On Sunday 2 November at Auckland’s Eden Park NZRL will host another Pacific Championships double-header with the Kiwi Ferns taking on the Australian Jillaroos before the Kiwis face Tonga.
But this time, NZRL have upped the excitement by introducing a gig at the game! Eden Park will come alive with the melodies and anthems of Hawai’i’s Island soul star JOSH TATOFAI and Aotearoa’s very own hip-hop hero SAVAGE.
SAVAGE will take the stage with iconic tracks at half time and between games, and another torchbearer of Polynesian music, Grammy-nominated, JOSH TATOFI, will perform the Tongan National Anthem, before joining his band in a half hour concert at the completion of this fiercely contested double-header.
JOSH TATOFI is a singer, songwriter, and musician from Honolulu, known for his fusion of traditional Hawaiian and Polynesian music with R&B, reggae, and island soul. In 2023 he won the Nui FM Best International Pacific Artist at Auckland’s Pacific Music Awards. He has received a nomination for a Grammy and has won multiple Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, highlighting his significant contributions to Hawaiian music. Known as the ‘Polynesian Luther Vandross’ Tatofi’s music, including hits like Pua Kiele, which blends traditional and modern elements. Dedicated to preserving Hawaiian culture, Tatofi promotes Hawaiian language and traditions, bringing the aloha spirit to a global audience through his captivating performances.
SAVAGE grew up in Samoa and South Auckland and become a hip hop recording artist, record producer, and member of hip hop group the Deceptikonz. He was the first NZ hip hop artist to have a commercial single achieve platinum certification status in the United States and sold an excess of two million records as a hip hop artist. He has dominated the airwaves with two quadruple platinum-selling singles and is the voice behind the four times platinum selling dance record, Swing (with Joel Fletcher) and viral radio smash hit Freaks (with Timmy Trumpet). The six times Platinum Freaks is a global dance anthem that has reigned in over one billion streams and has amassed 70+ million views reaching #22 on the Global Shazam chart. Savage has evolved into a multi-genre artist and broke through into the global dance realm to achieve his third #1 single. His new hybrid of bounce, trap and bigroom EDM has relished at the core of the international dance scene, garnering the support of Steve Aoki, Skrillex, W&W, Carnage, VINAI, Hardwell, Baauer and dance music elite.
Together, JOSH TATOFI and SAVAGE will cap off an incredible day of rugby league action with a one-of-a-kind concert experience, celebrating the spirit of Aotearoa and the Pacific.
“Rugby league Test matches don’t get much better than the Pacific clashes,” says NZ Rugby League CEO Greg Peters. “And to have musicians Josh Tatofi and Savage perform is going to make the night even more memorable and is a huge bonus to both league and music fans”!
Sunday 2 November – Eden Park, AUCKLAND
Kiwi Ferns vs Australian Jillaroos / Kiwis vs Tonga
