New Zealand summer grooving
Beach hops, rock bands in vineyards and festivals on farms, summer in New Zealand brings the best of Kiwi and international music outdoors.
Up and down the country there are plenty of concerts over Christmas and New Year, and music seems to have become as festive as Santa and Auld Lang Syne.
For most, December is a time for finishing off work or study, and then spending time with friends and family over Christmas.
But after the festivities, it’s time to head off to find the best bands, playing in some of the best locations in the world.
Some are single concerts while others require tents, a sleeping bag and a couple of days to spare for some camping, or even glamping.
Strewn across the country from Northland to Otago in the South, some venues can become small towns for a very short space of time, with their own life and culture. And this is part of the attraction.
The best way to enjoy them is with a bunch of friends so now is about the right time to start planning your music tour.
Part of this will be the convenience of having a car and if you are like most concert goers, you will be on a budget so you won’t want to spend much on travel.
This is where you need a cheap rental car such as the ones at New Zealand Discount Car Rentals.
Daily rates start at $14.95 for a short term rental but if you are going on a trip you could get a SuperSaver car for as little as $9.95* a day for a minimum of 40 days. For four people, that’s an incredible $2.50 a day for a car – amazing value! Cheap and convenient.
So now you have some wheels, what are the concerts to head to? Here are ten ideas to choose from, for all tastes:
Sole Mio – Christmas in the Vines, Villa Maria Estate, Auckland – 20th December 2015
Not exactly grooving but we thought we would start with a bit of culture, simply because it’s before before Christmas, and has a Christmas theme.
Sole Mio is a trio of brothers Pene and Amitai Pati and cousin Moses Mackay, who have brought their flavour of classical tenor and baritone singing to international performing and recording over the last few years.
Villa Maria Estate
Samoan by descent and classically trained they are New Zealand’s answer to the internationally acclaimed Three Tenors.
The Sole Mio Villa Maria concert is one of five in New Zealand over the summer with the trio also performing at Waipara Hills, North Canterbury, 19th December and then three dates in March 2016 in New Plymouth (5th), Tauranga (8th) and Queenstown (24th).
Villa Maria Estate is a popular venue for summer concerts with a natural amphitheatre nestled amongst the vines that bear the fruit for some of the best vintages to come from anywhere in New Zealand.
Northern Bass, Mangawhai/Kaiwaka – 29th, 30th, 31st December 2015
Back to real summer grooving Northern Bass is now into its fifth year after starting life in the Bay of Islands back in 2011 and is billed as the best outdoor bass music festival.
Located at its so-called spiritual home of Worsfold Farm, 420 Settlement Road, it is between Kaiwaka and the beautiful beach holiday location of Mangawhai Heads, just an hour north of Auckland.
To fully enjoy the festival go for the full three days and camp, although other shorter option tickets are available.
It’s a true music festival dance party and it’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere so the volume is up!
Artists featuring this year include: Andy C, Shapeshifter, Skepta, Spor, Foreign Beggars, Keys n Krates, DJ Marky, Chali 2NA, Mala, Machinedrum, Ladi6, Home Brew, Slum Village, Danny Bird and Swindle, as well as over 30 or so others.
Dimension NYE, Donnelly’s Crossing, Maungatapere – 29th, 30th, 31st December 2015
A couple of hours further north is an alternative festival located at 1207 Waimatenui East Road, off State Highway 12 on the West Coast of Northland.
Dimension New Year’s Eve promises a music festival that “expands awareness in an exciting mind blowing collective adventure of light, music, sound and experiences, to launch us all into 2016 on a completely new plane of reality” – this is what the website says so if you are seeking a different experience this could be the place to be on New Year’s Eve.
It also has to be the most remote of all music festivals. Located down a windy road 22kms inland from State Highway 12 on the west coast between Dargaville and the Hokianga. The turn-off along Marlborough, Kaikohe and Waimatenui East Roads is about 40kms north of Dargaville.
Artists on the main stage include: Chromatone, Legohead, Cylon, Architekt, Complement, Terra Nine, Dr Freakstein, Sirius Music, Hanuman and supported by DJs including, Adamint, Akasha, Big Dave, Cymatic and DJ Pie.
Papamoa Beach, New Year’s Eve, 20 Domain Road, Papamoa – 31st December 2015
Papamoa Beach – Tauranga
For a single night of New Year’s music head to Papamoa in the Bay of Plenty for this legendary party, presented by Bass of Plenty in association with the Papamoa Beach Tavern.
It’s promising to be bigger and better than ever before with the music masterminded this year by international DJ and award winning star A.Skillz and supported by Such & Such.
A.Skillz was voted the best DJ in 2012 at the Breakspoll International Breakbeat Awards and has headed major events in New York, Miami and Sydney – he has turntable dexterity and beatmeister talent that will keep the whole of Bay of Plenty moving into the early hours of 2016.
It’s also reasonably priced at $75 a ticket.
UB40 Red Red Wine Vineyard Tour, 6-17 January 2016 – concerts around New Zealand
You can see a lot of UB40 in New Zealand this summer after the band split in two and both halves are playing various venues across the country!
Both UB40s have decided to keep the name, so as long as the court battle rages in the UK double portions of the band can be enjoyed down here!
The original voice of UB40, that of Ali Campbell, is taking his band on the UB40 Red Red Wine Vineyard Tour, perfectly named after the band’s 1983 hit and suited to the vineyard locations where it’s headed, presumably all of which will have copious amounts of red wine served.
Ali Campbell will be joined by brothers Astro and Mickey Virtue who were also in the original line-up – Astro is the one with the memorable dreadlocks.
