08 December 2015 - 0 Comments

“D'Angelo could well be the most singular, visionary star to emerge from — and then transcend — R&B since Prince” – Rolling Stone

The multimillion-selling Grammy award winner D’Angelo will perform a special one-off concert at the New Zealand Festival on 17 March.

Once described as an "R&B Jesus” by leading US music critic Robert Christgau, D’Angelo is said to put on live shows that are almost “religious experiences”, and prompted the Detroit Metro Times to say that a D’Angelo show “is not only not to be missed, but it verges on sacrilege if you do”.

After nearly a decade away from the spotlight, D’Angelo returned in 2014 with his surprise album Black Messiah, which debuted at number five in its first week of release on the Billboard 200. 

Black Messiah was 14 years coming and was met with universal acclaim not least because it captured black America’s anger and despair in the wake of violence in Ferguson and elsewhere in the US.

In 2000, D’Angelo released his sophomore album, Voodoo which debuted at number one, an indication of how large and devoted his fan base is. The lead single ‘Untitled (How Does It Feel)’ was a smash on the R&B charts and won a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal; likewise, Voodoo won for Best R&B album.

New Zealand Festival Artistic Director Shelagh Magadza says D’Angelo is an exciting addition to an already exceptional 2016 NZ Festival line-up announced in October.

“We were recently presented with an opportunity to host D’Angelo at the festival in March, and we couldn’t pass it up.  His extraordinary talent has been compared that of James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Prince and this one-off performance in Wellington is bound to thrill fans of soul, R&B, hip-hop and gospel,” Shelagh says.

He will be in New Zealand for one special performance at TSB Arena on 17 March.

Details

17 March, TSB Arena, Wellington
Tickets: Early Bird $119 (limited availability), $129 (allocated seating and GA standing available)

Culture Club pre-sale from 9am Tues 8 Dec 2015
(Find out about becoming a Culture Club supporter at http://www.festival.co.nz/the-culture-club/)

General Public sales from 9am Thurs 10 Dec 2015

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