KEY POINTS:
ROCK
Well pour some sugar on me, look who's playing the Vector Arena this Friday night. Classic rock superstars Def Leppard bring their epic show to New Zealand, with their classic hits such as Love Bites, Rocket, Rock Of Ages, Armageddon It and Pour Some Sugar On Me.
With 65 million albums sold, Def Leppard are an iconic part of many Kiwi music fans' 80s experiences. Remember to keep an eye out for one-armed drummer Rick Allen.
Def Leppard - Vector Arena, Auckland, November 14
VARIETY/CHARITY
An eclectic programme of entertainment is planned this Saturday to help raise money for a relief project in Darfur, Sudan. Performances by our Sudanese community, a pipe-organ recital, piano presentations by South Korean musicians, a skit by Beryl Te Wiata, songs by the Bay Singers and a Chinese opera singer will raise money for a country where many rely on aid to survive.
Darfur Benefit Concert - Epsom Community Presbyterian Church, November 15, 7.30pm
EXPO
There'll be a whiff of testosterone in the breeze around the ASB Showgrounds this weekend as Big Boys Toys returns for another year.
Billed as a "complete male lifestyle" event, you can drool over everything from the latest pool tables and pinball machines to the finest on four wheels, including the mini-Hummers.
There's a special area for the girls this year if the salivating from your man becomes a bit much.
Big Boys Toys - ASB Showgrounds, November 14-16
POP/CLASSICAL
Dave Dobbyn's had a big year with the release of Anotherland but he's taking a side-step from the new stuff. Having performed with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO) in 2006, he's back giving his Kiwi classics a symphonic seeing-to with arrangements by Tom Rainey, who has been responsible for gluing the music of many a contemporary act to APO's big sound. That violin in Dobbyn's Whaling won't sound quite so lonely this time.
Dave Dobbyn with the APO - Auckland Town Hall, November 16
FOLK/COUNTRY
Auckland folk trio Forbidden Joe recorded their debut EP in the old World War II bunker on Auckland's Mt Victoria, and lead vocalist and concertina player Frances Dickinson says it was an ideal atmosphere. "We recorded in the middle of winter and while a storm howled outside we had a fire roaring. We loved the idea of crackles and pops though the tracks - it adds to the intimacy." Hear them at the album release party this Friday.
Forbidden Joe album release - Masonic Tavern, November 14
DANCE/DJ
About once a year club night Legends rolls around with a line-up of longstanding Auckland DJs. This time around it includes everyone from bFM's Mikey Havoc, to turntablist Ned Roy, to British import and now Kiwi through and through Jason Eli. This from the promoter: "No guidelines and no boundaries, from the first 25 years of dance music. From house to hip-hop, r&b to funk, disco to electronica and back again."
Legends - Ink and Coherent,K Rd, November 15
BIRTHDAY
It's the big four zero for the biggest animal in town. Auckland Zoo's Kashin the elephant turns 40 this weekend and the celebrations take place on Sunday. The elephants will be painted in a traditional Thai style that symbolises a celebration and visitors can watch them demolish elephant-size birthday cakes. Also, you know it's a party when Ruud the bug man is there, although Kashin is a little bigger than the creatures he talks about.
Jumbo Birthday Bash - Auckland Zoo, Sunday 11am-2pm
SPORT/FILM
For the first time, New Zealand is entering a team to compete in the Homeless World Football Cup being held in Melbourne in December. The
competition has run every year since 2003, with teams coming from as far away as war-torn Afghanistan,the slums of Kenya, and the drug rehab clinics of Dublin. Kicking It - a documentary about the cup, narrated by Colin Farrell - will screen on Tuesday at Auckland's Academy Cinema.
Kicking It - Academy Cinema, Auckland, November 18, 6.30pm