One of Aotearoa’s music greats is headlining the sixth edition of Rock The Steps this Saturday, expected to be always on concertgoers' minds for months to come.
Tiki Taane will grace the stage at the Silvan Steps Amphitheatre in Richmond as the sky turns red over the Tasman region below, joining a 3pm to 11pm programme featuring local and national rock bands and soloists.
Hosted by production company Dorado Whakatū frontman Bo Ade-Simpson, or Flowen Bowen when he’s in front of an audience, says he hopes the grassroots concert for all ages will become a paragon this weekend now that someone like Tiki is performing.
“It’ll be an easy way for the rest of the country to start noticing what goes on here,” he says.
“I think Tiki Taane is a New Zealand icon, he will bring national status and recognition to the steps, and he’ll be great for bringing that extra level of status, name and professionalism.
“I want to create a space that is able to attract world-class talent to our community and create a world-class stage for our local talent, because I think our talent is world class too.”
Local musicians joining Saturday’s line-up include Nelson psychedelic rock band The Dorado Experiment, disco funk four-piece Fairydogs, and loop artist Flowen Bowen & Friends.
From out of town, Powder Chutes from Wānaka and Christchurch band Pieces of Molly round out the headline acts.
Bo says that inspiring young musicians is at the heart of the event.
“I've always done all my gigs to inspire the youth to be rock stars, to be able to look up at the stage and go, ‘I wish I was a rock star’,” he says.
“Bands like Powder Chutes, whose young guys are coming up in the music scene really well, they're probably going to shoot to be quite well known in the country.
“So grabbing them early and promoting them up in Nelson is good for the young scene to inspire those guys.”
Around 500 tickets have been sold, with the venue able to accommodate 1200 headbangers.
“A lot of people who’ve been to Rock The Steps say ‘my cup is filled’, ‘it’s taking me back to what Woodstock would be like’, and the venue is just unbelievable,” Bo says.
“We have these eight metre towers on each side with fire dancers as we're playing rock and roll, so the feedback has been 11 out of 10.”
Bo hints an international act is on the cards for the next event.
“I do this all out of my own wallet, so it’s a massive money risk and gamble for me. The idea is, I can break even on this, and then get into the next concert that's going to be the next level up.”
He welcomes sponsorship support as the event booms.
“I would love some sponsorship because it's getting increasingly harder as these events are getting bigger,” he says.
“With Tiki Taane performing you'd imagine that he costs a shit ton more.”
For tickets and event information visit: events.humanitix.com/rock-the-steps-26.
