New Zealand...foreign musicians playing there

Cafe Society
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I know a musical artist who might be playing in New Zealand in a few months and since they’re unknown, I’m curious how it might go for them.

I’m curious about music venues, in any of the main cities, that might host out-of-town, or foreign (in this case, American) musicians. Do those kinds of acts draw an audience? I’m not talking about big acts that everyone’s heard of, or breaking acts that are preceeded by big buzz. I’m talking about unknown acts or acts that have a very small following in other parts of the world. Do people go out to see artists who have come from a long way, such as America or Europe, if they’re unknown? I would think in some cases, a smaller artist coming from America may never have a chance to go there again, so it could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see them.

Are there television shows or radio shows that might feature the artist (who is very talented, and worth seeing live), which could help get people out to the shows? I have these visions of, if this actually happened, the artist playing Auckland and Wellington with only 8-10 people in the audience, and smaller places like Dunedin, Nelson and Rotorua with only 2-3 people in the audience. That’d be terrible.

This person doesn’t have a specific genre of music to play, like rock, country or jazz. Imagine an unknown artist akin to Jeff Buckley or Peter Gabriel, playing small but (hopefully) classy venues. In other words, not bars or honky-tonks. Places where people will actually sit and listen to the music, and not talk to their friends as if the artist wasn’t there.

Are there such things as house concerts in New Zealand?

Also, are there any muscians who have traveled from America or Europe to play in New Zealand? If so, any tips about jet lag or travel I can pass on to the person?

Edited to add, this person doesn’t have a major label to do blitz promotion. In fact they’re not signed at all, and it’ll be up to fans to get the word out.

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I’m from straight across the planet, but I’ve been to many an “unknown” concert in Barcelona. They were usually sponsored by a local radio station so the cover price was pretty low; most radio stations celebrate a few multiconcerts a year. A couple of clubs had a cheap “unknown” concert once a week, on a week-late-afternoon (when they wouldn’t have been open otherwise); this drew crowds that would normally not drop by that place into checking it out, they might then go back during Real Business Hours. Your friends may want to contact radio stations.

For jetlag one tip I read in a flight magazine and which has helped me in daily life too is “proteins to wake up”. Croissants for breakfast were never my thing and of course I may just be having some sort of placebo effect, mind you. Different sleep strategies work for different people, but in general I find that trying to get on “local time” isn’t worth it if I’m staying a week or less. Given the distances involved here, I do hope they’ll be able to stay longer!

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I saw the Indigo Girls in Aukland when I was there about 10 yrs ago. The concert hall was packed.

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Without sponsorship from a label, I’m not sure how the word would get out. Unless the artist can plug in to firms that do cheap posters and bomb the city with them, or just simply spread the word on the 'Net (there are quite a few Kiwi blogging and messageboard sites).

Get in touch with some of the local media stations here, most of which have web-presence. The two free-to-air leaders are TVNZ and TV3 , but C4 is the music channel for gigs.

As far as venues – I’d advise seeking the advice of entertainment departments in local councils, such as mine at Auckland City. As far as Auckland is concerned, they have databases of information as far as venues are concerned, and may be able to give you info as to places to try, as well as publicity info. Just a thought.

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Thank you Nava, John and Ice Wolf.

Nava, what do you mean “proteins to wake up”? What kind of proteins?

John, the Indigo Girls are pretty big, MUCH bigger than this artist. How large was the venue?

I’m not sure the artist has any fans in Auckland, but there are a few in Wellington and Christchurch who could possibly do that. It’s an idea.

I wouldn’t want to spam anywhere, but at the same time, there’s gotta be people who have no idea this artist exists, yet would shoot themselves multiple times if they heard the music AFTER the artist has already played in or near where they are. It’s a dilemma. I would like some tips on what these blogging and message board sites are though. If you know of any would you PM me?

Thanks. Those will definitely be contacted.

The person who lives in NZ (a private citizen, not in the music business, a fan) who is trying to set this up has some contacts and will probably be doing exactly what you suggest. I was just curious about what kinds of venues were in the cities, and what the artist might experience. I’m not setting up this thing, I’m just a very interested bystander. Since I couldn’t go with (holy fuck I can’t BELIEVE the airfare costs to NZ!!), I need to live vicariously by learning as much as I can about this. If I can pass along tips, so much the better. My main role will be moral support and moping at home.

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Righto, I’ll see about sortin’ out a PM, Equipoise. :slight_smile:

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A lot of the cities in NZ have local universities right in town - and so there is often a range of small venues and bars which local acts play at - in Wellington there used to be Bar Bodega, Fishbowl, (both of which are not there now) Monkey Bar, the Establishment (more for techno), Molly Malones, venues around the Uni like the Student Union etc. I remember seeing friends in bands play in places, but I think a lot of the airtime was down to being local and putting the effort in to get around. Depending on the style of music, you may be able to talk to a bar owner and grab some space, but again it’s about local connections.

Only other things I can think of are metro papers like The Dominion for Wellington - useful in that they have a gig guide showing venues, and also for PR ONCE you have a gig booked (don’t think they will be interested unless you have something to promote like a CD or a booked gig people can go to). Student publications like Salient (Wellington’s Victoria University Student mag) and also student radio (Wellington’s RadioActive) may also be good places, and suspect they are always looking for content, so pays to have a well written summany of your friend’s work. Clutching at straws, but Real Groovy is the independent record store in Wellington, may also be connections there.

Sorry don’t have time to look for links to all, but www.yellowpages.co.nz and www.whitepages.co.nz are good places to start searching for these in all cities - suggest you start with Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill as the major cities, although depends on how much travel your friend wants to do, may be better to stick to one island, in which case North covers off the first 4.

let me know if you need any more info or ideas, don’t live in NZ now, but have family in Wellington.

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Thank you Girl From Mars, those names are very very helpful. I appreciate your taking the time to post. I never even thought about universities or alternative papers.

Bars are, to my mind, out of the question. I hope, anyway. This is not the kind of music that sloshed people would appreciate. Bars can be fun places, and I don’t mean to put anyone down who enjoys seeing musicians at bars, but imagine a Victorian choral group playing a bar. The artist’s music isn’t akin in any way to a Victorian choral group, but the quiet, respectful ambience needed is similar.

Thank you. I believe all the cities you mentioned and more are on the list of places to go, if it can be worked out. No way would the artist stick to one island. Part of the appeal and pull of going all that way in the first place is that they’re a HUGE Lord of the Rings fan. I sent a link of LOTR tours which I’m sure will be poured over. Lots of sightseeing will be scheduled in, I have no doubt. I suggested they stay there at least 2 weeks. We’ll see.