Boy oh boy, do we have some scorching hot news for you? Tucson, Arizona’s favourite sons, Calexico, are finally making their long-awaited return to New Zealand to play three very special shows.
“You see, Calexico are amazing live. Not only is their material extraordinarily good, but this is a band who clearly just dig playing…” – The Guardian
Across their illustrious career, the charismatic core pairing of Joey Burns and John Convertino, both formerly of cult act Giant Sand, have earned a fevered following for their unique melting pot of country, cinema noir, desert jazz, TexMex tango, Latin rhythms, and French chansons. Their 1998 album The Black Light and 2000’s Hot Rail saw their star rise, but it was Feast of Wire that completed the trilogy of sorts, and shot them into the musical stratosphere.
Casting his mind back on the making of the album, Joey says, “I’m reminded of how much time and space we had in the studio to try out all sorts of ideas. Most of the recordings started like they often do with John on drums and myself on guitar. And as we brought in the other band members it was like a river was flooding through our subconsciousness and we couldn’t get the ideas to analog tape fast enough.“
While musically, there’s nothing quite like it, there’s also a meaningful lyrical thread running through Feast of Wire. The tales woven here concern themselves with the lives of those attempting to make their way north of the Mexican-American border to safety, a plight that the band acknowledges has only worsened in recent years.
These three shows, happening this February at Wellington’s beautiful Opera House, Christchurch’s favourite venue Loons, and Auckland’s finest, The Powerstation, are set to be momentous occasions, celebrating an album that has a tight and enduring grip on so many of our music-loving hearts.
“…Genuinely masterful… crammed with immediate songcraft, shifting moods and open-ended exploration” – Pitchfork
Calexico will be supported by Ebony Lamb
The Wellington-based artist co-founded the alt-country band Eb & Sparrow in 2010, earning an enviable reputation amongst her contemporaries and music fans alike for her dynamic performances and prolific songwriting. Drawing comparisons to Gillian Welch, Cat Power and Neko Case, Ebony released three critically-acclaimed albums with the band before embarking on a solo career under her own name. She has played and produced with two of New Zealand’s most celebrated modern musicians, Bic Runga and Kody Nielson (Silicon, UMO).
Ebony closed out 2023 with a phenomenal seven date album release tour of her highly anticipated album, traveling the country mesmerising audiences and gaining fans at every turn. “EBONY LAMB” is released on Nadia Reid’s label Slow Time Records, and is a watershed work from a genuine talent coming into her own. The album’s first single ‘Take My Hands at Night’ was nominated for the 2023 APRA Silver Scroll Award.
Tickets available from ticketmaster