Flamingo Pier1 upcoming event
Born and raised in New Zealand but schooled in London, Flamingo Pier may well be the southern hemisphere’s best kept secret. But with one album and some serious live playing under their tightly-worn belts, that may about to end, as they plot a course back towards Europe and beyond for summer 2023. Flamingo Pier are Luke Walker (the DJ), Dom Jones and Brad Craig (the musical chops), a rather perfect combo that you can hear in their music, with its electronic heft weighted lightly with tropical sounds atop, influences pouring in from all directions: Masters At Work, Khruangbin, Prince, Ron Trent. Shot through with sunshine and festival-friendly joy, their roots are in the somewhat more gritty environs of Hackney Wick, formerly a somewhat desolate spot in the East End of London that has been revived by a new generation of creatives (with a soupçon of aid from the London Olympics in 2012), among them Luke, Brad and Dom. “We were all living in this warehouse in Hackney Wick and started DJing with each other at home and playing music together,” says Luke. “Originally, Brad was over as part of another band who’d been brought over by a record label. But we had Counter Café as this incredible little spot on the canal there.” They started throwing monthly Friday parties at the café. All the parties sold out. Suitably encouraged, they decided to throw a festival on the beautiful island of Waiheke, a 30 minute scoot from Auckland, as you do. It was only one day, in an olive grove…
