A New Zealand music icon has embarked on a nationwide tour and is set to drop anchor in Timaru for a performance next week.
The Mockers frontman Andrew Fagan is celebrating 35 years of solo songwriting with his new 20-date tour, compilation album and single, Passage of Time.
Fagan, who is also an accomplished poet, author and sailor will be playing at Hector Black’s on Monday, November 10 at 7pm.
He will be singing songs from his own 35-year solo career as well as sprinkling in a few Mockers tunes, poetry and stories from his adventures sailing his 5.1m sloop-rigged plywood yacht Swirly World.
Fagan said touring and performing music was still something he very much enjoyed and he was looking forward to giving audiences a different type of show than what he had done in the past.
‘‘It’ll be a bit unique for me in that respect, I’ve done a little bit of [music mixed with spoken word and stories] but not a lot.
‘‘Having the flow of spoken word it’s, one has to say, more intimate, a more intimate approach to performance which will be exciting for me.
‘‘I guess it’s sort of a cliche, but it’s a privilege because a lot of people don’t get the opportunity to and so I do really appreciate doing it. It’ll be fun, I’ll make it fun.’’
He had many fond memories of performing in Timaru.
‘‘I definitely remember the Old Mill days. We played there a lot and we always had great crowds at the Old Mill, I always really enjoyed it.
‘‘I remember those very steep stairs that went up to the mezzanine above the stage and just being there in between sets. It was a really nice-sized venue for the size of the crowd that we were pulling at that point in time.
‘‘I also enjoyed playing at the Sound Shell with Fagan And The People in 2015 as part of the Caroline Bay Festival [Carnival]. That was real fun, that was a real cool stage, apart from the fact we were wearing fish costumes and the sun was beating down on us, and we were just about suffocating.
‘‘I like those big stages where everyone gets spread out up on the terraces. There have been a lot of good times in Timaru.’’
He also loved Timaru from a nautical history perspective.
‘‘I really like the look of Caroline Bay, it’s a good spot. I’ve got a few shipwreck books and there’s a real good one with a picture of two big square rigger sailing boats that got driven ashore in a big easterly gale sitting there just under the cliffs that are still there today.
‘‘So I always check out that coastline whenever I’m there. I’ve also always enjoyed the main street of Timaru, it’s changed a lot but there’s just something about the way it’s quite compact.’’
Fagan said it had been interesting to look back over his career with the new album and tour and see how his writing and music taste had evolved.
‘‘On this compilation, there’s 23 songs, and it’s a collection of basically all the solo songs I’ve written since post Mockers, about 1991, until now. I think what’s evolved is the production values.
‘‘It’s changed depending on what you’re personally into at the time. So production values vary but all the songs have come out of me apart from one, so it’s a bit hard to be objective about them really.’’
He said nowadays he was writing about whatever took his fancy at the time.
‘‘Passage of Time is a good example. It’s a melancholic song and it’s reflective, you know, about literally the passage of time.
‘‘I couldn’t really nail it down to any one particular topical theme. But it is a good example of where I’m at, at the moment.’’
The tour got began in Queenstown on Wednesday and will conclude in Whangārei on November 30.
Tickets for the Timaru performance can be bought on the eventfinda website.
