Rhythm & Vines Opens Its Gates To Three Days of Music

Thousands of music lovers rolled into Waiohika Estate in Gisborne today to take part in the biggest New Year’s music festival event in the country.

Rhythm & Vines kicked off late afternoon across five stages with Kiwi favourites Hollie Smith and Mt Eden Dubstep, English five-piece Indie band Mystery Jets, Melbourne’s Miami Horror and legendary UK dance DJ Carl Cox.

But perhaps the biggest crowd pleasers on the night were Canadian electro-funk groovers Chromeo, and headliners hip-hop-pop-rock band NERD, whose high-production set exploded onto the main stage led by charismatic frontman Pharrell Williams.

Festival founder Hamish Pinkham said organisers were pleased with the kick-off of the three-day music spectacular, with record ticket sales and the rain staying away so far.

Best Festival award winner at this year’s NZ Tourism Awards and voted one of top five New Years destinations in the world by the UK’s Guardian and Times newspapers, Rhythm & Vines will be home over the next three days to a capacity crowd of more than 22,000 music lovers and 2,000 onsite campers.
Attendees will have more than 100 acts spread over five stages to choose from over the three days of the festival.

A further 13,000 campers and festival goers are based at BW Campgrounds on Waikanae Beach in Gisborne, which holds daytime activities like volleyball, touch rugby and zumba fitness all on the beach and bikini competitions for its largely 18-24 year old patrons.

Add to this BW’s stellar festival line-up of international and local artists, and Gisborne is undoubtedly the number one place to be for music lovers this summer - with a week of entertainment for those committed to maximizing their festival experience.

‘Festival week’ kicked off on 27 December at BW with a massive opening night featuring Kora, Six60, The Freestylers (UK), State of Mind (Live) and The Checks. BW is operating in and around R&V opening hours with warm-up shows, daytime shows and late night after parties, for maximum musical goodness.

Rhythm & Vines organisers say limited one-day tickets can still be purchased online or at the gate for 30 and 31 December.

Tomorrow’s line-up includes DJ sets from French headliners Justice and the UK’s Chase & Status, experimental multi-genre maverick Flying Lotus, British rapper and grime artist Tinie Tempah, and Welsh drum and bass DJ High Contrast.

Hudson Mohawke, also on the bill for the 30th, will no longer be performing after breaking his foot. Promoters say: "It is with deep regret that The Operatives announce Hudmo's exit of this amazing cast of electronic acts due to the inability to travel as a result of a broken foot and a torn ligament to boot. We wish HudMo a speedy recovery, and we apologise for any disappointment but rest assured he will be back in the near future."

While on the 31st, a super Kiwi contingent made up of The Naked and Famous, BARB, Dragon, P Money and Shihad help bring in the New Year, along with German electro producer/DJ Boys Noize and Belgian drum and bass producer Netsky.

For more info go to www.rhythmandvines.co.nz, and tune into ZM for live coverage, updates and artist interviews throughout the festival.

Big thanks to Rhythm & Vines 2010 Partners: MTV, ZM, Panasonic, Redbull, grabaseat, Coruba, Isaacs Cider, Jagermeister and Amazon Surf Stores

www.rhythmandvines.co.nz
www.facebook.com/rhythm.vines
www.ticketek.co.nz
www.bwcampgrounds.co.nz/
www.mtv.co.nz/
www.zmonline.com

Rhythm & Vines 2010 line-up

N*E*R*D, Justice (DJ set), Shihad, Carl Cox, Chase and Status (DJ set), Chromeo, Boys Noize, Erol Alkan, Netsky, Mystery Jets, High Contrast, Tinie Tempah, The Naked and Famous, Flying Lotus (Live), Miami Horror, Hollie Smith, Dragon, BARB, Bulletproof, P Money, The Gaslamp Killer, Electric Wire Hustle, Mt Eden Dubstep, Dick Johnson, Hudson Mohawke, Optimus Gryme, Our:House Presents and more.

BW Campgrounds 2010 line-up
Kora, The Black Seeds, High Contrast, The Freestylers, Six60, State of Mind, Tahuna Breaks, Mt Eden Dubstep, TheUpbeats, Sola Rosa, Concord Dawn, Batucada Sound Machine, Killa Kella, The Checks, P Money, 1814, David Dallas, Bang Bang Eche, Computers Want Me Dead, Maya & Vanya, Tim Richards plus more

R&V Day Schedule
29 December
N*E*R*D
Carl Cox
Chromeo
Mystery Jets
Miami Horror
Bulletproof
Hollie Smith
Mt Eden Dubstep

30 December
Justice (DJ set)
Chase and Status (DJ set)
High Contrast
Flying Lotus (Live)
The Gaslamp Killer
Hudson Mohawk
Tinie Tempah
Erol Alkan
Electric Wire Hustle

31 December
Shihad
Boys Noize
The Naked and Famous
Netsky
Dragon
BARB
P Money
Dick Johnson
Optimus Gryme
Our:House Presents.