Supplied
Hot Potato Band is returning to New Zealand in February, returning to Nelson as they had to cancel the last gig their due to Covid Lockdown.
After three years of Covid-19 regulations, “a jumble” of cancellations and postponements of shows, Nelson’s Theatre Royal manager is excited to bring back the band who was meant to play before the lockdowns.
The Sydney-based Hot Potato Band had scheduled a concert at the Theatre Royal in April 2020 after they had a successful performance at the World of Music, Arts, and Dance (WOMAD).
But the Nelson concert could not go ahead as Australians were urged to return home immediately because their borders were about to close due to Covid. New Zealand also went into lockdown in late March 2020.
Nelson Royal Theatre manager Eliane Polack said she was excited that after almost three years the band was back to perform.
READ MORE:
* Covid-19: Auckland event organisers get creative under red light restrictions
* Christchurch’s tally of cancelled summer events and lost dollars mounting
* Theatre uses downtime to check equipment
“The band’s unique sounds are built on the backs of three drummers, a sousaphone, and five horns that cover catchy chorus lines, providing a beautiful harmonic cloud for the vocalist to float,” Polack said.
Polack said the band are high energy performers and their “positive coastal energy” pushes “euphoric boundaries” in their quest to reignite acoustic instrumentation.
“The seats on the flat section of the stalls will be removed for the concert to make room for dancing,” she said.
Polack said the Hot Potato Band coming back after all this time “feels symbolic”.
“Their concert was the first to cancel, and what followed was a three-year jumble of cancellations and postponements of shows, with closures and the reopening of the theatre,” she said.
“Now that live events are firmly back on the menu, I hope we can move on, keeping our eyes on the horizon, with a lot of exciting shows to look forward to this year.”
The Hot Potato band will be playing on Friday, February 3 from 7.30pm. Tickets can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Box Office before the event, door sales are subject to availability.
The Hot Potato Band are also performing in Christchurch, Wellington, Palmerston North, New Plymouth, Whangārei, Kerikeri, Auckland, Mount Maunganui, and Napier as part of their Australia and New Zealand Tour.
Discussion about this post