Hikoikoi has been chosen to open the Original Wailers concert at Te Rauparaha Arena
It is probably the pinnacle in our musical journey so far,” says Hikoikoi’s lead singer Paul Wickham. Hikoikoi has been chosen to open the Original Wailers concert at Te Rauparaha Arena on November 20, and the whole band is wearing “big, big smiles all round”. Mr Wickham first heard Bob Marley and the Wailers when he was five year-old watching shearing gangs on the East Coast of the North Island. “It was a really exciting time of the year and the gangs – they were mostly Maori – would bring in massive ghetto blasters and listen to Bob Marley. “That was the first time I heard music that loud and bassy. “It certainly would have influenced my music, it was the first good music I remember hearing” says Mr Wickham. Reggae heavyweights Katchafire will open after Hikoikoi and the concert is being held to celebrate Te Rauparaha Arena’s first birthday. During his first days at primary school Mr Wickham’s early Jamaican-reggae association got him out of a tight situation. “This guy at school wanted to smash me over, and I just popped the question; ‘Do you like Bob Marley’, he said ‘Yip’ and then just cruised off and left me alone,” he says. The four-piece reggae-soul-roots group is now based in Gracefield, after leaving their old jamming haunt at the Hikoikoi boat sheds. “We have played at a Porirua festival before, with the group Strike, who are this amazing percussion outfit,” Mr Wickham says. Over the summer break they are booked to play gigs every week for three months, and are part of a KiwiFM programme that discusses bands’ favourite summer trips. Shying from the larger New Year festivals, Hikoikoi prefers to play at grassroots events and are supporting an under-age youth concert in Opotiki. “We really enjoy supporting those kinds of events ... we are not really focused on the mainstream yet. “We want to spend more time in the ‘bnets’ [Active, 95bfm, KiwiFM] to get grounded first,” says Mr Wickham. The weekend following the Wailers gig, Hikoikoi are performing at San Francisco Bathhouse. The Original Wailers perform at the Te Rauparaha Arena on November 20, and for more information visit www.terauparaha-arena.co.nz or www.myspace.com/hikoikoi
