Featuring the original 1995 line-up of the iconic group, the band will come together for a rare series of shows, marking one ofthe few times they’ve played together in recent years.
Known for their high-octane live performances, this is a special opportunity for fans to experience Supergroove on stage delivering their timeless hits.
The tour features special guests including Troy Kingi, whose 10 albums, 10 genres, 10 years project has seen some amazing music hit the streets, including folk songs like Call My Name (School) and Sleep (Slumber), rock songs like Ocelli and Silicone Booby Trap and cool thrash metal number Mezcal Eye Drop.
Kingi is up to album eight in the series, so who knows what else he has in store for the crowd.
Rubi Du and DJ King Kapisi will also be part of the all-star guest line-up that will have fans lifting the rafters.
This tour is a throwback to Supergroove’s early days, when they took their unique blend of funk, rock and hip-hop on the road, building a devoted fanbase with their energetic regional tours.
Frontman Karl Steven said it was those tours during the early 1990s that really kicked things off for the band.
“We were barely in long pants when Supergroove used to roll into towns of all shapes and sizes to go nuts in the local halls, venues, streets and occasionally schools,” Steven said.
“That youthful excitement was true of our audiences as well and the level of enthusiasm we encountered across the country was both humbling and, at times, borderline bonkers.
Karl Steven of Supergroove. Photo / Dani Bolton
“Even back then it was clear that the whole Supergroove ‘phenomenon’ was only in part driven by the band itself, and that Supergroove was only truly ‘super’ once the doors opened and the people came in.
“The opportunity to visit these towns and reconnect with some of these older venues – and humans – in 2025 is something we’ve been excited to do for a long time, and we want to make the most of the opportunity to celebrate the fun of those early years, delivering a new show full of all the old hits, as well as special moments with great guest artists and a killer DJ to bring the old-school party vibes.”
Speaking of schools, students at Fraser High School in Hamilton from 1992 and 1993 have some fond memories of Supergroove.
Back in those days, Fraser High School had just won a competition to have Push Push play at their school.
Fronted by the inimitable Mikey Havoc, the show was a great success and another Kiwi band, These Wilding Ways, paid the school a visit, which led to Fraser High getting on Supergroove’s radar.
Supergroove at the height of the band's popularity in the 90s.
Supergroove played at Fraser High School at 12.30pm on October 21, 1992. It was the very first show of their six-date Ravage Tour.
About 800 of Fraser High School’s roll of 1400 at that time attended the show and several senior students, who were old enough to go to bars, were invited to Supergroove’s show at Hamilton’s Riverina Hotel that night as well.
In 1993, Supergroove returned to Fraser High to mark the end of their nationwide 22-date Damage Tour and played for a massive crowd of 1200 students.
Supergroove’s shows are known for their energy and the band will be giving it their all on stage night after night, just as they did for the Ravage and Damage tours.
The Phenomenon Tour will be a unique chance to see Supergroove together again, with each show set to be a celebration of their musical legacy.
Their debut album Traction, released in 1994, achieved Platinum status in its first week, cementing their place as the most successful band in New Zealand at the time.
The Phenomenon Tour pays tribute to those early glory days and to the loyal fans who have been with them since the start, recreating their halcyon days when they captured hearts and dominated charts.
They pumped out great songs like the initial proclamatory Here Comes the Supergroove, Sitting Inside My Head, Let the Funk Be Free, You Gotta Know, Scorpio Girls and Can’t Get Enough, which became woven into the soundtrack of many lives.
Thanks to Eccles Entertainment, there’s a chance to win tickets to an Auckland or a Rotorua show.
Either sit back and relax with a seated double pass to the Rotorua show on Monday, April 7 (Tuesday, April 8 is sold out) or get up close and personal with a GA standing double pass to the last show of the tour in Auckland on Sunday, April 27 (Saturday, April 26 is sold out).
These are the shows that dreams are made of and that memories are made from, and will, as the tour name suggests, be nothing short of phenomenal.
The Details
What: Supergroove w/ Troy Kingi, Rubi Du and DJ King Kapisi
When: Monday April 7, Sir Owen Glen Theatre, Rotorua. Sunday 27 April, Town Hall, Auckland.
WIN: a double pass to Supergroove in either Rotorua or Auckland (specify your choice). To be in the draw email your name, address, and daytime phone number(s) to hnfthcomps@gmail.com, with Supergroove in the subject, by midday Friday, March 28.
Competition by Fill The House Tickets Project – proudly supporting families living with cancer
