80s Kiwi music legends, Aotearoa the band that shocked and delighted New Zealand in the mid to late 1980s with their hard-hitting lyrics and free flowing reggae will reunite to headline Pūoro Matariki at Bar Bodega 20 June 2008.
Aotearoa hit the headlines and NZ Music Charts in 1985 with the single Maranga Ake Ai, a call to Māori youth to rise up and take pride in their identity. With lyrics such as, “all my life I get taught by the right of the great white way, how much longer before we get up and say?”, it was little wonder that mainstream NZ recoiled in shock.
The band toured extensively over the following four years and featured more than 30 band members in that time including Moana Maniapoto of Moana and The Moahunters, opera diva Mere Boynton, Southside of Bombay founder Kevin Hodges, Maaka McGregor of Wai, Ruia Aperahama, Joe Williams and Ngahiwi Apanui.
Apanui says,” it was a time of dynamic change in Māori society and we felt right at the cutting edge, taking the message through the music to our people. Not a lot of money, but lots of mana.”
The full line-up for Pūoro Matariki is Poet and traditional instrumentalist Apirana Taylor, Jazz Guitarist Steve Rangihuna, Apanui, Mihirangi and Aotearoa.