FEATURE BAND ONSTAGE WEDNESDAY 3RD

"Helena Kitley is a force of nature – think big voice, dramatic melodies, and spine-tingly money notes being pumped out of one petite powerhouse of a woman.” 

In June 2023 at Todd Rundgren’s 75th birthday celebration “Toddstock” in the lush backdrop of the Hawaiian island Kauai, Helena’s serendipitous encounter with bass player Bruce Whetstone (Canada) and drummer Lee Rothstein (USA), along with guitarist, fellow Novocastrian/Aussie Sam Rush, led to an impromptu performance of Hendrix’s version of All Along the Watchtower. With an electrifying connection too good to let go, the group was named - and “Helena and Le Feel” was born.

Gathering from opposite ends of the Earth, for the first time since Hawaii, the band will appear at the Revitalize music festival in New Zealand this January 2024. Performing songs penned by Helena hersef, as well as some selected covers, one can expect to enjoy the remarkable musical synergy of Helena's soaring vocals, Sam's soulful guitar embellishments, and the enchanting grooves of rhythm section, with Bruce on bass and Lee on drums.

FEATURE BAND: ONSTAGE TUESDAY 2ND

Julian Temple Band's Revitalize 2024 lineup includes:

Alex Vaatstra (Orchestra Wellington) on violin, Paul McLennan-Kissel (Entire Alphabet) on drums, Steve "Seedy" Marshall (Left or Right) on bass/vocals, Logan Hampton (Alizarin Lizard) on keys, Andy Straight (Biff Merchants) on guitar, and Julian Temple on guitar/vocals.

FEATURE BAND WEDNESDAY 3RD

Sam Cullen's sound is far from what you might expect of a 23 year old born and raised on the edge of the world in Invercargill - the bottom of New Zealand. With genuine lyrics drawn from lived experience and a rock and roll meets pop driving energy, the now Auckland-based artist is a force to be reckoned with.

ON STAGE TUESDAY 2ND

For over 15 years now, Waihōpai/Ōtepoti psych-rock reggae trio Left or Right have carried that torch: pioneering a blend of dub-reggae grooves, soaring vocal harmonies, and off-beat lyricism, at times infused with moments of visceral rock riffery.

Band members: Steve "Seedy" Marshall (vocals, bass, keyboards); Metua Marama (vocals, drums, percussion); Callum Hampton (vocals, guitars, horns, synth)

PERFORMING TUESDAY 2ND & WEDNESDAY 3RD

Take a deep dive with SoulFish (Saelyn Guyton and Steve Miller), the experience might make you dance, sing, laugh and cry or even say churr that was pretty fucking rad. It's really up to you. 

SoulFish play their original music and fuse their original creations into cover songs. If you're not quite sure what to expect, ka pai, neither do they. 

A tribute band gathered to honour the mighty Todd Rundgren.

Todd's TRibe is composed of both international musicians and hardcore local fans of Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. They will be covering some of Todd’s greatest hits, but also some deep tracks, sampling from the vast catalog of material from Todd and his band, Utopia, spanning multiple decades of his career. If you’re a Rundgren fan, you won’t want to miss this performance.

ONSTAGE TUESDAY 2ND

This Ōtepoti/Dunedin duo brings you geometry and iridescence translated to sound.

Not only is it all of the letters you could ever need to write yourself a shopping list, but also a strange instrumental rock band. Continuous tone-scatter and harmonic deformation by Chris (Bugs) Miller on the bass guitar networks seamlessly with the spiralling beat-flip time division of Paul McLennanKissel (PMK) on the drums. From dense fuzz to crystalline sparseness.

ON STAGE WEDNESDAY 3RD

We are proud to host King Leo again at Revitalize where his authentic, original and diverse sound is great for listening and dancing. Leo brings his own powerful and dignified presence to a blend of traditional blues idioms.

He will perform a mini set on the Tuesday, supporting the open mic event, with his full set on Wednesday.

PERFORMING WEDNESDAY 3RD

Ruby Fusion is a Christchurch band which has existed in one form or another for over 10 years. The band members are Peter Brittenden on drums; Ross Ward keys, John Strong base and vocals, Cris Fulton on guitar and vocals.

