The 95bfm Summer Series: A Day Of Free Music

The University Of Auckland Presents The 95bfm Summer Series
A Day Of Free Music In Albert Park, March 7th

The 95bFM Summer Series is back! 2010 marks the 20th anniversary of the iconic free summer music event in the CBD and the 40th anniversary of Albert Park. On March 7th, a quintessentially ‘bFM’ lineup will take over the park from 12pm-7pm:

THE MINT CHICKS
THE NAKED AND FAMOUS
BANG BANG ECHE
AN EMERALD CITY
RACKETS
BANDICOOT
O'LOVELY

As always, the 95bFM Summer Series is a free event for everyone. Albert Park turns into a mini-festival oasis in the middle of the CBD with vendors, food stalls, and a lifted liquor ban – so bring along your blankets and chilly bins and soak up the perfect summer afternoon in the city, accompanied by killer tunes on the stage the south end of the park!

This year Summer Series will cap off Orientation Week at the University of Auckland.

“We’re really excited to be able to give the students such an awesome finish to their O-Week,” says Sarin Moddle, 95bFM Marketing Coordinator.

“It really is the ideal summer Sunday afternoon, and not just for the students recuperating from a week of massive debauchery, but also for everyone else who wants to enjoy the free music and chill out in the park.”

A new addition to Summer Series is an exclusive area in front of the stage for bCard holders and Auckland University students – punters can head to 95bFM.com for more information on the bCard (the 95bFM loyalty card).

Playing times will be announced mid-February so you can make sure you don't miss your favourite bands!

About the artists:

If it wouldn't embarrass them terribly, and if it didn't sound too stuffy by half, we'd call the THE MINT CHICKS one of The Most Important Bands In New Zealand's Musical History. With a sound that's moved through scrappy, urgent punk to the troublegum pop of their third, most recent album Screens, the only thing one can reasonably expect regarding them is to not have any expectations, because they'll be confounded and bettered exponentially every time. On temporary loan to their native Auckland from Portland, Oregon (where they've recently relocated), might we suggest you take the opportunity to catch one of their exclamatory live performances, in a relatively small park, for free, before that park becomes a fancy venue on the other side of the world? It's only a matter of time.

Consistent botherers of the Radioscope national alt.radio charts, THE NAKED AND FAMOUS - with two constant members and a constant flow of ever-evolving EPs - have swiftly impressed themselves upon the country's collective consciousness. With a pop nous that's carried them through electro romps to minute-long guitar thrashes (see recent bFM hit Pace, which lives up to its title and then some), they've come a long way in the relatively brief time since being a 95bFM Fancy New Band.

BANG BANG ECHE might have removed some exclamation marks from their name, but one can only assume they were needed elsewhere (perhaps for their steadily more amazing live performances). With two EPs yielding a vast number of bNet hits as well as several notable overseas gigs to their name (CMJ, SXSW etc.), people seem fond of terming Bang Bang Eche 'dance punk'. Which is all very well and good, but might be better understood as the imperative their live performance implies: 'DANCE, PUNK!'

Having recently taken their eastern psychedelia to Eastern Germany (Berlin, to be precise) where they played with such notables as Beirut, AN EMERALD CITY have returned to Auckland, where they'll play their second Summer Series (we can only hope they'll bring the cave in which they recorded their debut album).

While BANDICOOT's claims to have supported Ozzy Osbourne, KISS, and Alice Cooper might not necessarily veer too close to the truth, they definitely have played a show with the Mint Chicks in a disused army bunker in Devonport, which is surely as good (if not better). Their newly released second EP Jurassic Warfare lives up to the noise pop promise of the first (containing National Alt.Radio/bFM Top Ten chart topper Emotional and Dirty), and still manages to be surprisingly energetic even given their average (under)age.

RACKETS are a trio from Auckland who make a surprising...well, racket given their relatively small number. Currently without a release but with a bonafide Top Ten hit in 42 and a Half, they promise to have an EP out very soon.

Like dream pop if your dreams were uniformly dark and reverb-laden, the Christchurch group O'LOVELY are recently returned from the UK, and have just released a second EP, Lost Luck, which contains bFM hit 'A Different Day'.

For all the latest news, visit www.95bFM.com.

The University of Auckland presents the 95bFM Summer Series
March 7th, 12pm – 7pm
Albert Park, CBD

ENDS

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