NZ Drum and Bass Legends Concord Dawn re-united for a 20th Anniversary tour around NZ and Rarotonga where Evan (Kiljoy) currently resides. Kiljoy has recently released new music on Digital's label Function Records, and it was very exciting to finally hear some new music from Concord Dawn when they released their newest EP 1999 last month in celebration of 20 years of Concord Dawn.
Concord Dawn took their tour to Raglan's Yot Club for a night of outstanding Drum and Bass, and they brought some absolute legends with them as support. Marc:One kicked off the show by playing a fine selection of DnB and Jungle tunes and motivating the crowd to dance right from the start. The crowd kept on growing as the night went on, even the bad weather was not going to stop the punters from coming through for this special occasion.
Next up was Rhyas, another very well-known DJ from NZ. Rhyas often plays for Audiology, Fuzen and The Drum and Bass Massive. His set was heavy and the high energy crowd was really picking up by this stage. Rhyas had the place going off, with great vibes all around. MC Rolex was also on top form, hyping up the crowd and further proving that we were in for a great show.
The audience was then treated to the incredible Concord Dawn; showing their appreciation at every opportunity. By this stage the crowd was more than ready to rave to the first track, and nothing was going to get in their way. Concord Dawn's music was exceptionally high quality, as they played old school DnB and Jungle sounds along with their new tunes. It was a world-class experience seeing both Kiljoy and Matt performing together, and they were both very much in their element.
It was also interesting to see the age gap in the crowd - there's a lot of young people coming to DnB gigs these days and it was great to see the younger generation enjoying music from some of the finest acts this country has on offer.
This was a pure first class DnB show, and everyone knew it. The sound system was tuned perfectly for the venue, and it was one of the more memorable nights in Concord Dawn's history.
Concord Dawn began life as Evan Short & Matt Harvey, bursting onto the New Zealand music scene back in mid 1999 with their unique high octane Drum and Bass sound. They were the darlings of the local bNet/Student Radio stations up and down New Zealand, getting hefty primetime airplay, featuring at the top of the weekly Top Ten's and breaking chart records across the bNet. After a year or so of underground success they were courted by local electronic music label Kog Transmissions and released their first album Concord Dawn in July 2000.
After touring the album throughout New Zealand they released their second album Disturbance in April 2001 and received Best Electronic Album and Best Independent Release at the 2001 bNet Music Awards. Both Concord Dawn and Disturbance sold far better than expected and the boys received strong reviews in all forms of media not only for their releases but also for their energetic live performances. For the next year they went into hiatus to refine the Concord Dawn sound further with Evan heading to London for 5 months to immerse himself in the culture of the Drum and Bass homeland. Upon his return to New Zealand work was started on their 3rd album Uprising with tracks like Morning Light and Don't Tell Me finding international acclaim well before the album's release. Uprising was released in New Zealand in September 2003 and reached gold sales status in an amazing 3 months.
With Concord Dawn now well established internationally and their catalogue now being distributed worldwide Evan and Matt embarked on a seemingly never ending world tour, travelling all over the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. At the 2003 bNet music awards Morning Light won Best Song and Most Radio Play and at the 2004 bNet music awards Uprising received Best Album and Best Electronic Release. Concord Dawn were also nominated for Best Electronic Act at the 2004 New Zealand music awards but narrowly missed out to Salmonella Dub.