The band plays a mix of originals and covers. Their collective musical influences are diverse, ranging from Todd Rundgren, Frank Zappa, The Allman Brothers, Don McGlashan, Joni Mitchell and many, many others. Their genres are not fixed and they play styles along the lines of rock, pop, blues, jazz, punk and reggae. They have a passion for music and especially playing live.

ON STAGE WEDNESDAY 3RD JAN 2024
Aart Smith is a Dunedin based Singer/Songwriter.

Musical influences as diverse, as Gospel, Jazz, the Beatles, Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Neil Young inform the musical motifs. Later influences include Talking Heads, Radiohead, Crowded House, PJ Harvey and Ryan Adams.

PERFORMING WEDNESDAY 3RD AND WORKSHOP 'SINGING IN PARTS' ON THURSDAY 4TH

Revitalize Festival presents award-winning singer/songwriter Anna van Riel. Join us for an intimate concert of original folk, jazz and blues works in the lead up to Anna's upcoming album release.

PERFORMING WEDNESDAY 3RD

Brad MacClure is a a multi-instrumentalist who has played many gigs and sessions for other musicians on a variety of instruments, both internationally and locally. For his solo concerts his preferred weapon of choice is guitar. Playing his own songs, Brad leans towards the North American folk and folk rock styles. This year Brad hopes to bring his 4 piece band with him.

Brad is also a skeptic and the ideas of scientific skepticism, of living your best life by not following or believing dangerous bullshit and the endeavour of good critical thinking comes out in his songs.

Brad is also offering Guitar Tuning Workshops (Wednesday morning), so bring along your guitars.

Tuesday 2nd Open Mic and Thursday 4th

Originally from Manapouri, but lately Christchurch, Carla has been singing in public since she was three years old. This talented 11 year old also plays violin, piano and she dances. Carla has performed lead/starring roles in in musical theatre, namely joint-lead as Matilda in "Matilda" and Young Anna in "Frozen". She has has recently won a Canterbury Junior Vocal competition.

At Revitalize she will sing from a variety of well known musicals and cool Christmas songs, with perhaps a few classical pieces, accompanied by her talented mother Kerstin on keyboard, herself a concert pianist.

ONSTAGE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY

Get ready to dance and sing to all your favourite RR songs from TV, such as 'Kia ora', 'Wow, You Can Really Dance!' and more!

Rainbow Rosalind the Fairy is a multi-award winning children’s singer/songwriter & Entertainer based in Dunedin, New Zealand.

As seen on TVNZ 2 on weekday mornings, Rainbow Rosalind stars in her own TV show ‘Code Fun’ with her robot sidekick, Digi. Some recent highlights include winning the APRA Best Children’s Music Video of the year award, Global Children’s Artist of the Decade, and performing with The Wiggles Rainbow Rosalind can often be seen flitting her wings to perform shows & festivals nationally and internationally, and she is excited to spread her fairy magic at Revitalize this summer!

So dust off your dancing shoes and join Rainbow Rosalind the Fairy.

JOIN WORKSHOP ON THURSDAY 4TH

Join vocal coach Anna van Riel from Nook Road Productions for a dynamic and interactive vocal workshop that focuses on breathwork, vocal mechanics and singing in parts. 

Whether you've sung a lot, or just always wanted to, this is a brilliant 101 on finding your true voice!

Multi-instrumentalist, Brad Macclure, leads a DadGad Celtic guitar tuning workshop.

Bring along your C Harmonica for a Blues Harmonica Workshop on the 3rd at 11am.

This workshop might be about playing Blues guitar with a mouth organ on a rack, or just Blues harmonica. This is a very fluid workshop which will work with what festival folk want. It could be a participation activity or just a demonstration. King Leo will explain how this relatively easy and inexpensive "centrepiece of Blues" instruments works.

Bring your harmonica questions if you don't have a C Harmonica, or just come along and watch the workshop.

Leo LaDell or "King Leo" is one of Aotearoa’s best kept musical secrets. He has been playing Blues professionally for over 20 years, singing, playing guitar and harmonica with a variety of great bands. His experience has seen him working with some of the greats of Blues including Pinetop Perkins, Big Bill Morganfield, and Bo Diddley.

Love where you live.

Neville Stewart is a skilled plantsman with training in horticulture and botany. 

