Taranaki band receive a rare invite to rock Womad 2018
It's a huge multi-cultural feather in The Slacks' cap.
Mark Armstrong
Mark Armstrong fist-pumped the air when his band The Slacks were invited to play Womad New Zealand next year.
The four-piece, known for its hit Big Aroha, will be the first Taranaki band to take the stage at the annual music and art event in the past seven years.
The last group was the Patea Māori Club in 2011, and Celtic band Shaskeen Reel prior to that.
‘‘I was so excited, I was just punching air,’’ frontman Armstrong said.
‘‘It’s a huge multi-cultural feather in The Slacks’ cap.’’
‘‘We’re just going to give it our all,’’ he said.
Being asked to play Womad was a huge surprise for the group, Armstrong said.
They were ‘‘humbled’’ by the invitation, he said.
‘‘I think it’s just a pat on the back probably for some hard graft by good ol’ Kiwi lads.’’
Armstrong wasn’t sure why there hadn’t been many Taranaki bands asked to perform at the festival before The Slacks.
He said the group didn’t consider themselves very ‘‘cultural’’.
‘‘But it’s the world of music, and Taranaki is part of the world.
‘‘Are we breaking the mould, maybe we are? Are we ploughing new fields?’’
Womad New Zealand programme manager Emere Wano said The Slacks were a great representation of Kiwi music.
‘‘Womad at our core is about world music but it’s the whole experience and we want our visiting artists to see some of our Kiwi artists.’’
At the beginning of the year Wano had never heard of The Slacks.
She first saw them perform at the Taranaki Arts Festival at the Spiegeltent in August.
‘‘I was actually really taken by them, they’ve got a great vibe about them and I thought that would actually fit really well with Womad.
‘‘I thought I’d chuck them in my back pocket and I’d wait and see how the programme shapes up with internationals and other New Zealand artists.’’
* Womad NZ 2018 is on from March 16 to 18.