By Cam Mansel

Artist: Avalanche City

Date / Venue: Wednesday December 9th, 2015 - Tuning Fork, Auckland

On Wednesday night iHeartRadio NZ fans were treated to a free concert by Avalanche City at the Tuning Fork in Auckland. Personally, Wednesday night gigs are always my favourite as a little midweek treat to get you through to the weekend.

The show started a little shy of 8.30pm and lasted just over an hour. While the band played some new tracks from their latest album ‘We Are For The Wild Places', including their latest single ‘Inside Out,' there was a good mix of familiar crowd favourites including their debut single ‘Love, Love, Love.'

I know why ‘Love, Love, Love' was awarded Song of the Year and Most Performed Work at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards and won the APRA Silver Scroll song writing award in 2012. This song just makes you feel good when you listen to it.

Dave Baxter is an indie folk singer/songwriter extraordinaire. Hearing him perform live you can really appreciate his unique vocals and catchy tunes. Not to mention, his guitar playing is second to none.

Dave is also fun on stage and comes across as a genuinely nice Kiwi bloke. He's light-hearted and isn't afraid to make a joke with the crowd. Everyone has a love-hate relationship with Auckland, which is one joke he played on while introducing his third song ‘Drive On.' He said, "When arriving at spaghetti junction 90 per cent of New Zealand's population wish they could do exactly that."

The Tuning Fork is an intimate venue that perfectly showcased Avalanche City's vibe and music. It would have been amazing to see the group when they opened for Robbie William's New Zealand leg of his Let Me Entertain You tour recently to see them perform to a large arena.

One of my favourite things about going to live gigs is checking out the merchandise. This is something Avalanche City has well and truly thought about. How often do you go to a concert and see a t-shirt but wish it came in another colour. Avalanche City has t-shirts which you get to paint yourself. The t-shirts come with paint brushes and paint so you can put your own creative flair into it. Last night was also the first opportunity for Avalanche City fans to get their hands on a Vinyl copy of the album. These will be available through avalanchecity.com soon.

After the show frontman Dave Baxter stood at the merch stand taking photos with fans and signing albums, t-shirts and tickets. It is a simple gesture but at this point you can clearly tell Dave is a down-to-earth and passionate artist who genuinely cares about his fans. He stuck around until the very last person had their CD signed approximately 40 minutes after the show finished.

If you couldn't make it to the iHeartRadio gig keep an eye out for Avalanche City's local festival appearances and be sure to support this incredible kiwi talent.

Set List:

• The Midnight
• Ends In The Ocean
• Drive On
• Inside Out
• Fault Lines
• Little Fire
• Wild Places II
• Giving Me A Sign
• Wild Places I
• The Streets
• I Need You
• Keep Finding A Way
• Love Love Love
• Rabbit