Category Archives: Gig reviews

Wellington Rugby Sevens parade

comment

We absolutely love Wellington Sevens weekend…

…because Wellington goes collectively mad, becomes completely extravert for two days and dresses up in all manner of nutty costumes. It’s totally awesome!

Batucada has been taking part in the Sevens festivities since 2003, and once again this year we were invited to lead the Wellington International Rugby Sevens parade.

It was a good day for parading through the city streets. Sunny but not too sunny (and therefore not too insanely hot for drumming), no wind, and great crowds as usual.

Batucada dancer in the Sevens parade

Batucada dancer in the Sevens parade
Photo by Fairfax NZ

Continue reading

Johnsonville Santa Parade

comment

Merry Christmas! (again)

The Johnsonville Santa parade has been a fixture on Wellington Batucada’s annual gig list for quite a few years now, and I can totally see why. It’s completely delightful.

I think what the Jonhsonville Parade has in abundance is a sense of community. It has a real small-town feel that takes you right back to your childhood, and there’s a sense of magic in the air somehow. It’s a real pleasure to be a part of. Continue reading

Wellington Santa Parade

1

Merry (early) Christmas!

Wellington Santa ParadeI swear, the Wellington Santa Parade gets earlier every year! This year we weren’t even halfway through November before it was time to don the pohutukawa headgear and get out on the streets in support of the bearded guy in red.

Only a couple of weeks before, we’d been marching through Wellington as part of the All Blacks World Cup victory celebrations, and here we were again – a similar route but in the opposite direction. It was a lovely sunny day and everyone seemed to having a pretty good time, although it was definitely a bit quieter than the total mayhem we’d experienced a couple of weeks earlier.

I think the trickiest thing about parades is timing. Not timing as in keeping in time with each other (although that’s always fun when you’re concentrating on moving forward in a choreographed fashion as well as playing) – I mean keeping in time with the other floats and performers in the parade.

Let me explain. Continue reading

Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne Victory

comment

Back on the field again

There’s a superstition amongst the Wellington Phoenix Yellow Fever that when Batucada performs at a game, the team loses. Oh dear. I believe there’s even a chant, which is probably not repeatable in a family-friendly environment…

We haven’t played at a Phoenix game for ages, but out of the blue we got a call, asking us to play. Superstition notwithstanding, we were more than happy to answer the call. Continue reading

All Blacks tickertape victory parade in Wellington

2

Performing for 100,000 people – and the All Blacks!

The Webb Ellis CupMonday – Auckland, Tuesday – Christchurch, Wednesday – Wellington.

On Tuesday morning I was vaguely wondering where I should stand to watch the All Blacks victory parade in Wellington the following day, when an unexpected BatMail from Caroline arrived in my inbox.

Subject: URGENT RESPONSE REQUIRED!!! BATUCADA IN THE TICKERTAPE PARADE TOMORROW!!!
Importance: High

The email began with “Good morning everyone and whoopdeedooo!!!” and closed with “DRUMMERS ONLY if you are keen and available for this please email pronto as please with YES YES YES TO THE ABS PARADE in the subject line.”

Yup – Wellington Batucada had been invited to perform in the All Blacks Rugby World Cup 2011 victory parade. We’d be playing in what would turn out to be Wellington’s biggest ever event of its kind, and I went a little weak at the knees at the prospect. Whoopdeedooo all right! Continue reading

RWC 2011 – New Zealand vs Canada

comment

The All Blacks are coming to town!

Canadian fanThe New Zealand vs Canada Fanzone-to-stadium parade – notable for the enormous fake beards (at least, I assume they were fake!) worn by some of the Canadian fans, and the fact that this was Wellington’s one and only All Blacks game during the World Cup.

Oh – and also that our semi-official photographer, Geoff Infield, deserted us halfway through the parade to take pictures of the Air Force Red Checkers aerobatics display.

Ah well – we had fun even without ya, Geoff! Continue reading

RWC 2011 – Cuba Mall

2

Festival of Carnivale – dancing and drumming in the rain

Playin' in the rainIt was cold and wet for our Cuba Mall gig, which was a pity, as Cuba Street is something of a spiritual home for Wellington Batucada and we love playing there.

So cold and wet, in fact, that our normally staunch dancers ditched their flimsy costumes and performed in their normal streetwear instead.

So cold and wet, in fact, that this may well go down in the Batucada archives as one of our briefest appearances ever – not much longer than 10 minutes by all accounts. Continue reading

RWC 2011 – Australia vs USA

1

Parade from the Fanzone to the stadium for the Australia vs USA game

Fish heads on paradeThis was our first parade leading the fans pied-piper style from the Fanzone along the waterfront to the stadium in time for the game. It was a great one to start with, as the USA fans were, not surprisingly (because I guess they do this all the time for all kinds of sporting events) in fine voice and dressed up to the nines in their national colours.

An evening kick-off meant this parade was the only one of our Fanzone-to-stadium gigs performed in the dark, and it was also the only one where we wore our fish-head costumes, first unveiled at the 2009 Cuba Street Carnival.

Continue reading