It's a Wrap! The Strait Shooters Central Otago Tour 2017.
It all started in Glenorchy with a warm-up gig on Dec 30th, before the band hit the main stage in Queenstown's Earnslaw Park on New Years Eve. From there it was straight over to Blue Kanu Restaurant to help over 200 patrons dance their way into the New Year. And Larry the crazy American bartender certainly kept The Strait Shooters well lubricated and at the top of their game! 3 shows down in 2 days.
A rest day was in order on Jan 1st in order to rest the vocal chords, and let the tequila wear off. Still it was nice to see in the first sunrise of the new year. Then the band hit the road for 5 more shows over the next 5 days. Luggate Hotel was a superb garden bar venue and with 2 shows in 2 days there, the band enjoyed that stopover on the tour. Boy, the pub dog was front row at both gigs and seemed to have learnt the lyrics to Black Cat Bone.
From there it was back to Queenstown for a gig at Hamills in Frankton. A great crowd of locals led by Tony Robertson (Restaurant owner and lover of the blues) lapped up the bands sounds. The band then lapped up the delicious pizzas!
Te Anau was next stop. What a busy and beautiful part of the world. The night started off with an enthusiastic blues crowd, and finished with a younger crowd ready to party! A great opportunity for the band to pull out some classic rock and funk covers and let their hair down. (what's left of it).
Finally it was back to Queenstown for the final show at Brecon Street Merchant on Jan 6th. The home of Southern Soul Food in Queenstown was the perfect place for The Strait Shooters final gig on tour.
What a blast! The wonderful thing about touring Central Otago is playing to not just locals, but so many visitors from around New Zealand and the world. Plenty of copies of the new album sold, and it's great for the band to know that their music is now heading to Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington, Wales, Scotland, Australia, Canada and USA.
Next show for The Strait Shooters is Cruise Martinborough January 28th when they will entertain the crowd of classic car enthusiasts at the Saturday night prize-giving and finale.
Stay tuned for more tour and gig announcements in the near future..... until then, "That's all we have time for."