17 April 2024 - 0 Comments

It was a journey for the lads from L.A.B to create their sixth studio album and they can’t wait to play it for their home fans in two upcoming winter gigs.

The reggae-dub band which was formed in Whakatane will play two shows which will showcase their latest brilliant album L.A.B VI.

In Hamilton, they will play with Stan Walker and Corrella on 29 June and in Christchurch Tiki Taane joins the line-up in place of Stan Walker for the 6 July gig. 

“We’ve just dropped an album, so we'll be playing a lot of the new stuff that,” says Joel Shadbolt, L.A.B lead singer and guitarist from his home in Papamoa.  

“When you're playing the summer circuit, there is only so much time to play with – you have an hour and a half set. We’re kind of at that point where there's songs that we have to play.

“So, the cool thing about the winter shows, you can flesh it out, and you can play songs that are a little more obscure and do kind of arrangements that are a little different. So we'll definitely be doing that on these shows.”

Shadbolt, who was born and raised in the Bay of Plenty, says the band prides themselves on delivering a unique experience each time they play.

“One of the things we're planning on doing is an acoustic style set within the set on this tour, which is something that we do, you know, kind of guitar jam styles backstage before or after a show.

“There's always an acoustic guitar lying around and it's how we write most of our songs.

“So, it'll be cool to kind of, you know, pull it back to that kind of sound and then then jam three or four tracks like that.”

L.A.B first formed in 2016 and since making a name for themselves with their breakout anthem ‘In the Air’, they have forged a catalogue of hits which gives them plenty of options for their set list.

“For sure,” says Joel about putting together the line-up for these shows. “The set keeps growing and the time of the set is kind of limited. So, you're like shit, how much can we fit in?

“But you know, it's just about kind of keeping it fresh for us as well as musicians, we’re quite jammy musos and we'd like to you know. We like to experiment with the audience and with the music and see how far we can push boundaries and the take the crowd on the ride, so we’ll be doing that these shows for sure.”

The band has just arrived home after playing the 35th anniversary of the Byron Bay Blues Festival in Australia which was an incredible experience.

The line-up included the likes of Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Tom Jones, Elvis Costello and Jimmy Barnes.

“It was cool watching, like Jack Johnson walk past you know, you’re like holy shit. It's quite crazy listening to everyone's singing his stuff. His music is quite nostalgic. And that kind of era – he had this whole crowd singing every word.”

And they are finding that their reception over in Australia is growing with every visit.

“Playing the Blues festival, it was it was really cool to see a strong Kiwi contingency there.

“But also, the Australian audience starting to start to pick up what's going on with the band, they really got into it as well. So, I feel like we're on a good streak over there in Aussie at the moment and we hope it keeps building.”

The stage is set for L.A.B to entertain their home fans in a couple of winter shows.

Article written by Peter Thornton for Muzic.net.nz

Photo Credits:
Top Photo: L.A.B Live at Spark Arena - Mark Russell
Bottom Photo: L.A.B. Live at Claudelands / Glo Box Arena Hamilton - Masanori Udagawa

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