Here's Five - Special Guests for Exploding Rainbow Orchestra: Jukebox of Joy

We asked conductor Joshua Worthington-Church (Mammalien, Princess Chelsea and the Dream Warriors) the impossible — to spotlight five guest tunes to look forward to at this Sunday's Exploding Rainbow Orchestra: The Jukebox of Joy spectacular at Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre in Tāmaki Makaurau. For the uninitiated, the ERO is a joyously maximal ensemble, performing annually since 2021, this week starring a 40+ piece band with local guests galore, plus "lasers, lights, giant mirrorballs", elements of elements of "theatre, dance", with every member wearing flowing outfits handmade by Worthington-Church.

Inviting guest songwriters to lead the band for every song, the Exploding Rainbow Orchestra: The Jukebox of Joy is something of a retrospective of earlier ERO Songbook events. The all-star lineup includes Chelsea Prastiti (SKILAA), Diggy Dupé, Grecco Romank, Hollie Fullbrook (Tiny Ruins), Elizabeth Stokes (The Beths), Mainard Larkin, Princess Chelsea, Priya Sami (Bub), Rachel Clarke (Elisa), Samara Alofa, Steph Brown (Lips) and Yolanda Fagan (Na Noise, Half Hexagon). There will also be a special Rangatuone conduction by Rāhana Tito-Taylor (aligning with the weekend's Matariki celebrations) and narration by poet / author Dominic Hoey.

As award-winning Aotearoa music writer Gareth Shute (Songs From The Shaky Isles) observed, "Princess Chelsea isn’t putting on her Midwinter Ball this year, so I reckon this will be the unforgettable event of the season in its place!" Dip into Worthington-Church's Here's Five selections below and grab tickets while you can.

Exploding Rainbow Orchestra - The Jukebox of Joy
Sunday 12th July - Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Auckland

Chelsea Prastiti (SKILAA), Diggy Dupé, Grecco Romank, Hollie Fullbrook (Tiny Ruins), Elizabeth Stokes (The Beths) Joshua Worthington-Church (Mammalien), Mainard Larkin Princess Chelsea, Priya Sami (Bub), Rachel Clarke (Elisa), Samara Alofa, Steph Brown (Lips), Yolanda Fagan (Na Noise)

With narration from Dominic Hoey and guest conductor Rāhana Tito-Taylor

Tickets on sale from www.ticketmaster.co.nz

Chelsea Prastiti - Scratch Me Out (SKILAA)

Chelsea has been a dear friend for a long time, and an absolute titan of our scene — it’s impossible to overstate the breadth and depth of her musicality. A lot of my favourite Chelsea Prastiti tunes are also unreleased (I even bootlegged one to do a cover of it), which also felt perfect for this project. And the cherry on top is the fact that Chelsea provided the (ERO) Songbooks with its first punk song! It’s a glorious skewering of Spotify and corporate greed, and I’m incredibly excited to play it with a band that’s almost twice as big as the first time we performed it.

Diggy Dupé - Do It All

Diggy and I were introduced by Bob Frisbee, our sounds engineer and puller of strings. One of my favourite ERO memories of all is the first rehearsal we had with Diggy, who was youth mentoring down the road and so only came in quickly to do his song. The day before show rehearsal is a long day and it can get pretty gruelling, but Diggy came in like it was opening night at the Town Hall, blew the absolute roof off and left before anyone knew what had happened. It takes some real mana to front a band this size, and Diggy has it like no one I know.

Joshua Worthington-Church - I Don’t Want To Live On This Planet Anymore (Mammalien)

Anyone who knows me is aware of my rampant egomania and self-deification. And even if you don’t know me, a cursory glance at this project will tell you all you need to know. Truthfully, I’m slightly put out at making myself perform a song; the whole reason I conduct this band is because it’s the best seat in the house. However, I did write the perfect theme song for this band (alongside Wil Goodinson’s exquisite overture from last year’s show, which you may have heard peppered through our radio ads).

Steph Brown - Sometimes I’m Afraid (Lips)

I’ve been a Lips fan for ages, they’re one of my absolute favourites. They’re so colourful, zany and playful, but also achingly sincere. It’s the perfect emotional cocktail for me, and Steph’s songs have always managed to cut right to my core. Steph is also an incredible keyboard player, and I’m super stoked we were able to get her in the band this year as well!

Yolanda Fagan - Open The Door (Na Noise)

Yolanda is one of those people I saw performing for a long time before we met, and I think I probably psyched myself out (I had much worse self-esteem as a younger person, before I developed my god complex). But we’ve become incredibly good friends, and I’m super grateful for it. The song we’re performing with her has undergone one of the more dramatic shifts from when we first performed it, which is super exciting for me both as the ERO conductor and as a long time Na Noise fan.

BONUS video: Watch Jukebox Of Joy guest Mainard Larkin performing the title track to his new album Rattlesnake Boy (out now via Lil' Chief Records) with the Exploding Rainbow Orchestra...