The Old Spice Boys: New Zealand Tour - Devonport

The Old Spice Boys play live at The Bunker in Devonport.

The Old Spice Boys are a charming Australian trio who mix razor-sharp musicianship (and dress sense) with accessible tunes and a dry sense of humour, using just ukulele, tea-chest bass and snare drum.

The Old Spice Boys have pushed their miniature line up far beyond skiffle, into swing, jazz, blues, reggae, vaudeville, dub and R & B. They play their own enchanting original tunes - such as ‘I’m Not An Alcoholic (I Just Enjoy a Drink)’, ‘Let’s get Wet’, ‘Who Gave You a Licence to Drive me Crazy?’ – plus unlikely interpretations of songs and tunes by artists from Louis Jordan to Ian Dury, Django Reinhardt to Ornette Coleman and Grand Master Flash to The Seekers.

Who are these big men of small music?

Renowned ukulele virtuoso - Azo Bell (ex Freeboppers, Bellydance, Mic Conway), tea-chest bassist Billy Milroy (ex Granny Magnet, Sundowners) & regurgitated British pop star Tim Reeves (ex Mungo Jerry, T. Rex, Shane Howard, Ed Kuepper) on the snare drum.

Azo Bell appeared solo at the inaugural NZ Ukulele Festival last year, and this year he’s bringing the whole gang to play their way across NZ.

The Old Spice Boys are Australian festival favourites and they’ve made their mark internationally at events such as Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak (Borneo), the Famous Spiegeltent at Edinburgh Fringe, and the spectacular ‘Ruhrfestspiele’ in Germany.

Their recordings are highly acclaimed – ‘Lost in Spice’ was awarded ‘4½ stars’ and declared ‘CD of the week’ in the Sydney Morning Herald. Likewise 2002 release ‘Alibi of Birdland – 22 instrumental jazz classics’ has received rave reviews around Australia. Their latest album 'Welcome to the Spice Age' has been favourably reviewed in Rythms magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian and the Financial Review.