Join Neville Stewart in a workshop on Landscaping and Permeaculture.

During the festival, Tim or Helen Gow, will host a variety of sustainability workshops. These usually encompass a walk and talk format.

The home of Revitalize is a stud farm which has been organic now for more than 30 years. As pioneers of organic farming in New Zealand, the Gows will share the process of Sabbatical Farming which is not only better for the planet than regular farming, but also enables their farm and stock to be healthy and organic without the drenching and artificial fertilising.

Other walk and talk formats include the walk to the top of Butterfly Hill where you can survey the entire farm with rewarding scenic views. And a walk around the stud stock if there is enough interest, including our meaty Shire sheep & hairy Tufty cows (polled Highlands.)

Tim also starts each festival morning with an open grounding ceremony, which is well worth attending.

Join with Amber Stephens in her dance workshop.

Electric vehicles are not just limited to city cars. In many ways EVs are more useful on a farm than petrol driven vehicles, because of their durability, power, silence, sustainability, and easy on-farm refuelling (known as recharging in EVs.)

View our fleet of EVs and see how we use them at Mangapiri Downs Organic Studfarm, the home of Revitalize. We also hope to have a selection of light electric road cars on display from local dealership https://electricmv.co.nz/ of Invercargill.

OPEN MIC NIGHT, is on Tuesday evening, 2nd January. If you'd like to perform a piece or two, scroll down to find out how. The following artists are our confirmed Open Mic musicians.

RONNIE STASH
& THE RESISTANCE

Hailing from the southern reaches of the South Island, Invercargill, Ronnie Stash and the Resistance seamlessly blend blues, Rasta, and rock into a soul-stirring musical journey. Fronted by the mesmerising Jacob Ambrose, whose vocals and guitar work weave tales of passion and resistance, the band is a sonic force to be reckoned with. Jacob's soulful delivery, paired with the rhythmic backbone of Simon Carey on bass and the dynamic beats of Bill Wilkes on drums, forms the core of their distinctive sound. Join the Resistance and immerse yourself in the infectious rhythms and heartfelt lyrics of Ronnie Stash and the Resistance's bluesy Rasta rock vibes. Facebook page. Listen on YouTube

Join the Resistance: Raw! Authentic! Southern Grit! Soulful Energy!

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JANE SHEARER

Singing indie/folk, Jane is a life enthusiast who includes singer-songwriting in the list of things she loves to do. Also on the list are gardening, creative writing, mountain biking, tramping and travel to different places on a bike or on foot. She particularly likes using humour in songs to convey meaning while entertaining. Jane writes an opinion blog and has published a book.

Dr Jane Shearer - Resolutionz Consulting Ltd

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HANNAH SURENDRAN

Hannah Surendran is a 13 year old up and coming artist from Invercargill, with a wide repertoire of songs, who first picked up the Ukulele at age 5. She is an active musician (guitar and piano), singer (Femme choir, SGHS), and Performer (most recently Jovie in the SGHS / Boys High 'Elf' production.)

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Open Mic is all about encouragement. If you'd like to play a song or two on Open Mic night (Tuesday) we recommend that you arrange this with festival organiser, Tim, ahead of time. You could be featured here too. If you'd like to be listed here, please provide us with your name/stage name and a 2 sentence bio. A photo is also appreciated. Otherwise turn up on the night with your instruments and take the chance that there will be time for you. Basic stage gear, including mic, is provided. This is strictly NOT karaoke, but covers are allowed. Other stage performances, such as stand-up comedy, are also welcome, but please check your subject matter with Tim beforehand to ensure it is safe and appropriate for an all-age audience.

Open Mic performers are not paid, and are generally amateur performers or new professional artists who need more stage time. Advice and help from the pros is available if requested. Experienced artists who missed out on the main billing can also take the stage if they want to for a couple of songs. Open Mic night is in addition to the Tuesday night concert we have planned. There is also a guided Jamming session open to all festival goers and entertainers on Thursday midday.

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Indian Cuisine on Wheels

Delicious Indian Snack Menu

• Hot Chips engulfed in BUTTER Chicken

• Butter chicken Wraps

• Veg.Samosa

• Chicken Popcorn

• Mango Lassi

• Soft drinks and Water