New Zealand rockers Six60 are counting down to the start of their Grassroots Tour next week — a 24-concert tour during which they will head down State Highway 35 and on to Beach Road, Tokomaru Bay (pictured), for their 10th show at Te Puka Tavern on Monday, April 22.
Agig at Gisborne’s War Memorial will follow the next night. Both are sell-outs, the Gisborne show taking just minutes. As the name of the tour infers, it is all about “grassroots” and playing in “exclusively small venues”. Performances will be recorded over the tour for an album, Best Of The Grassroots Tour.
In the build-up to their concerts, Six60 have sent out messages on Facebook asking fans where they should visit. “Let us know what’s unique about your town and what spots we shouldn’t miss out on.”
As of yesterday, there were nearly 300 responses on the Gisborne Notice Board page and 60 on What’s Up Tokomaru Bay. One of the stand-out comments came from Kevin Pewhairangi . . .”SIX60 be good for you to be formally welcomed into the ākau (bay). We are rich in our māoritanga, rich in our histories and if you let us tell you our stories, you’ll truly see the amazing things that this little community has contributed to Aotearoa, in particular, music. If you want to know where the oldest kapa haka group is from it’s here, if you want to know where the songs such as E Ipo, Poi e and ngoingoi were written, it’s here. The boogieman Chad Chambers is here, Tui Teka lays here. The list can go on. This is paradise, and unfortunately a lot of locals missed out on tickets to see you at the pub, so how about let us welcome you on our marae Pakirikiri Marae and you do a little show for the locals before we tell you our stories.”
