Boulder, Colorado primal rock trio THE VELVETEERS will join GRETA VAN FLEET on their Australian and New Zealand leg of their Starcatcher World Tour. Consisting of singer / guitarist Demi Demitro and drummers Baby Pottersmith and Jonny Fig (who play on a conjoined set), they released their debut album Nightmare Daydream in October 2021, produced by GRAMMY® Award winning producer, Dan Auerbach. Auerbach was attracted to the band after viewing clips of their live shows and DIY videos and invited them to his studio in Nashville, the album is a crushing combination of 70s style psychedelia and the hard rock of the California desert. The Velveteers can best be described as heavy but agile, theatrical but nuanced, grounded in rock history but wholly idiosyncratic.
Nightmare Daydream finds The Velveteers stripping down rock and roll to its most primal elements—the riff, the rhythm, the snarl—and rebuilding it in their own image. “We don’t want to sound like a band from a different time,” says Demitro. “We want to sound like a band that’s right here right now—in this very moment.”
Grammy Award Winning U.S. Rock act GRETA VAN FLEET are set to make their highly anticipated return to Australian and New Zealand shores this August for the first time since 2019. Having sold out their Brisbane Fortitude Music Hall show on August 21st, they recently announced a second show at the Brisbane venue on August 22nd. Following that, they’ll play Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on August 24th and the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne on August 27th before jumping over the ditch to Auckland to play Spark Arena on August 30th.
The Frankenmuth, Michigan natives formed in 2012, consisting of brothers – vocalist Josh Kiszka, guitarist Jake Kiszka and bassist/keyboardist Sam Kiszka – who were then joined by drummer Danny Wagner. The band announced their arrival on the scene in a massive way in 2017 with their EP From The Fires, which won Best Rock Album at the 61st Grammy Awards.
Their meteoric rise continued with the release of their critically acclaimed sophomore album The Battle at Garden’s Gate which was released in 2021 and debuted at #1 Billboard Rock Album, #1 Billboard Hard Rock Album, #1 Billboard Vinyl Album, #2 Billboard Top Album Sales and in the Top 10 on the Billboard 200. 2023’s Starcatcher album also crashed into the Billboard Top 200 chart at #8 which has seen GRETA VAN FLEET entrenched as a fully-fledged Rock Powerhouse!
Starcatcher was written and recorded by the band – alongside Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile). Recorded at the legendary RCA Studios in Nashville, the band utilized the large recording room to capture the pure energy of their world-renowned live performances.
Throughout the ten-song collection the band explores the duality of fantasy versus reality and the contrast between light and darkness. “We had this idea that we wanted to tell these stories to build a universe,” says Danny Wagner. “We wanted to introduce characters and motifs and these ideas that would come about here and there throughout our careers through this world.”
The band took multiple concepts from critically acclaimed sophomore album The Battle at Garden’s Gate and brought them into Starcatcher, although Sam Kiszka’s take on the new record’s big ideas hint instead at new beginnings. “When I imagine the world of Starcatcher, I think of the cosmos,” he says. “It makes me ask a lot of questions, like ‘Where did we come from?’ or ‘What are we doing here?’ But it’s also questions like, ‘What is this consciousness that we have, and where did it come from?’”
With Starcatcher the band has definitely managed to capture their live energy in the recording studio.
They have performed across multiple continents, sold over 3.5 million records, one million tickets worldwide and amassed well over 2 billion streams! They have performed on late night television shows such as “Saturday Night Live,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” whilst dazzling live audiences at major festivals such as Lollapalooza, Coachella, Pinkpop and Rock Werchter.
GRETA VAN FLEET AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 2024
FORTITUDE MUSIC HALL, BRISBANE
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 21 – SOLD OUT
THURSDAY AUGUST 22 – NEW SHOW
HORDERN PAVILION, SYDNEY
SATURDAY AUGUST 24
MARGARET COURT ARENA, MELBOURNE
TUESDAY AUGUST 27
SPARK ARENA, AUCKLAND
FRIDAY AUGUST 30
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
For complete tour and ticket information, visit: gretavanfleet.com & livenation.com.au & livenation.co.nz
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