16 December 2013 - 0 Comments

Following an epic year of sold-out shows and rave reviews, Auckland alt-folksters Bond Street Bridge are taking their award-winning show ‘The Explorers Club: Antarctica’ to the Wellington Opera House and The Powerstation, Auckland, opening for their hero and yours, the Bard Of Barking: Mr Billy Bragg.

In The Explorers Club: Antarctica, Bond Street Bridge use a combination of spoken word storytelling and original folk songs to bring to life the incredible tales of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.  Captain Scott’s tragic death on the Great Ice Barrier and the extraordinary survival of the crew of Shackleton’s Endurance are presented as stirring ballads and foot-stomping sea shanties.

Since its premier in the 2013 New Zealand Fringe Festival, the show and accompanying album have garnered critical acclaim and played to sold-out houses at Arts Festivals, theatres, museums and bar-rooms around the country.  Bond Street Bridge tour and play constantly, with over 100 shows on the road in 2013, with their extraordinary live show earning them recognition for ‘best music’ at the 2013 NZ Fringe Festival Awards.  Described as a ‘perfect evening of music’ by the Dominion Post and a ‘Tour de Force’ by the Nelson Mail, ‘The Explorers Club: Antarctica showcases a unique band at the height of its powers.

This one-of-a-kind show and album are the product of Bond Street Bridge frontman Sam Prebble’s obsession with the stories and heroes of a dramatic period of history a century ago.  Reading diaries, letters, and published accounts of the early Antarctic expeditions, Prebble used the words of the explorers themselves to create songs which pay tribute to their legacy and celebrate the indomitable spirit of this lost age.

‘We think of these as folk stories in the same sense as folk songs’ says Prebble. ‘One of the reasons we drive all over the place sharing these stories is that they are tales that belong to everyone, and tales need to be kept alive by being told.  We’re honoured to be playing with Billy Bragg because he is someone who works tirelessly to keep folk stories alive.’

The band’s live reputation saw them invited to showcase the production at a string of sold-out gala events at galleries, museums and arts festivals around the country on their recent album release tour, including appearances at the Museum of Wellington City & Sea, the Voyager NZ Maritime Museum in Auckland, the Sarjeant Gallery in Whanganui, the MTG Hawkes Bay and the Nelson Arts Festival.  Along the way, the band played special daytime shows to share the stories and songs with school students, performing over 25 shows in five weeks.

Now the band are excited to be invited to share a stage with Billy Bragg, one of the true legends of folk music, and to be given the opportunity to tell these stories in two of New Zealand’s iconic live music venues.

A night of adventure, heartbreak, stories and great songs with Billy Bragg and special guests Bond Street Bridge performing ‘The Explorers Club: Antarctica’.

WELLINGTON • Sunday 23 March • The Opera House (All Seated)
TIX: http://www.ticketek.co.nz/  / 04 384 3840 or 0800 TICKETEK

AUCKLAND • Tuesday 25 March • The Powerstation
TIX: http://www.ticketmaster.co.nz/ / 09 970 9700 or 0800 111 999

Reviews:

"Prebble… guitar-slinging, violin-flailing hipster/jive-talking raconteur, creates the journey for the audience.There is a devotion to the performance that is remarkable - we're simply lucky to have someone like him; creating songs that mean something, that share interesting history, that interpret lost artefacts - and showing some sense of exploration himself, Prebble deftly demonstrates that he knows his way, time and again, to the heart of a jangly-pop song, to the soul and core of folk music.” Dominon Post

'It is a rare thing to come away from a concert feeling that you have been taken physically to another place and have to struggle to find your way back to the familiar. Such is the genius and commitment of singer/songwriter Sam Prebble and fellow musicians Nina McSweeney (vocals) and Brendan Turner (bass/vocals) and the performance they gave... a tour de force.' the Nelson Mail

'Stunning... a performance to make hairs stand up on the back of your neck' Whanganui Chronicle

'These spare, quiet songs cut to the quick' Graham Reid in the NZ Herald

'A work of rare genius.'Simon Sweetman, http://www.offthetracks.co.nz/

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