Tauranga Samba's 20 strong drumming Bateria is preparing to descend on the city of Hamilton with an amazing mixture of Brazilian influenced percussion and mind blowing costumes, light and movement. This band has been knocking audiences off their feet at Festivals and events since their creation in 2007.

In February, Tauranga Samba made a stunning debut at the Cuba Street Carnival in Wellington with costumes inspired by medieval sword and sorcery themes. However, in a concession to a peaceful world, they've laid down their swords and picked up light driven instruments. All instruments are rigged with sound sensitive sensors designed to trigger light displays that flash in time to instruments being struck. Your senses will be assaulted by both sound and light!

The instruments played by the group are large drums, snares, bells, shakers and a small handheld instrument called a Tamborim. The Tamborim plays very loud patterns over the top of the main rhythm with a volume louder than gun shots. Band leader Phil Solomon says "It's the icing on the cake for many of our rhythms and we're proud to have one of the best Tamborim sections in NZ".

The group is never short of quick feedback at gigs "You guys are amazing! I've never seen anything like that before" and "Can I come and join you?!" are common responses.

Phil explains, "Brasilian percussion is a world wide movement of bands inspired by the percussion and music of Brasil. Bands in different parts of the world often fuse these rhythms with local influences to provide performances that are uniquely local." Phil says "This group are performance addicts and are always looking for opportunities to wow audiences. The Hamilton Fringe Festival gives us an opportunity to make an exciting foray into the city of Hamilton and show them Brasilian Percussion coupled with a fantastic visual experience".

Venue: The Meteor
Fri 19 @ 7.30pm - 30 mins

Full Price: $10
Concession: $8
Children: $4

Go to online program

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If you would like more information about this event or to schedule an interview please call Phil Solomon on 021 0754300 or email Phil at [email protected]