Mandy Nolan
New Zealand’s reggae legends Katchafire have been touring the world, including an awesome set at the Glastonbury Festival, celebrating the release of their latest album Best So Far. Having played with Common Kings in the US, Katchafire were keen to invite them on this tour and share their good vibes with Australian audiences. Byron shares the love with a show at the Brewery on Thursday night.
Common Kings sound like a great band to be doing shows with. Where did you meet them and why did you decide to bring them on the tour? We met the band before they were Common Kings; we had respect for their talent way back, and we have played quite a bit together over the last two years, touring in the States and Hawaii. Both bands complement each other; we think the boys are rock stars.
What is your favourite track on the Best So Far album, and why? ‘Irie’… I’m a li’l biased ’cause I wrote it but it reminds me of the missus.
Katchafire has just returned from another successful tour of the other side of the globe. What is your favourite country/city (you don’t have to say Australia!) Paris is fave… Belgium has great beer. Hawaii is all good.
What was it like at Glastonbury Festival? In a word – epic. And eye opening. An amazing experience; they were happy with the band. We’ll be playing there again soon.
What is the craziest experience the band has had on the road? We played a free concert in Suva that had 80,000 people and hardly any security… Had to have a police escort to get to the stage. After Sean Kingston the crowd started rioting, and we had to cool them out with some heavy k.fire roots vibes… they cooled down and everything was nice again.
Thursday at the Byron Bay Brewery with Common Kings, Raz Bin Sam & The Lion I Band, local selectas.
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