Music News - The boutique festival organisers that beat Covid to bring back the beats for Kiwi music fans
08 December 2022 - 0 Comments
Childhood friends Kurt Barker and James Bristow were full of hope and excitement when they quit their full-time jobs in marketing and event management back in March 2020 - intending to follow their dreams and make their mark in the world of music festival management - only to have their plans immediately hit the skids when Covid struck just two weeks later.
It was a big blow for the pair, but they kept their dream alive and knuckled down during the enforced homestay period, brainstorming, planning and hustling, and by the time the country emerged out of lockdown, the plucky pals had not only developed an idea for their flagship boutique festival - The Longline Classic - but had secured all of the artists.
The idea for the Longline Classic festival was seeded some years prior, in the early hours of the morning after their joint 21st birthday party, when their long line fishing session at the beach morphed into a party of seventy on the beach celebrating their catch. Fast forward to November 2021 when they launch the concept straight out of lockdown, selling out within just two weeks. The line up included a host of popular Kiwi acts including big names such as Mitch James and Scribe. Sadly, lockdown #2 hit and scuppered their plans again, causing the cancellation of both The Longline Classic in Gisborne and a second sold out festival in Tirau - That Weekend, which they had partnered with Andrew Witters, co-founder of RnV, on.
Bristow says “it was a tough time and we had to dig deep, but the whole concept for Longline was born out of the idea of connecting with your people and we had so much support from ours. It's crazy how much power an extended circle of friends can have when they all get behind something.”
The Longline Classic got its day in the sun in October 2022, with top artists from New Zealand and Australia, including Fat Freddy’s Drop, Melodownz and Skeggs, performing at the Makaraka racecourse in Gisborne and receiving rave reviews.
Off the back of Longline’s success NexGen Touring’s inaugural Coro Classic in Matarangi on 7 January is close to selling out and their rescheduled That Weekend will be lighting up the Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel on 30th & 31st January 2023, with a huge line up of Kiwi and Aussie artists that includes The Veronicas, Luude, Jordan Rakei and The Black Seeds.
Bristow and Barker are excited for the future of NexGen Touring, constantly thinking up new ideas and potential venues, but Barker says, “we are super mindful of not going too big too soon and maintaining the boutique nature of our festivals...finding the sweet spot and keeping it all about great experiences and good times with friends”.
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