Roky Erickson Announced To Play Auckland

Legendary musician Roky Erickson has been announced to play Auckland in March. The frontman of pioneering psychedelic rock band 13th Floor Elevators teamed up with Okerville River last year to release his first album of new material in fourteen years.

Roky Erikson
Wednesday 7th March, Powerstation, Auckland

Full details below.

Here is a video for 13th Floor Elevators hit 'You're Gonna Miss Me':

Here is an episode of a video series where Will Sheff tours Erickson's hometown of Austin Texas:

Press Release:

The Godfather of Psychedelic Rock, Roky (prounced Rocky) Erickson will perform one New Zealand show at the Powerstation in March.

A strong influence in New Zealand on the early Flying Nun sound, legendary rock n’ roll pioneer Roger Kynard “Roky” Erickson has been called one of the unknown heroes of rock and roll. As the frontman for the 13th Floor Elevators, he helped pioneer a unique brand of heavy, hard-rocking electric blues and Erickson and his band were the first rock n’ rollers to describe their music as “psychedelic”. The group had a profound impact on the San Francisco scene when they travelled there in 1966, and that impact is still being felt some 45-years later, with artists such as The White Stripes, Sonic Youth, Wooden Shjips, Dead Meadow, Television and even Robert Plant citing Erickson as an influence.

Having struggled with health issues for the best part of the last two decades, Erickson is back with a vengeance, and in recent years has given some of the best performances of his life at the likes of the Coachella Festival and throughout Europe, including playing the Royal Festival Hall in London. In 2008 he toured the US West Coast with fellow Austin, Texas residents the Black Angels as his backing band, and that same year he performed with Okkervil River at the Austin Music Awards and again at the famed SXSW Festival in 2009.

Roky Erickson may not be a household name, but he has rightly enjoyed the support of a fiercely loyal cult following throughout his career. In 2010 he released his first new album in 14-years, True Love Cast Out All Evil backed by Okkervil River and produced by Okkervil’s Will Sheff. In 2012 he will be bringing his renewed enthusiasm and remarkable back-catalogue to New Zealand for the first time.