Che Fu is bringing Navigator back to life — all of it — and Invercargill is first cab off the rank.
The New Zealand music icon will kick off a ten-date nationwide tour at the Civic Theatre on Wednesday October 7, celebrating 25 years since Navigator debuted at number one on the New Zealand Albums Chart and went on to achieve multi-platinum status. An Evening with Che Fu & The Kratez will see him perform the album in full alongside a career-spanning set, with special guests Aaradhna, Betty-Anne and King Kapisi joining him on stage.
That is not a modest line-up. Between them, these four artists represent about a century of New Zealand music history.
Navigator came out in 2001 and immediately mattered. A fearless blend of soul, reggae, hip hop, rock and Pacific influences, it gave a generation a soundtrack — Misty Frequencies, Fade Away, Waka — songs that still get played at every New Zealand gathering worth attending. Twenty-five years on, its themes of identity, resilience and unity have not dated.
Che Fu was inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame earlier this year. His longstanding live band The Kratez will back him throughout the tour, which runs in theatre-style format with fully reserved seating and an intermission — a deliberate choice that signals this is something to sit with, not just dance through.
The supporting cast is formidable. Aaradhna brings her award-winning blend of soul, R&B and Pacific storytelling. Betty-Anne, the vocalist who rose to prominence with Kiwi band Ardijah, has been a defining voice in New Zealand music for more than four decades. King Kapisi, one of the country's most respected hip hop pioneers, rounds out the bill.
From Invercargill the tour moves through Dunedin, Christchurch, Nelson, Wellington, Palmerston North, Napier, Auckland, Rotorua and Hamilton.
Tickets go on sale at 12pm on Monday August 3.