Strange Universe

  • Friday 1 May 2020

Banished Music and Strange News, in unison with 95bFM and www.undertheradar.co.nz are ecstatic to unleash into the cosmos STRANGE UNIVERSE, a brand new concert series of galactic proportions, kicking off with a double-header of Brooklyn’s shoegaze superstars DIIV, and the final ever shows from our very own post-punk paladins CUT OFF YOUR HANDS!

Following the critically lauded 2019 release of their third studio album Deceiver, celebrated sonic explorers DIIV bring their soaring new set to Aotearoa this April/May for two giant shows, their first since their iconic 2016 Laneway set. 

Having endured more challenges and changes than most bands could handle, DIIV return with a rejuvenated line-up - Zachary Cole Smith (lead vocals, guitar), Andrew Bailey (guitar), Colin Caulfield (bass), and Ben Newman (drums) - and reports are unanimously calling their recent shows the band’s best yet.

Meanwhile, as all good things must come to an end, local guitar heroes CUT OFF YOUR HANDS will burn brilliant and bright once more for their last ever shows, joining DIIV in Auckland. Having travelled the globe with their angular anthems for over a decade, expect all the energy of the sun packed tightly into these fond farewells, accompanied by the release of their final album HLLH

Fleshing out the astonishing Friday night double-header at Auckland’s mighty Powerstation are three of Tāmaki Makaurau’s finest.

Noise-rock, guitar-less guitar band WAX CHATTELS is a name you should be no stranger to. Tāmaki Makaurau based, but known around the world for their staggering live performance, they create music that’s darkly hypnotic, rhythmically complex and sinister. Wax Chattels will be bringing their powerful and enigmatic musical assault to the Powerstation.

Fast-rising silky electronic duo IMUGI 이무기 have changed the game in the Auckland R&B/electronic music scene with a string of gritty and soulful releases, unflinching festival performances and packed to the rafters headline shows. Their EP Vacasian is a trip through the diasporic-Asian-girl-psyche and the healing it takes to go from self-consciousness to self-awareness. 

Finally, rounding out this extraordinary bill is the eclectic and wonderful DJ MEALY WORM (95bFM), whose selections always confound and delight.

The collaboration between Matthew Crawley’s Strange News and Reuben Bonner’s Banished From The Universe / Banished Music has been a mutual quest that these two ancient friends have hinted at for over a decade. Finally materialising into fruition via a wondrous and Strange Universe of sound and vision, this show is set to be the first of many, and all for the love of music. 

THIS SHOW IS LICENSED R18 ONLY. A valid photo ID will be required - any current passport, a current New Zealand driver's license or a HANZ 18+ card. - FOR MORE INFO ON AGE RESTRICTIONS CLICK HERE.

DIIV // Blankenship (Official Video)

Cut Off Your Hands - "Turn Cold" (Official Music Video)