After 12 years, four albums and numerous appearances at major music festivals, award-winning Kiwi band Tahuna Breaks is calling it a night.
The electro-funk band will play its final show to a sold-out crowd at Auckland's The Studio on Saturday night, an occasion band member Jonny McClean says willbe "bittersweet".
"We're really excited about it - it's basically one last party. We've got some friends and some original band members coming to play. It's going to be a really good show."
The band mixes elements of funk, disco and soul music and pulls it all together into a big, bouncy, dance-oriented sound.
With between six and 10 members on stage for any one show, the energetic live act has been a regular on the New Zealand scene for more than a decade.
McClean, the band's saxophonist who joined as a fresh-faced 22-year-old, says the show signals the end of a chapter for him - and the start of a new one.
"I'm more concerned about turning 30 the day before the show - it's all going downhill for me this week," he laughs. "I'm moving to London, too. Things happen in threes, that's what they say."
In the eight years he's been part of Tahuna Breaks, he has recorded three albums, played summer festivals - including the Big Day Out, Rhythm & Vines, Homegrown and Highlife - and to top it all off last year, a seven-date, two-week European tour.
The band played the esteemed Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and possibly the pinnacle of global festivals, Glastonbury.
"That was amazing. It was definitely something I'll remember for the rest of my life. We had a dream run there," he says.
However, McClean says it felt right for the band to call time, and they hope to go out on a high note.
"It's a natural conclusion. We're all good mates, and some guys in the band are at a different stage of their lives where they can't afford to or don't have the time to put into the band.
"We thought it would be better to go out when you're on your game rather than be walked out the door."
One thing he'll miss is weekends away touring with the band in new cities or countries.
Tahuna Breaks. PHOTO SUPPLIED
"We had so many laughs, just socialising with your mates and having a few beers, and to top it all off you get to play a gig. You go away for these weekends and it's sort of a dream, and then you come back and go to work on Monday - it's like you're living a double life."
McClean says he has been "tinkering" with his own music and would look for a musical project to be involved in once he was in the UK.
After being part of the band for more than a quarter of his life, he has mixed feelings about the end, but says the show will be a celebration with friends and fans doing what he loves most - playing music.
"I'll definitely miss playing with the boys - there's nothing quite like playing live in front of an audience.
"Each gig was one more than we expected to play, so we never took it for granted. To be here eight years later and have achieved the things we have, it's been a dream ride, but all good things must come to an end.
"I'll walk off with some great mates, and we'll be celebrating long into the night after the show ends."
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