Baby Boomers go mad in Wellington

Warratahs concert friday night at Chow ... baby boomers came out from hiding to groove with the Warratahs ... " all a bit embarrassing really !!!"












... ... some gig competition from "KORA"














New Zealand 1985 – at the height of 'new wave' and Kiwi pub rock - was an unlikely time to form a country band. However, a bunch of Wellington's musicians did just that. Called The Warratahs, the band's two-year residency at inner-city tavern The Cricketer's Arms drew increasingly large crowds, attracted by the mix of covers and originals in the style of Hank Williams, Jimmy Rogers and Hank Snow played in an acoustic style.
The Warratahs began touring and in 1987 turned up in Gore, at the bottom of New Zealand's South Island, for the legendary Gold Guitars country music awards. It was no surprise when, three days later, they walked away with the title of Best Group.
The band went into the studio in 1986 and recorded a Barry Saunders/Wayne Mason song Hands of My Heart. Released as a "single", the song received significant national airplay and led to the recording and release of The Warratahs' first long-player Only Game in Town in late 1987. The album spent 26 weeks in the charts and clocked up "gold" sales.
Covering the country, The Warratahs were now a full-time touring band reaching almost every part of New Zealand with their distinctive sound. A Saunders-penned song - Maureen - was lifted from the album and also received heavy airplay. Both "Maureen" and "Hands of My Heart" are still among the most-requested songs in The Warratahs' repertoire.
Like most bands who have extensively toured the relatively small New Zealand market, Australia soon beckoned and The Warratahs quickly built up a steady following in Sydney and Melbourne. New Zealand tours with Billy Joel and Johnny Cash (twice) followed, as well as their own headlining shows on both sides of the Tasman.