Rail Land Makes A Stop At The Meteor Theatre

Come on a journey of the mind, through song and story about New Zealand’s on and off again love affair with its passenger railway system… Anthonie Tonnon’s Rail Land is set to make a stop at The Meteor Theatre with a special one-night-only performance on November 29 at 6:10pm.

Equal parts tragedy, comedy, and personal memoir, Rail Land weaves the songs of Taite Prize and Silver Scroll Award nominee Anthonie Tonnon with custom material written for the show, historical letters to the editor, and meticulous notes on the railway systems of New Zealand.

“Tonnon begins, hands on the wheel, then peppers his sets with these kooky kinetic dramatic segues. It’s captivating to watch... Imagine if David Byrne was born in Dunedin thirty years ago, growing up on Submarine Bells... He layers sounds, turns the audience into his percussive backing track, dives from synth to guitar to keyboard.... He’s laying out a commentary on that future promised by yesteryear, where rail was the way to go” - Jess Soutar Barron – The Hook

The show also travels with an exhibition of historic NZ Rail advertising department posters and schematic maps, blown up to large scale.

“There are Railways posters and a few rail related songs, but first and foremost, it is an eccentric and fun live music show, with synthesizers, lights, humour, and an attention to showcraft” says Tonnon.

In its first two summers, audiences took trains to reach each show. At selected locations on this new, Arts on Tour edition of Rail Land, audiences are welcomed to join Anthonie for special public transport journeys at selected locations.

For The Meteor show, audiences are encouraged to travel to and from the event via public transport. Tonnon is suggesting that attendees take The Comet bus to Rail Land using the Bee Card. “The bus departs from The Base/ Rotokauri Transport Hub at 5.31pm and to get off at the stop outside Anglesea Clinic and walk to The Meteor from there for a 6:10pm show start. The return journey would be from the same stop outside Anglesea Clinic at 8:05pm”.

Tickets to Rail Land are available now for $22.50 General Admission and can be found along with further show information at themeteor.co.nz.

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