Opera trio sing Whangarei's praises after sell-outs

From left Amitai Pati, Pene Pati and Moses Mackay just after their sound check at ASB Stadium, Kensington, ahead of last night's sold out concert. Photo / Michael Cunningham

It's not goodbye, just so long until we meet again.

After the first of their two sold out shows last night at Whangarei's ASB Stadium, and with one more show tonight, on their On Another Note tour, Kiwi singing sensations Sol3 Mio promised they will be back.

The musical trio - tenor brothers Pene Pati and Amitai Pati and their baritone cousin Moses Mackay - performed to about 4000 people in the two shows on a trip that Pene described as "a hiatus tour" rather than a goodbye, after four hectic years since they broke through.

The shows were the second time the trio had been to Whangarei and after the city missed out on last year's tour, and was initially missing from this tour, they insisted that Whangarei was added to the itinerary.

"When we first came here we really enjoyed it and everybody was so good to us so we just had to come back this time after missing out last tour," Pene said.

"And we've sold the place out twice so people must like us."

He said the trio had agreed some time ago that this would be their last tour for at least two years, but he promised they would be back performing across the country after their break.

"We initially started out as Sol3 Mio to further our studies and that's what we will be doing in the hiatus. But we will be back and who knows what will come of it as we will be getting more experience during our break and having new experiences that we can bring back [to the group]," Pene said.

Amitai said there had been great feedback from the audiences so far on the tour, with plenty of positive comments on social media.

"Everywhere we have been it has been really exciting and its been such a positive time," he said.

Moses said the trio loved performing live, but needed a break and would come back better than ever making "wonderful music".