Two of New Zealand’s indie rock heavyweights have joined forces again for a short tour over the coming Queens Birthday weekend.

These guys don’t need much introduction, but here’s a taster: Through Blam Blam Blam, the Front Lawn and the Mutton Birds, and now with nearly two decades of writing and performing under his own name, Don McGlashan has reflected the landscape and people of this country in his songs, and more than a few New Zealanders would consider them the soundtrack of their lives. McGlashan has five entries in APRA’s 100 Best NZ Songs of All Time and two Silver Scroll wins, and his 2006 song 'Bathe In The River', sung by Hollie Smith, is one of the biggest NZ singles of all time. His most recent 2015 album Lucky Stars has proved one of his most acclaimed.

Rock’n’roll has taken Shayne P. Carter everywhere from the Dunedin WINZ office to the Arista offices in New York. Starting out writing songs as a Dunedin teenager on one string of the guitar, he quickly earned accolades and fans as the unstoppable force behind Bored Games and the DoubleHappys. It was Carter’s involvement in Straitjacket Fits through the 80s and early 90s that cemented his status as one of New Zealand’s most impressive songwriters (honoured with a Legacy Award at the 2008 NZ Music Awards). His work that followed with Dimmer went one better - the 2004 Dimmer album You've Got To Hear the Music (2004) won New Zealand Music Awards for Best Album and Best Group. Carter released his first solo album, titled Offsider, in August 2016. Influenced by classical piano music (Schubert's Lieder, Chopin's Nocturnes, Debussy's neo psychedelia, Mozart's pristine classicism, Beethoven's cosmic exploration), it’s a thrilling sidestep and new evolution for Carter.

The pair’s surprise alliance was first debuted at the 2016 Auckland Arts Festival, wowing crowds and critics alike. David Larsen gave the show a rave ‪10/10 review in Metro Magazine, saying “the only thing wrong with this concert was that it was too short by half.” In the New Zealand Herald, Russell Baillie hailed the show as “neatly unpredictable… highlights were the hypnotic spells cast by both of McGlashan's Envy of Angels and Seed from Carter's Dimmer days.”‬

Don McGlashan & Shayne Carter

Friday June 2nd:  4th Wall Theatre, New Plymouth
Saturday June 3rd: Royal Wanganui Opera House, Whanganui
Sunday June 4th: Queens Birthday Music Festival, Upper Hutt

Ticket info via http://www.donandshayne.com/