THE RETURN OF DIMMER

Following the runaway success of last year’s sold out “I Believe You Are A Star” tour, Dimmer return for a series of encore performances through Aotearoa in November and December.

Band leader Shayne Carter put together a six piece band for the tour in 2022 marking the 20th anniversary of Dimmer’s most celebrated record, and the event proved such a musical success that he has decided to continue with this expanded Dimmer line up. “The music sounded too good and the band played it too well to just pack this thing away,” said Carter. “I truly believe that this line up was the fullest realisation of the musical vision I always had for Dimmer. The number of people on stage and the skills and sensibilities they brought to the band meant we could do justice to a lot of material we maybe hadn’t been able to do full justice to, or even play, in the past. It was a new band with a fresh set in a lot of ways. I also found this group inspiring with future material in mind.”

Core members Carter, James Duncan (bass/guitar) and Gary Sullivan (drums) were joined by Auckland musicians Louisa Nicklin (guitar/vocals) and Durham Fenwick (keys/vocals) and Dunedin artist Neive Strang (vocals/percussion). This same line up reconvenes for the dates later this year.

The tour will also be in celebration of a live double album drawn from last year’s shows at the The Hollywood Avondale, recorded by RNZ’s Andre Upston. Dimmer “Live At The Hollywood” features cherry picked versions from the entire Dimmer repertoire, recorded over a sold-out three night stand in Tāmaki Makaurau.

“Live performance has always been it for me,” said Carter “but I’ve usually found live recordings ropey. I was actually blown away by how good the Hollywood recordings were, and how they included angles and extrapolations on the tunes that aren’t on the original recordings. Although I stand to financially gain from the exploitation of this artefact I wholeheartedly recommend the item to the general listening public.”

Recorded and produced by Radio NZ, DIMMER Live at The Hollywood double album will be available on vinyl at the shows and online via Crystalator Records - look out for a pre-order announcement soon.