Band kisses Kiwi shores goodbye

A "pain in the butt", Facebook, sun tans and some mean tunes have all combined to see Tauranga band A Kiss Goodbye invited back to tour in Britain.
It's a more mature quartet that leaves these shores today heading for a second - and more extensive - tour after taking their first steps in the same direction a year ago.
Formed in 2007 at Bethlehem College, university studies for two, now former, band members, have led to line-up changes, but original singer/guitarist Rory Malone and Conar Johnston (guitar and backing vocals) are still there, and have been joined by Luke Turner and Leith Butterworth.
Armed with their first full-length CD, Bella, last year the band played at the Spring Harvest Christian festivals in Skegness and Minehead, and this year will do the same, plus a series of one-off dates in England and Scotland, organised by Rory's dad Campbell.
"It was the first time last year and we weren't sure how they would go down as they were still at school. But they went down a storm - over there they had just come out of winter so they were all white - they liked the boys' accents and they were tanned, so that really appealed," says Campbell.
Music is only one part of the multiple-day festivals, held at holiday camps.
"They only book about five bands - the other four (last year) all had record contracts and it was a bit of a fluke.
"I got hold of the organisers and pestered them - I made myself a real pain in the butt."
Eventually Campbell discovered an old friend working for the organisers. After chatting about friends and relatives, Campbell just asked the question out of left field.
"They said they'd given them a go."
Rory says this year's overseas jaunt and festival appearances will be altogether bigger than last year.
"Last year was a bit of a foot-in-the-door kind of thing. This year we've created a bit of a stir already."
Christian radio stations are playing their older songs and are keen to get hold of newer material.
Facebook was a big influence on the way the band was received last year - the first gig drew a crowd of about 50, but by the end of the tour they were playing to 5-6000 people.
"Before we went we didn't have a Facebook page, but dad said we should have one. Facebook is huge in the UK we had about 100 friends when we went - now we have 1322 friends."
"Whenever I make a comment on there I quickly get about 20 people liking it."
The band has a new, self-titled CD to take with them to promote - and hopefully sell.
"The best way to describe it is more mature," Rory says of the new music. "You can tell a lot of work's been put in to the songs' structure."
Already A Kiss Goodbye have opened for such bands as Panic at the Disco, Cobra Starship, All American Rejects, Nesian Mystic, The Dukes, Goodnight Nurse and Midnight Youth. They played to an estimated crowd of 40,000 at last weekend's Balloons Over Waikato festival.