New Zealand has seen in the past five years a resurgence in our music scene, if you are visiting from overseas, or even from a smaller town in the country, you will have the opportunity to catch some of these acts, performers that lay beyond our staple icons in the industry. Auckland has become a hub for great talent, with new venues popping up in the central city there is usually a great show to catch each night in the city! We have put together a small list of our favourite acts worth catching!
The Beths
The Beths are easily the next big thing in New Zealand, the four piece have seen a huge rise in popularity in the last year, with their debut album, Future Me Hates Me, being heralded as one of the year’s stand-out music releases, receiving praise from a myriad of respected publications such as Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and Band Camp, and gaining worldwide radio airplay. The band mixes the popular indie rock genre that has been popular over the last five years with a true-blue kiwi flair, their songs are upbeat and made for summer roadtrips.
They are just as endearing live, with their shows usually selling out and getting crowds jumping and bopping along to the catchy hooks – you only need to hear the chorus to most of their songs once to have them permanently engraved in your minds! After selling out shows across Australia, North America, the UK and Europe in 2018/19 the band will be returning to New Zealand later this year for a short run of ‘homecoming’ shows – the last chance to witness The Beths on their Future Me Hates Me album cycle.
Benee
Benee burst into the local music scene in late 2017, with the enigmatic debut single ‘Tough Guy’, which boasted cliff-diving guitars, synth bass and infectious melodies backed with a production credit from Josh Fountain at Golden Age and has since been on the rise!
Benee has gone on to perform at Laneway Festival, Spark Arena with Lily Allen, and join the Aroha Nui line up, all the while receiving rave reviews for her “fun and charismatic” live persona. If you manage to catch one of her live shows, try grab a ticket because they tend to sell out fast!
Shaun’s Birthday
A little more underground and unknown than the rest of the acts on this list, Shaun’s Birthday (or b-day) have quickly earnt a reputation for their energetic live shows, catchy choruses and erratic dance moves which have gained them opening slots for some of Australia’s best indie rock bands such as Skegss, Dune Rats and The Chats.
It’s a great time to catch this live act before the break into the big time, they can usually be found playing shows on the K Road strip, or if you’re in Auckland in September you’ll be able to catch lead guitarist Shaun’s actual birthday, which includes a line-up of the cities best indie rock bands in one night!
