News From Downunder 4/15

‘Jersey Boys’ Sets Record

Seven thousand people registered for tickets for “Jersey Boys,” the story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, for its Adelaide run at the Festival Theatre beginning Oct. 26.

This set a new record for a theatre show in that city. As a result, tickets go on sale April 30, two months earlier than planned.

The show opened in Melbourne July 2009, running for 13 months before moving to Sydney for a 15-month season. More than 1 million saw it in both cities.

“Jersey Boys” starts in Auckland this month and at Brisbane’s Lyric Theatre mid-July.

Fired Dancer Blames Paris Hilton

A Sydney dancer claimed Paris Hilton was resentful of her sexy dance moves when she appeared on stage with the heiress at a nightclub opening, and then had her fired.

Tahnee Chapman danced with Hilton and three others on a podium at the opening of Star City’s Marquee club.

Afterward, Chapman told The Sunday Telegraph she received a text message from Clare McCann, head of her employer Elite Podium Dancers, ticking her off for “shaking and shaking your ass in front of [Hilton].”

McCann denied that Hilton was involved, but said Chapman was on probation and had not worked out.

Chapman told the newspaper, “I don’t hate her, but I feel that if I can’t keep a job because Paris Hilton is jealous of me then what hope do I have of keeping a normal one?”

800 Cops Show For Shihad

About 800 cops turned up to a free Shihad concert in south Auckland, but no arrests were made.
The show was at Manukau police station car park as part of a radio competition.

The rock station got 170 entries in its campaign to find the “meanest workplace” for the band to play during its eight-date “The Meanest” tour. Officer Jackie Surridge’s entry – forensics in the station’s custody unit in the country’s most crime-ridden suburb – topped all others.

Shihad member Tom Larkin told Pollstar that at a show the next night, “I looked down at the crowd and Officer Surridge was in the front row, and three seats up was the guy who organized Occupy Auckland, which gave an indication of our wide demographic!”

Black Seeds, Six60 Hit U.S.

Two of NZ’s best known bands are touring through the United States.

The Black Seeds kicked off their third North American tour at Los Angeles’ El Rey Theatre. Their seventh album Dust And Dirt was out April 10 through Easy Star Records, and shows off a reggae sound infused with soul, jazz-funk and garage rock.

The band’s singer and percussionist Daniel Weetman said the Seeds hope to be back in the U.S. after the current run takes the band through Europe and Australia.

Electro-pop band Six60 will do 10 dates in the States, beginning in San Francisco June 6 and ending at Milwaukee’s Summerfest July 1.

With its debut album reaching No. 1 and going triple platinum in NZ, the act is heading on its first world tour.

It returns for its fourth Australian visit for four dates (April 19-28), five shows in the UK (May 8 -13, including two sell-outs at London’s Garage club) and five shows through Germany May 17-28.