Hi folks, ringer spy Taniwha here again – I have to include myself in this, but clearly our Wellington spies are SLIPPING!
There was surprisingly average attendance at two events on Sunday – first the New Zealand Festival’s Writers & Readers session with Philippa Boyens and Christine Jeffs (director of Sylvia and Rain), then the concert last night by Grada, featuring Alan Doherty who is of course famous for that haunting ‘Concerning Hobbits’ flute line on the LOTR soundtrack. For shame, Ringers! The band was amazing as always – extremely tight musicians who clearly enjoy playing together (not as common as it sounds!), and their new album ‘The Landing Step’ is just out. Check gradamusic.com for more about them, or nzacoustic.net for a couple of song samples.
But there’s still hope – they’re finishing up their New Zealand tour over the next couple of days, with gigs at Marlborough Centre (Blenheim) and the Aurora Centre (Christchurch), so if you’re in either of those two places, get out an enjoy them! They’re on to Tokyo and Nagoya after that, then home to Ireland – check the Tour page on their site to see what’s next…