Today NIGHTLIGHT Festival announces their inaugural line up for the brand new multi venue, multi night arts festival in Taranaki’s city of New Plymouth in association with the TSB Showplace Theatre. This will take place across Matariki weekend on the 13th, 14th and 15th of July 2023.
Headlining the event (in her only Aotearoa performance on this tour) is twice Grammy-nominated, Mercury Prize and BRIT Award winning UK artist Arlo Parks. The sophomore record “My Soft Machine” with Phoebe Bridgers collab is due to hit our shelves on 26th May. Parks jaw dropping live performances have earned her a dedicated and loyal fanbase around the world.
Joining Arlo is co-headliner British rapper slowthai whose extraordinary new record UGLY (U Gotta Love Yourself) was released earlier this year in March. slowthai was set to perform at this years Laneway Festival before the event was tragically cancelled due to extreme weather 48 hours out. slowthai’s high energy in demand performances are legendary. Of his latest record slowthai says “It’s everything I’ve been leading up to” UGLY hasn’t left the NIGHTLIGHT office turntable since it was released.
Award winning Aotearoa thrash metal outfit Alien Weaponry (Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāti Raukawa) took the world by storm with their debut release Tū released on Napalm records in 2018. The whiplash inducing three piece were the subject of a VICE documentary in 2019 and have performed around the globe from Resurrection to Download Festival and everywhere in between. They were last seen in Aotearoa with Guns n Roses and we can’t wait to have our ear drums blown by the three piece metal bands brutal, relentless performance.
Rounding out the headliners is honorary New Zealander by way of Australia, enigmatic Kirin J Callinan. Kirin’s list of collaborators (including Connan Mockasin and Neil Finn), accomplishments and controversies are long and storied. The often naked, perpetually flamboyant and mysteriously confrontational artist’s debut album was picked up by Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear’s “Terrible Records” label and Callinan hasn’t stopped innovating or pushing boundaries since. Kirin recorded his latest opus “If I Could Sing” out 23.06.23 largely in Tāmaki Makaurau with the video for the first single “…in ABSOLUTES” being filmed on Tāmaki’s west coast black sand beach Piha. Kirin is a true artist in every sense of the word and NIGHTLIGHT couldn’t think of a more fitting act to titillate and provoke us in July as this new creation is born into the world.
With additional components of the festival still to be revealed, we are proud to announce the full line up of evening musical performances.
NIGHTLIGHT Festival
New Plymouth / Ngāmotu, Taranaki
Kirin J Callinan
with special guest Erny Belle
Thursday July 13th – TSB Royal
Alien Weaponry
with special guest Earth Tongue
Friday July 14th – TSB Royal
Arlo Parks
with special guest Samara Alofa x PolyHill
Friday July 14th – TSB Showplace
slowthai
with special guest DARTZ
Saturday July 15th – TSB Royal
The Lights Out Ball
featuring BBYFACEKILLA, ZEKI and GALOLEAFI
Saturday July 15th – TSB Royal
