Twenty years since Australian rockers Hoodoo Gurus last played in New Zealand, the band is set to headline Selwyn Sounds.
Sir Dave Dobbyn, Gin Wigmore, Mi Sex, Stellar*, Greg Johnson, Blam Blam Blam and Zephyr will also grace the stage during the one day festival at Lincoln Domain on March 4.
Fans of Hoodoo Gurus can look forward to hits like What’s my Scene, Like Wow – Wipe Out, Bittersweet and 1000 Miles Away.
Wigmore, a United States-based Kiwi, will start her New Zealand tour at the event and Blam Blam Blam will be the first big name act to take the stage.
Promoter David Parlane said the first band on stage at 11am will up-and-coming Canterbury group, Zephyr.
The band features members of The Jehts, which won the Christchurch Smokefree Rockquest and were third in the national final.
“They’re a group of four people, very much a classic rock band, they’ve got three original songs. I’ve been to a couple of their gigs and they’re a great little group.”
Parlane and his business partner launched Selwyn Sounds in 2017 after a causal conversation over drinks.
“Actually it was my business partner [Craig Bradford] idea. He said: ‘Why do we have to go into Christchurch to see music?’ He then prompted me to do something about six months after that.”
Thirty-five vendors will also be on site, selling everything from pizza and Indian food to coffee, ice cream and more.
“It’s like a mini food festival,” Parlane said.
Along with the opportunity to see and hear a great line up of bands, he says the event also benefits the community, with 200 staff employed on the day and local organisations supporting the event.
"Lincoln High School students are looking after the car park and all the funds they gather from people parking there go directly back to [the] school.
"We have the leadership group from the high school helping us with scanning people at the gate. They’re the face of Selwyn Sounds.
"We also have the organisaton Red Frogs keeping an eye on people and helping people out if they need a drink of water or to ‘chill out’ somewhere.
"The Lincoln Lizards rugby team is running one of the bars, and that it part of their major fundraising,” Parlane said.
He said the event promotes the district in New Zealand and Australia with Hoodoo Gurus on the bill.
The Covid restrictions forced Selwyn Sounds to be cancelled a month before it was to take place last year.
“It was devastating for everybody – artists, crew the whole industry really,” Parlane said.
He said the festival was “not a cheap exercise” and cost “millions of dollars” to put on.
Tickets are still available.
“It’s been an extremely different year in terms of ticket sales, purely with what we’ve been through with cancellations, etc.
“People have been holding off a little bit, but we are certainly starting to see a significant lift over the last seven days, and we are looking pretty good for another sell-out event,” Parlane said.
- The gates at Lincoln Domain, off Meijer Drive, open at 10am and the festival is due to finish at 8.30pm. For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.selwynsounds.co.nz.
