STACK NZ Dec #58

The deluxe edition of the live concert DVD will come with an eight-page booklet as well as a 12-track live CD. Aside from the fact that they hadn’t performed together for a while, Amitai says the group didn’t feel under any great pressure recording their first DVD. “As soon as we got on stage everything flowed and it was if we hadn’t gone our separate ways at all,” he says. For the live shows, the boys have now got a pretty good idea what goes down well with their fans, and the DVD set-list reflects that. He says the main challenge is to get the right balance between their operatic repertoire and pop standards. “The DVD is pretty much built off the original show we started with, so it’s still got a lot of the favourites that the audiences love,” Amitai continues. “But at the same time, we have added in a few different things for people who may have been to one of our shows before, but may not have seen a particular piece. So we have added in a few special ones. And people love the encores, things like Ten Guitars and MyWay and songs like that.They’re always requesting them and we make sure that we finish the show off with a bang.” The release of Ladies And Gentleman… Sol3 Mio Live In Concert caps off what has been a hugely successful year for Sol3 Mio. Their self-titled debut album entered the Kiwi record charts at No.1 and held the NZ top spot for 16 weeks, becoming the biggest selling local album of 2013, even outselling global superstar Lorde’s Super Heroine . Sol3 Mio duly picked up the highest selling album of the year award at last monthVNZMAs, adding

special set The Complete Sol3 Mio Collection, which also brings together the DVD and Blu-ray versions, the 12-track live CD and a copy of Sol3 Mio – Our Story , the group’s new book published by Penguin Publishing. All this will activity is sure to get fans fired up for their new tour, which kicks off on February 23 in Palmerston North and will

conclude in Christchurch on March 5; there will also be one-off ‘Christmas InTheVines’ concert at Auckland’sVilla MariaWinery on December 21. “The boys and I have been putting our heads together to try and come up with some new repertoire,” Amitai says of the upcoming live shows. “There will definitely be a lot of new material and a lot more solo stuff. I don’t want to give too much away, but we’re still going to incorporate a lot of our humour into it as well – it will still be us fooling around!” As yet there are no firm plans for a second album: the priority for 2015 is cracking the US market and focus there will be remain on their debut Sol3 Mio. And as with this year, they also intend taking a bit of time off from the group to concentrate on their opera careers, with Amitai and Moses returning to the UK, and Pene to the US. “I think it’s really important that we also have our own individual stuff,” Amitai says. “It kind of keeps your voice healthy because

Ladies And Gentleman… Sol3 Mio Live In Concert, which captures the warmth and magic of the trio’s hugely popular live shows

to theTui they picked up earlier in the year for best album at the Pacific Music Awards. “All three of us were genuinely surprised by how well the CD was selling,” Amitai says. “Nowadays the internet has taken over everything, people just buy music online. So for us to see the numbers sky rocket like they did… it’s crazy to think that people out there were willing to go out and buy our CD.” To coincide with the release of their first DVD, Sol3 Mio has also issued an international version of their first album, which includes four additional songs recorded for the UK version: Amazing Grace, Nella Fantasia,World In Union and You’ll Never Walk Alone .The album is also included in a

you are going back to your teachers and your coaches and they are always refining your voice.Then when we come back together as a group things go off to a whole different level.”

Ladies And Gentleman… Sol3 Mio Live In Concert is out now.

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