Weekly Round-Up: Friday 11th April

The start of the week offered only a trickle of tour announcements, but by the time Friday rolled around we were flooded with them. Here's what we ended up with: Los Angeles grunge group Rough Church, led by Kiwi-music lover Greg Franco, are coming for six dates kicking off at the end of the month. Golden age hip hop producers DJ Premier and Pete Rock are heading to Auckland for a special collaboration show in May, which will likely see them battle it out on stage. As some readers correctly predicted in this week's "Guess Who" features, punk groups White Lung and Upset are teaming up for a three-date tour of New Zealand in May. Also in May, Kimbra is heading back home with soul singer Janelle Monáe in tow for a combined show at the Vector Arena. And folk trio Tiny Ruins are planning a special show at Auckland's bygone-era theatre Crystal Palace, which will follow their extensive tour supporting Neil Finn in the UK.

In release news, ever-entertaining bassist Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers has joined with three of the members from defunct The Mars Volta to form supergroup Antemasque, and they have already started pumping out high-energy tunes, the latest of which is called 'Hangin' In The Lurch'. Riot grrrl group Bikini Kill shared previously unreleased track 'Girl Soldier' ahead of the re-release of their back-catalogue to mark their 25th anniversary (complete with six other unreleased cuts) next week. New England native Tuneyards shared second single 'Wait For A Minute' from her forthcoming album Nikki Nack, which is due out early May. And Echo & The Bunnymen streamed new song 'Market Town' from Meteorites, the first album in five years from the English post-punk group. Locally, we saw some fantastic videos popping up this week, including a fantastic offering from Taite nominee Sheep, Dog & Wolf for his single 'Glare' and a skateboarding-themed clip for the new track 'Levels' from She's So Rad.

This week's Caught Live is St Vincent paying tribute to Kurt Cobain on the 20th anniversary of his death by covering 'Lithium' at her show at Chicago’s Riviera...

WEEKEND GIG PICKS:

Friday

Auckland: Grayson Gilmour Infinite Life! Album Release Tour, Golden Dawn
Auckland: Lost Rockets Single Release, The Wine Cellar
Wellington: Morcheeba, The Opera House
Wellington: Orchestra Of Spheres, Sheit Geist and Ballah Playa Gnar, Puppies
Christchurch: Husk Indigo Mountain Tour, Dux Live
Dunedin: Flip Grater Pigalle Album Release Tour, Queens
Dunedin: Doprah with The River Jones + Death and The Maiden, Chicks Hotel

Saturday

Auckland: Jason Isbell, Tuning Fork
Auckland: Wolf Party LP Release, Whammy
Wellington: Die! Die! Die!, Mighty Mighty
Wellington: Esther Stephens And The Means, Matterhorn
Christchurch: Flip Grater Pigalle Album Release Tour, Wunderbar
Christchurch: Rob Thorne Album Release, The Auricle
Dunedin: Husk - Indigo Mountain Tour, Chicks Hotel

Head over to our gig guide for HEAPS more great gigs and/or grab our iPhone or Android App.

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