Dimmer Reuniting For Nationwide Aotearoa Tour

Dimmer's I Believe You Are A Star 20th anniversary tour was such a roaring success last year that Shayne P. Carter is reuniting his stellar group, treating fans nationwide to encore events in the four main centres of Ōtepoti, Ōtautahi, Pōneke and Tāmaki Makaurau during the closing months of 2023. A pivotal figure in Aotearoa's noisy underground, from formative works with Bored Games and The DoubleHappys, to achieving international alt-rock stardom with Straitjacket Fits and beyond, Carter's darkly soulful debut Dimmer album I Believe You Are A Star was created over five years and launched in 2001 — as described in his Ockham New Zealand Book Award winning memoir Dead People I Have Known.

Carter will not only be getting the expanded Dimmer lineup back together of James Duncan (bass/guitar) and Gary Sullivan (drums) with Louisa Nicklin (guitar / vocals), Durham Fenwick (keys/vocals) and Neive Strang, he'll also be touring in celebration of a new live double album — documenting the group's sold-out triple night residency at Avondale's Hollywood Cinema. Naturally titled Live At The Hollywood, the collection was recorded by RNZ’s Andre Upston, out online and available on vinyl at the upcoming shows via Crystalator Records. Revisit Taylor MacGregor's gloves-off, two-part interview with Carter HERE and take action to secure your spot at these special events...

“The music sounded too good and the band played it too well to just pack this thing away. I truly believe that this line up was the fullest realisation of the musical vision I always had for Dimmer. The number of people on stage and the skills and sensibilities they brought to the band meant we could do justice to a lot of material we maybe hadn’t been able to do full justice to, or even play, in the past. It was a new band with a fresh set in a lot of ways. I also found this group inspiring with future material in mind.

Live performance has always been it for me, but I’ve usually found live recordings ropey. I was actually blown away by how good the Hollywood recordings were, and how they included angles and extrapolations on the tunes that aren’t on the original recordings. Although I stand to financially gain from the exploitation of this artefact I wholeheartedly recommend the item to the general listening public.” — Shayne P. Carter

UnderTheRadar proudly presents...

Dimmer

Thursday 30th November - Old St Paul’s, Pōneke w/ Oghum (supervised license / reserved seating)*
Friday 1st December - Old St Paul’s, Pōneke w/ Oghum (supervised license / reserved seating)*
Saturday 2nd December - Powerstation, Tāmaki Makaurau w/ TE KAAHU☆
Thursday 14th December - Port Chalmers Town Hall, Ōtepoti w/ Calla (general admission standing & limited reserved seating) *
Friday 15th December - Port Chalmers Town Hall, Ōtepoti w/ Calla (general admission standing & limited reserved seating)*

*Ōtepoti and Pōneke tickets available now via humanitix.com
☆Tāmaki Makaurau tickets available now via aaaticketing

Press release:

Following the runaway success of last year’s sold out “I Believe You Are A Star” tour, Dimmer return for a series of encore performances through Aotearoa in November and December.

Band leader Shayne Carter put together a six piece band for the tour in 2022 marking the 20th anniversary of Dimmer’s most celebrated record, and the event proved such a musical success that he has decided to continue with this expanded Dimmer line up.

Core members Carter, James Duncan (bass/guitar) and Gary Sullivan (drums) were joined by Auckland musicians Louisa Nicklin (guitar/vocals) and Durham Fenwick (keys/vocals) and Dunedin artist Neive Strang (vocals/percussion). This same line up reconvenes for the dates later this year.

The tour will also be in celebration of a live double album drawn from last year’s shows at the The Hollywood Avondale, recorded by RNZ’s Andre Upston. Dimmer “Live At The Hollywood” features cherry picked versions from the entire Dimmer repertoire, recorded over a sold-out three night stand in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Recorded and produced by Radio NZ, DIMMER Live at The Hollywood double album will be available on vinyl at the shows and online via Crystalator Records - look out for a pre-order announcement soon.