Line-up

Headliner
Katchafire Last time in Melbourne: 8 months ago

Venue

170 Russell

170 Russell Street, 3000, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

www.billboardthevenue.com.au

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Additional details

Doors open: 19:00

Concert in your area for Reggae.

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Katchafire biography

Katchafire are a New Zealand roots reggae band from Hamilton consisting of Tere Ngarua, Jordan Bell, Jamey Ferguson and four other musicians.

The band was originally a family affair, with Grenville Bell and his two sons Logan and Jordan forming the band in the year 2000. It has seen numerous line up changes due to commitments issues from several members but now includes eight musicians in total. Their first album 'Revival' was releases in 2003 and peaked at #5 in New Zealand, it included three top ten singles, the most successful being 'Giddy Up' which reached #4.

The band has been managed by numerous members over the years, the first being original founder Grenville Bell who happily turned the role over to Ara Adams Tamatea. However after a time Ara decided to step down as manager so it once again fell to a founding member, this time Logan Bell. They continued to enjoy chart success with their following album releases; 'Slow Burning' peaked at #12, 'Say What You're Thinking' at #5 and 'On The Road Again' and 'Best So Far' both reached #3 in New Zealand.

Katchafire has toured worldwide building up a loyal following of their reggae sound. A real popular act in neighbouring Australia, the band are known for their upbeat live shows and tight musical skill. They have supported other renowned reggae acts including Steel Pulse, Third World, UB40 and Shaggy.

Live reviews

Roots reggae band may not have originated from sunny Jamaica yet the New Zealand band seem to embody everything the great nation and great genre stand for. These musicians simply live and breath reggae and this is very evident in their performance style. They have not just learnt their instruments, they have mastered them in order to create sounds that sound truly authentic.

An eight man operation centring around Grenville Bell and his two sons, originally a Bob Marley tribute band has evolved into so much more with a solid following all of their own. They have great rapport with the audience and the crowd react absolutely fantastically to the friendly interaction that Grenville and co offer up. They acknowledge their past venture once tonight with a cover of 'Three Little Birds' by the great Bob Marley but the rest is all original material and this goes over really well with the fanbase who know it well. Great reggae is not confined to Jamaica and the surrounding islands and Katchafire are evidence of this.

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