The trio and their band are heading to: Kainui Road Vineyard, Northland (6th Jan), Black Barn Vineyards, Hawkes Bay (8th Jan), Rotorua Lakefront (9th Jan), TSB Bowl of Brooklands, New Plymouth (10th Jan), Waititi Creek, Queenstown (15th Jan), Waipara Hills, North Canterbury (16th Jan) and Matua Wines, Auckland (17th Jan).
Soundsplash Music Festival, Raglan – 8th, 9th, 10th January
Raglan has to be one of the best places for a music festival in summer as it’s one of New Zealand’s favourite holiday and beach spots, mainly because of its famous surfing.
Soundsplash is billed as a multi-genre festival of music and expression where music is central but there are plenty of places to chill and enjoy the sun, sand and surf. And there are lots of other things to enjoy including films and enticing market stalls.
The Festival is located in Wainui Reserve overlooking one of the world’s longest and most famous left hand break waves – so if you are a surfer you can get away from the music when surf’s up.
There will be three stages featuring bands such as: Sticky Fingers, The Black Seeds, Trinity Roots, Deadly Hunta, State of Mind, Weird Together, Cornerstone Roots, Bella Kalolo, Mighty Mighty and Dubsonic – and there are many more already confirmed and others still to come.
Once you have your Soundsplash wristband you can leave the site and explore, and there’s plenty around Raglan to see and do.
Coro Sonic Lab Summer Fest, Coromandel Town, Coromandel – 9th January
Over summer the population of the sleepy Coromandel Peninsula increases about four times so a music party slap bang in the middle of the holidays is bound to be a winner.
Located in Coromandel Town itself the Coro Sonic Lab is actually a recording studio that likes to invite people along to its beautiful private venue nestled among native bush.
The Coro Sonic Lab Summer Fest is very relaxed and at $25 for adults, $11 for 12-18 year olds and under 12s free, you couldn’t get a more reasonable music event for the whole family.
The eight piece Balkan Gypsy Brass Band will provide a real difference as a headline act and there will also be sets from The Huneybee Wild, ZVI, DJ Belleville, Self Destruct Sequencer and DJ Alley Kat.
Lasting between 6-12pm there will be live music, dancing, BYO picnics, lawn game and you can camp as well, for a small Koha, or donation. There are neighbours close-by so it won’t be an all-night party!
Rhythm and Vines, Waiohika Estate, 75 Waimata Valley Road, Gisborne – 29th, 30th, 31st December
This is the BIG one and some would argue Rhythm and Vines is the best as New Zealand’s premier New Year’s Eve festival. It’s also the first one in the world to welcome in the first sunrise of the New Year.
The creation of three University of Otago students, Hamish Pinkham, Tom Gibson and Andrew Witters, R&V started in 2003 as a New Year’s party for friends where they could see New Zealand bands – 1,800 friends came to the first one-day Rhythm and Vines, at Witter’s family home Waiohika Estate, near Gisborne.
Like so many other great ideas it’s grown and grown and now attracts international artists over three days and up to 25,000 people. It’s New Zealand’s, small but perfectly formed, Glastonbury – and in a much better location!
The line-up for 2015 includes: Angus and Julia Stone, Astronaut, Barely Alive, Brendon Thomas & The Vibes (of NZ X-Factor Fame), Concord Dawn, Cut Snake, Dan Aux, Dave Dobbyn, David Dallas, Diaz Grimm, Dimension, Diskord, DJ Sir-Vere, Dodge & Fuski, Dubloadz, Eastern Bloc, as well as about 30 more!
Rhythm and Alps, Cardrona Valley, 1653 Cardrona Valley Road, Wanaka – 30th, 31st December
Separate, but very much related to R&V, the South Island’s big New Year’s festival is between summer holiday hotspots, Wanaka and Queenstown in the beautiful Southern Alps.
Another stunning location, another fantastic line-up. Lakes, mountains and music – what could be better for a New Year?
A smaller version of the Rhythm event up north, the two concerts used to part of the same group but the south has now split away under a new owner, who has brought a new South Island focus to the five year old event.
Rhythm and Alps is on the Robrosa Station about 15 minutes south of Wanaka and nestled between the Cardrona Ski Resort and the high rolling terrain of the Pisa Plateau.
The line-up this year is the strongest yet and includes international star, British house and techno DJ Carl Cox, Sticky Fingers, Chali 2NA & the House of Vibe, The Opino Band, Ed Rush and Optical, Dub Phizix & Strategy, DJ Marky, Mala, Machinedrum, Ame, Weird Together, Electric Wire Hustle – and this is only half!
The event even has a warm-up at the Lake Hawea Hotel on December 28th featuring RL Grime, Skepta and Spor.
Ragamuffin Music Festival, Auckland Trusts Arena, 20th February
A great way to round off the summer back in Auckland, this is where you can see the other version of UB40.
This UB40 has more previous members of the band including Campbell brothers Robin and Duncan. But without Ali Campbell, the voice behind the hits, it could be like the Rolling Stones without Mick Jagger, as was recently pointed out in the Herald on Sunday.
Anyway, Ragamuffin 2016 will be a stellar event, more concert than festival, and definitely no camping. The line-up includes some major names and probably the best collection of reggae and roots: UB40, The Game, Eddy Grant, Maxy Priest, Macy Gray, Sly and Robbie with Bitty McLean, Xzibit, Beenie Man, Inner Circle, House of Pain featuring Everlast, and a few more.
Have a safe trip
Please be safe when you driving around and always have a designated driver, which is especially important if you are in group and you intend on having some fun!
There is plenty of information about driving in New Zealand – try looking at DriveSafe, which is full of videos and advice.
Remember, we drive on the left side of the road.
Enjoy our New Zealand music!
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