Mockasin, Arabia & Finn at The Crystal Palace

Mockasin, Arabia & Finn at The Crystal Palace

Monster Valley presents Mockasin, Arabia & Finnrong Connan Mockasin, Lawrence Arabia and Liam Finn

The Crystal Palace - April 8

Connan Mockasin, Lawrence Arabia and Liam Finn will perform a rare collaborative show at The Crystal Palace Theatre in Mt Eden onFriday 8 April 2016.

The three artists, who celebrate their decade-long musical friendship this year, are taking the uncommon opportunity of being in the same city at the same time to grace The Crystal Palace’s stage and play together for the first time in 7 years; experimenting with new re-imaginings of each other’s songs, a night that will no doubt further the mythology of their enigmatic collaborations.

As Lawrence Arabia explains:

“We've all been friends since the end of 2006, when we met in London. We knew each other independently before that, but it was then that we were together for the first time. It quickly became a friendship that involved an unusual amount of giggling to the point of tears.

Sometime over that winter we made music together for the first time – early sessions for Liam's album "I'll Be Lightning." It descended into drunken madness but early on there was definite chemistry there. This all set Liam's scheming mind ticking away on the backburner for a few years – we would form a band. That became BARB, with Seamus and EJ. We all made an album together in 2009, which was esoteric and odd, accused (possibly not unfairly) of self-indulgence, but I think punctuated by some of the best music any of us of have made. Certainly in terms of that indefinably good feeling of a band really communicating, it's some of the most enjoyable music I've ever made.

We've all had our own careers going on in the meantime, all probably far too driven and self-obsessed for our own good at times. Consequently our moments to get together, let alone play together, are few and far between, separated by years and oceans. I can't wait to do it again.”

Connan last performed in New Zealand at Laneway 2015, in the year since he’s collaborated on recordings with James Blake and Dev Hynes (Blood Orange), played sold-out shows across the globe, perfected his stand-up comedy routine in Los Angeles and has started writing for his third record.

Lawrence has spent the past year working on a variety of exciting soundtracks for a podcast, a radio news show and a feature film, as well as creating and performing a live score for "Lonesome" at the New Zealand International Film Festival, and completing his soon to be released fourth album.

Liam has spent the last two years touring his third solo album The Nihilist in North America and Europe. 2015 saw him creating and collaborating with directors Anthony & Alex on a perfilmance-art piece entitled ‘Success’ which debuted at Melbourne’s ACMI theatre. He is currently in the studio recording his first collaborative album with father Neil.

Mockasin, Arabia and Finn will be supported by up-and-coming Fazerdaze, who have only recently completed a nationwide tour with Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Fazerdaze’s music has been described by NME as ‘elegant dream pop’ and with an album on the way in 2016, this is a great opportunity to see one of our emerging stars.

Mockasin, Arabia and Finn will be the first concert at The Crystal Palace under the new management of Monster Valley and the start of a process of rejuvenation they hope will keep the theatre alive and well for years to come.

Last year Monster Valley produced the short documentary ‘Please Open’ on The Crystal Palace as a part of Loading Docs 2015 and in the process fell in love with the theatre themselves. The overwhelming support of the theatre from the community and genuine fear that such a beautiful and historic feature of Auckland City would continue to be under- appreciated, or worse, close, inspired Monster Valley to approach the owners with a proposal to bring The Crystal Palace back to life.

This concert will be the start of this process for Monster Valley who will be reinvesting the profits from Mockasin, Arabia and Finn back into the theatre to start the process of restoration and developing the theatre into a regularly used and loved venue.

In new hands, the theatre will be re-established as a primary creative hub in Auckland for musicians, film-makers, performers and artists of all kinds.

Mockasin, Arabia, Finn joined by Fazerdaze will be a suitably unique performance for the re-introduction of the unique venue that is The Crystal Palace, one that is not to be missed.

Mockasin, Arabia and Finn Friday 8 April, 2016
The Crystal Palace, Mt Eden Doors open 7pm

Tickets on sale 9 March.
Tickets are $50 + booking fee, available from www.undertheradar.co.nz

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