New Zealand's Rematch with America: Fat Freddy's Drop Returns

June 20, 11:04 PM LA Culture & Events Examiner Jill Ettinger

There are many reasons to be thinking about New Zealand right now. For one, the New Zealand soccer team just tied Italy in the World Cup Tournament. This is astounding. If you're not sure why, just ask yourself if you even knew that there was a New Zealand soccer team before this match, and you've pretty much answered the question.

Probably there are more reasons to think about the tiny Pacific island nation, but maybe that's just because you haven't thought about New Zealand in a while. Or ever. It's an imaginary kind of place. Certainly it is the only place a movie like Lord of The Rings could ever be filmed.  Australia suddenly kind of seems a bit like a jealous show-off, boasting the Great Barrier Reef and Ayers Rock so that people don't fall for the rolling hills, spectacular Chardonnay and full body Maori tattoos of the unassuming island next door.

Now, the real secret's out, and flaunting up and down the West Coast. Fat Freddy's Drop, New Zealand's award winning septet has kept their promise to the U.S. delivering nine shows from Boonville, CA to Kona, HI this month.

It's not easy transitioning from being the biggest (and bestest) band in a country like New Zealand (and Australia), to playing small club shows in the U.S. But if this tour plays out like their mini-tour in November of 2009, the fans will be lining up around the block to get their funk on.

With only their second studio album released last year (Dr. Boondigga and the Big BW) Fat Freddy's Drop is surprisingly one of the tightest live acts on the planet today. Their intensity and generosity meet their passion, their soulful grooves and incredible energy in a magical mixture of infectious melody and stage enthusiasm that feels endless. During their brief California tour last year, they had been up most of the night before their sold out Roxy performance because the trailer carrying their instruments unhitched from the bus while driving down Interstate 5 in the middle of the night. They lost a saxophone among other equipment and had to double back up the highway to retrieve the trailer. But you'd never know it judging by the performance they gave. 

Saxophone disasters not withstanding, the hard at work horn section in Fat Freddy's Drop leaves nothing to long for, except maybe a break. Trombone player, Ho Pepa (aka Joe Lindsay) is absolutely thrilling to watch perform. His tireless playing and contagious dancing is so refreshing it's compelling enough to make a trip to New Zealand in search of the Fountain of Youth in his backyard. Alongside trumpeter Tony Chang (aka Toby Laing) and Chopper Reedz (aka Scott Towers) on sax the trio brings a richness and a soulful depth to the band that makes the lack of a live drummer hardly noticeable. Add Jetlag Johnson's (aka Tehimana Kerr) guitar work and you start to get the feeling New Zealand may actually be a portal to another (awesome) planet. DJ Fitchie delivers the craftiest other-worldly beats while Dobie Blaze (aka Iain Gordon) keeps it all afloat on keys and synth as Joe Dukie's (aka Dallas Tamaira) silky smooth voice will haunt you for a long time, in a really really really good way.

New Zealand's finest export lands in Los Angeles on Thursday at the Fonda Theater. KCRW DJ Jeremy Sole will be on hand once again to segue the night. Make sure to bring your hips, you're going to need them.