Friday 26th & Saturday 27th October 2018 | 8pm Nightly
After three solid years on the road touring their Countdown-inspired shows, iconic rockers Dragon are heading back to the North for two special nights at BAR36, The Reef Hotel Casino this October. Bringing with them a raft of hits, the New Zealand export that Aussies have claimed as their own will perform more than four decades worth of legendary tracks and get audiences on their feet from the outset. With songs such as Rain, April Sun in Cuba, Are You Old Enough, Young Years and Ordinary Men, to name a few on the repertoire, Cairns audiences are in for one massive party!
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dragon dominated the Australian music scene. Their live shows were unsurpassed and their notorious rock’n’roll lifestyle was well documented. Ever since then, they’ve continued to release hits, pack live music houses and earn a swag of fans throughout New Zealand and Australia. In 1977, Dragon won Best New Group and in 1978 won the Outstanding Local Achievement award for the then Australian music awards, TV Week King of Pop Awards. In July 2008, Dragon were again recognised by their adoptive country when they were inducted into the Australian ARIA Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.
The band formed in the pre-historic wilds of New Zealand, with Todd Hunter there on bass right from the start. The band was named Dragon after a throw of the I Ching on New Year’s Eve in 1973. Todd’s brother Marc joined later in 1973 and the band continued touring extensively. In May 1975, they packed their bags and headed for Australia. As frontman Marc Hunter made a name for himself as one of Australia’s most enigmatic lead singers and Dragon carved themselves into the Oz music history books.
The Dragon juggernaut only halted after the sad passing of Marc Hunter in 1998. There was no sound from Dragon for the next eight years. Todd Hunter was busy working on his own composing career, and aside from the odd song on radio, it seemed Dragon was now only in the history books. It was 2006 when Todd felt the urge to play again and contacted fellow Kiwi Mark Williams to see if he wanted to ‘be in a band’. Bruce Reid and Pete Drummond joined to fit the puzzle together and Dragon was reborn again. What has become known to fans as the Phoenix Years has seen Dragon touring consistently to packed houses ever since.
Most recently, what started as The Countdown Years, paying homage to the television show in 2016, grew into the ‘Aussie edition’ in 2017, and saw Dragon play more than 50 Countdown-inspired shows over the past two years. Throughout 2018 the band have been touring the 80s UK Chartbusters to packed houses, proving that audiences really do love Countdown, and most importantly, they adore Dragon! Every Dragon show is a party from start to finish and Far North Queensland audiences are in for a treat when the band return to the North for two special shows at BAR36 this October.
Dragon perform at BAR36, The Reef Hotel Casino on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th October 2018 from 8pm nightly. Mattyboi kicks off the entertainment on the Friday night, with Big Noise keeping the party going til the early hours. On Saturday, Eddie Skiba starts the evening off with cool tunes and The Tall Poppies keep the music pumping til late. *** Live at the Casino shows in BAR36 are non-ticketed shows.
For more information and ticket info, please visit www.reefcasino.com.au
