Difference between revisions of "Hamapalooza"

Revision as of 17:09, 6 July 2007

Ticket to "Hamapalooza 93"

Hamapalooza was a concert organised and promoted by Clinton Swan and Damien Fenton at the Wailing Bongo in 1993 - backed with the belief that Hamilton music was strong enough in its own right to pull in sizeable crowds. It was also a way to launch Swan's band Bwa da Riddim to a decent sized audience. The heavily marketed event, held at Gurus on 17 September, had a diverse lineup, being headlined by Swamp Goblin, and also featuring Romantic Andes, REAL, Bwa da Riddim and 3 on a Meathook. Approximately 400 people attended.

New Zealand Music TV show 'frenzy' attended to film the show with the intention of airing it several weeks later. However, a technical glitch with the sound feed meant the footage was useless for broadcast. T-shirts were also produced for the gig, most of which had large expletives printed on the back. They sold out at the start of the night and orders were taken for a second print run.

From this first event, Swan went on to become Activities Manager at the WSU/University of Waikato from 1995 to 1997. Fenton went on to become production manager at Contact 89FM for a time before moving to Christchurch. Other people who played a part in putting on Hamapalooza included Matt Zeeman (sound), who along with Mike Clarkin (lighting) helped organise the technical production aspects, while Hamish Kuka designed the promotional material and t-shirts.