Dominic Hoey (aka Tourettes) used to tour New Zealand as a rapper and, before that, as a drummer in punk bands. This November he and singer-songwriter Skyscraper Stan are playing 17 towns around New Zealand and Hoey will be reporting from the road for The Spinoff – a sort of state of the nation through the eyes of a poet and a folk singer. Here, Hoey introduces the project.
On the 3rd of November, I’m embarking on a 17 date tour of Aotearoa with my mates Skyscraper Stan and Positive Josh.
For my part I’ll be reciting poems and begging people to buy my novel, Stan will be singing about love and beer while towering over everyone, and Josh will be eating pies and refusing to get out of the car.
We’ll be performing in Moutere at the oldest pub in New Zealand, lowering the tone of Wellington’s Lit Crawl and trying to entice the 40 odd residents of Okaritio to walk the two minutes to come see us perform.
Though I’ve been touring New Zealand since the mid-nineties, it was only when I got too old to rap that I started venturing beyond the main centres. There’s something exciting about turning up to a town you’ve never heard of and trying your best to win over the locals. Sure, there have been shows where we’ve planned an escape route in case the gathering of drunk farmers didn’t take kindly to some fucking jafa ranting about veganism and Auckland rent prices, but often times these turn out to be the best shows.
Throughout the trip I’m going to be keeping a tour dairy (think Heart of Darkness if the film crew was made up of overly emotional artists with poor impulse control) so you can be kept up to date as we lose our sanity and money traversing the country.
Will morale stay high or will we end up leaving Josh on the side of the road in Arthurs Pass? Will Joel Rickerby let us sleep on his floor in Port Chalmers? Will Josh make the tour videos we’ve promised various media outlets or just admit he doesn’t actually have a camera?
$10 pre-sale $15 on the door, get tickets here.
Friday 3 Nov- Auckland – Golden Dawn
Wednesday 8 Nov- Rotorua – The Rouge Stage
Thursday 9 Nov -Hawke’s Bay – Sitting Room Session
Friday 10 Nov – Hastings – Common Room
Saturday 11 Nov – Wellington – Meow (As part of Lit Crawl)
Sunday 12 Nov – Picton – Le Cafe
Wednesday- 15 Nov- Okaritio – Okaritio Hall
Thursday 16 Nov -Lyttelton -Hell Fire Club
Friday 17 Nov -Christchurch- Space Academy
Saturday 18 Nov -Dunedin- Dog With Two Tails
Sunday 19 Nov – Oamaru- Grainstore Gallery
Monday 20 Nov – Wanaka – Gin and Raspberry
Wednesday 22 Nov – Golden bay -Mussel Inn (free entry)
Thursday 23 Nov – Moutere- Moutere Inn (free entry)
Friday 24 Nov – Palmerston North -Looking Glass Lounge
Saturday 25 Nov – Auckland -The Wine Cellar
Sunday 26 Nov – Leigh – Leigh Sawmill
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