Me”, “Dominion Road”, “Nature”, “There is no Depression in New Zealand” or the smash hit that Don wrote for Hollie Smith – “Bathe in the River”.
Who knows what he will be singing at this solo show but it is sure to be good! His time supporting Crowded House has honed his live performances down to a fine art, and he never fails to please.
Supporting him on the night will be Rodney Fisher (formerly of Goodshirt) and Anton Barbeau. Tickets are £10 +b/f from Ticketweb (08444 771 000).
In a sign of perhaps how far the Kiwi reggae/dub scene has come overseas, Wellington’s The Black Seeds are being *supported* on their only London show this year by one of the biggest reggae bands of the moment, Easy Star All Stars. Of course it helps that the Seeds are signed to the Stars’ label in the USA, and so they are friends, but it is also testament to the quality of their life affirming, funk infused, dub drenched, reggaefied good time grooves.
If you haven’t heard of the Easy Star All Stars, they are the geniuses behind “Dub Side of the Moon”, “Radiodread” and “Easy Stars Lonely Heart Dub Band”, all albums dedicated to reggae/dub versions of Pink Floyd, Radiohead and The Beatles respectively. You can check some of those out at www.myspace.com/easystarallstars.
Following on from her storming performance at the Vibe Bar in April, Ladi6 and Parks return for their final UK show of the year. Tickets are £7.50 +b/f in advance from http://tinyurl.com/ladi6.