EAST COAST VIBES - Gisborne

A BIGGER and better East Coast Vibes is returning to Gisborne.

A record number of acts have been signed for the 2018 edition of the music festival at Gisborne’s Outdoor Theatre and for the first time it will be a two-day event (Janaury 12-13).

The festival is under new management — Aotearoa Entertainment — and organisers are assuring ECV fans it will be “good vibes” business as usual.

Event organiser Davy Faapito says Aotearoa Entertainment is thrilled to present the ECV18 line-up of artists.

The concert will have “something for everybody”, with 40 performances locked in and a few more surprise announcements to be made in the next few weeks, he says.

Since the inaugural concert in 2013, ECV has established itself as the place to be for lovers of “soul food music”, he says.

“We are excited to host Gisborne’s sixth annual music festival, with two days of great sounds and sizzling summer vibes.

“It is a whanau-vibe festival, with a little bit of everything thrown into the mix. We have reggae, roots, R&B, hip hop, acoustics, soul, internationally-acclaimed dancers and two of the funniest comedians in the country.”

Mr Faapito says thousands are expected to make the trip to Gisborne.

Concert headliners Fiji, Rebel Souljahz from Hawaii and American reggae artist Spawnbreezie will join New Zealand icons Herbs and Scribe and crowd favourites Chad Chambers, Tomorrow People, Sammy J, Bella Kalolo, Sid Diamond and Foundation among the performers.

Pioneer of the island reggae sound, Fiji (George Brooks Veikoso) continues to represent the Polynesian culture and music scene.

His collaboration on the Island Warriors compilation album earned a Grammy nomination for best reggae album. He also wrote and sang the season 11 theme song Let Me Be The One for television show Baywatch and appeared in the 2002 surf film Blue Crush.

Sweet Darling and Lia are two of Fiji’s more well-known songs.

Rebel Souljahz began as four friends singing acapella in high school.

The band released their debut CD Nothing To Hide in early 2008 and it was an instant hit, spending more than a year on Billboard magazine’s Top Reggae Albums chart.

Billboard ranked it as the eighth best-selling reggae album of 2008.

Follow-up album Bring Back The Days and 2017 album 4 the People were also top-sellers.

With his combination of island music, roots reggae, R&B, and hip-hop, Spawnbreezie (Anapogi Fau) crafted a new island hip hop sound that gained attention across the South Pacific.

His third album Dear Billy features the hits Oh My Goodness and Don’t Let Go.

Faapito says the international artists are looking forward to performing at ECV18 and enjoying the famous weather and hospitality.

Laughing Samoan Tofiga Fepuleai and Gisborne funny man Te Hamua Nikora will be the festival hosts.

Mr Faapito said more than half the earlybird VIP tickets had already sold and general admission tickets were being snapped up quickly.

Two-day general admission tickets are $70. VIP tickets are $130 and include comfortable seating, a private bar, toilets and a concert T-shirt.

Tickets are available from www.ticketspace.co.nz