KEY POINTS:
ROCK
A band that's shared the stage with Jimmy Page, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, AC/DC and the Grateful Dead among others play one show at Auckland's Powerstation on Saturday night. The Black Crowes are here promoting their new album Warpaint, but long-time fans will be
hoping for a few classics, with a high chance of a sing-along when they unleash She Talks To Angels. Rapidly approaching the 20-year mark, the band seem to be losing none of their live energy.
* The Black Crowes, Powerstation, April 5, Ticketek
LEARN
Explorer-turned-diplomat George Cunningham will deliver the annual Hillary lecture at the Auckland Museum tonight. Entitled From Cape To Cairo: Then and Now, Cunningham will take a look back at his trek on foot all the way from Alexandria in Egypt to Cape Town between 1979 and 1981. The Hillary lecture is organised by the Museum Circle Foundation, and is named after the Foundation's late patron Sir Edmund Hillary. All proceeds go to the Foundation to fund acquisitions for Auckland Museum.
* Cape to Cairo: Then and Now - Hillary Lecture, Auckland Museum, April 3, 7.30pm
CLASSICAL
Brahms' Hungarian Dances No 5 and 6, Prokoviev's Lieutenant Kije Suite and work commissioned from New Zealand composer Anthony Ritchie will be performed this weekend. The Manukau City Symphony Orchestra and saxophone quartet Saxcess play the works, and a piece specially created for the collaboration called Abundant Air. The programme also includes violinist Loata Mahe performing Sarasate's virtuoso Gypsy Airs.
* Manukau City Symphony Orchestra Presents Abundant Air, TelstraClear Pacific Stadium, Manukau, April 5, 7.30pm; April 6, 2.30pm
FESTIVAL
Auckland's Viaduct Basin will be bustling this weekend with the annual Auckland Wine and Food Festival. Visitors can sample international fine foods, cheeses, antipasto, continental meats, and pre-prepared meals as well as a wide variety of fresh produce and of course, wine. The musical entertainment is a mixed bag, with a laughable highlight being Saturday afternoon's three successive tribute acts: Brett Wallace as Neil Diamond, Brendon Chase as Elvis and Steve Larkins as Freddie Mercury.
* Auckland Wine & Food Festival Viaduct, Auckland CBD, April 5/6, 10am-7pm
DANCE/DJ
Anyone who has tripped the light fantastic at Auckland nightclubs over the past five years or so will know how sweet the club Morrison was in its heyday. One of the more popular club nights was Mint, billed as a night of essential house music. After taking over a succession of clubs since Morrison's closure, the club night returns this Saturday to the venue formerly known as Morrison, at 63 Fort Street, now known called Seba. It'll be four-to-the-floor for sure, with DJs Sample Gee, Grant Marshall (pictured) and General Lee leading the charge.
* Mint - Seba, 63 Fort St, April 5, $15 presales at Real Groovy.
SINGER
Critically acclaimed Cantabrian Dudley Benson plays the last show of his tour this Saturday at the glorious St-Mathews-In-The-City church. Composer Richard Nunns, know of late for his work with traditional Maori instruments, will accompany Benson along with a choir and a string quartet. This is a must for lovers of the quirky and inventive or, with much of Benson's lyrical inspiration coming from Canterbury, anyone with an attachment or connection to the region will enjoy this.
* Dudley Benson, St-Mathews-In-The City, April 5, tickets $40 from Ticketek
DANCE/REGGAE
If you were at Phoenix Festival in Basque Park last weekend you will know there are still thousands of Aucklanders keen to dance in our parks before summer finally departs. One of the last chances is the Daylight Savings event in Grey Lynn Park this Sunday. The big draw card is Fat Freddys Drop, who played the inaugural Daylight Savings two years ago, and return with a fresh cache of songs from their intensely anticipated, and still pending, sophomore album. Joining Drop are Cassette and DJs Nick D and Aroha.
* Daylight Savings with Fat Freddys Drop, Grey Lynn Park, Auckland, April 6, noon-6pm, free
ROCK/POP
Since the release of 2007's Yourself Or Someone Like You, pop rockers Matchbox Twenty have sold about 28 million albums, a total which includes 130,000 album sales in New Zealand. Their fans will be out in force this Tuesday as the band celebrate the release of their latest offering, Exile On Mainstream with a Vector Arena show. In support is Australian band Thirsty Merc, who have their own fan base here after a succession of commercial radio hits.
* Matchbox Twenty, Vector Arena, April 8, Tickets $100 from Ticketmaster