It`s the news fans around the country have been waiting for. The mighty Hunters & Collectors have announced their first tour since 1998, performing ten a day on the green concerts nationally. Appropriately kicking off on the Australia Day long weekend in January and stretching across weekends until mid April, this powerhouse Australian outfit is once again set to enthrall and thrill not only devotees from the past, but also a whole new generation of music lovers.
The tour hits Bimbadgen Winery, in the Hunter Valley with a day on the green on Saturday February 1 2014.
Hunter Valley Accommodation – Check Availability at The Vintry
Promoters Roundhouse Entertainment has once again put together a stellar line-up with the Hunters being joined by another iconic Australian rock outfit, the much-loved YOU AM I. Special guests will be SOMETHING FOR KATE and BRITISH INDIA, who both appear on the Hunters tribute album ‘Crucible’ released September 27.
The tour news comes amidst a hub of recent Hunters & Collectors activity – their upcoming performance at the AFL Grand Final on Saturday, as special guests at Melbourne’s two Bruce Springsteen concerts in February, and most importantly, the release of “Crucible – The Songs Of Hunters & Collectors”, the lovingly curated album featuring 15 stunning tributes from the likes of The Living End, Birds Of Tokyo, Neil Finn & Eddie Vedder and Paul Kelly accompanied by 15 original H&C recordings (Liberation Music).
The album is testimony to the extraordinary Hunters & Collectors legacy, one that was built not only their uniquely-Australian songs and Mark Seymour’s razor sharp lyrics, but also on their commanding and powerful live performances. The album has been the fillip for the band’s reformation.
Ask anyone to describe a Hunters & Collectors gig and words like ‘primal’, ‘sweat-soaked’, ‘intense’, ‘ferocious’ come to the fore. Few bands made their mark in the live landscape like ‘The Hunnas’ did. It was a badge of honour they wore with pride and fought to sustain at every show – approaching 2000 of them across 15 countries – resulting in a profound connection with audiences everywhere.
When they called it a day in 1998, Hunters & Collectors was a multi-platinum selling band, with five top 10 albums boasting classic songs like ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me’, ‘Talking to a Stranger’,‘ Holy Grail’, ‘When The River Runs Dry’, ‘Do You See What I See’, ‘Say Goodbye’ and countless others.
In 2005 they were inducted by Peter Garrett into the ARIA Hall of Fame. In March 2009 the Sound Relief benefit concert at the MCG brought them temporarily out of retirement, with a set that won rave reviews: “The band’s visceral, gutsy performance makes us feel proud of our musical heritage” (In Press); ”they had people everywhere hugging and belting out the words to some Aussie classics. All delivered to rapturous response: (Beat Magazine) and “they sounded like they had never stopped touring – an amazing set.” (Richard Kingsmill Triple J).
Mark Seymour has, of course, continued a vibrant and successful solo career but for now, he’s looking forward to rejoining his former band mates Jack Howard, Michael Waters, Jeremy Smith, Doug Falconer, Barry Palmer and John Archer in this long-awaited reformation tour.
YOU AM I continue their 20th anniversary celebrations saddling up to join the tour. It’s been a delight to enjoy this year’s reissue of their first three seminal albums ‘Sound As Ever’, ‘Hi Fi Way’ and ‘Hourly Daily’ and to see the band in such fine form in their birthday year. After a show here and there, this will be You Am I’s first major tour for a day on the green.
SOMETHING FOR KATE – vocalist Paul Dempsey, bass player Stephanie Ashworth and drummer Clint Hyndman – jumped at the chance to be involved in the tour and the ‘Crucible’ album, (covering one of Dempsey’s personal favourites ‘When The River Runs Dry’). In the past decade they’ve sold over half a million records and released five top ten albums, their last 2012’s ‘Leave Your Soul To Science’ debuting at #1 on the ARIA chart.
With strong support from Triple M and alternative radio, Melbourne quartet BRITISH INDIA’s last three albums have all debuted in the ARIA Top Ten. Led by vocalist/guitarist Declan Melia, the band are regulars at festivals like Big Day Out, Splendour In the Grass and Homebake. They also feature on ‘Crucible’ covering ‘Do You See What I See’.
Hunters & Collectors, You Am I, Something For Kate and British India – sounds like another fabulous a day on the green to us!