Brilliant Things to Do in Wellington This June

June, it’s officially the first month of winter. While you may be inclined to stay indoors hugging a hot water bottle sipping a warm cup of tea watching local celebrities attempt ballroom dancing on TV, that doesn’t really make for a great conversation around the water cooler come Monday.

There’s plenty of stuff happening this month, including a film festival for those with a fetish for architecture and design, one of Shakespeare's most loved and widely discussed plays, the reopening of beloved Wellington venue, the coming together of two iconic figures, and a whole lot of jazz.

Architecture & Design Film Festival

If creaseless Hollywood blockbusters don’t quite scratch your creative itch, then the Architecture & Design Film Festival may just be the right event for you. The annual festival is now one of the largest in the world dedicated to cinema that scales the complex and intriguing craft of architecture and design. This year the festival is expanding from its usual destinations of Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin to include a city that would most benefit from a dose of structural inspiration, Christchurch.

Showcase films will be split into four categories: Architectural Perspectives, Design Inspiration, Experiments in Space and Green Scapes.

This year's highlights include: a documentary tracing the life and work of Brazilian architect Sergio Bernardes; a film utilising six directors to explore six iconic and very different buildings; a look into the tight community of gig poster artists; a doco which follows a group of urban farmers who set out to run a commercially viable farm in the midst of New York City, and a showcase of postwar neon design of ‘60s and ‘70s Warsaw, Poland.

When: Thursday, May 28 - Wednesday, June 10
Where: Embassy Theatre
How much: Various

Wellington Jazz Festival

The annual Wellington Jazz Festival is set to roll into town this June with over 100 gigs taking place in just five days and across 31 venues. Whether you're looking for an intimate gig, jazz-flavoured food, a lesson in New Orleans' jazz history or jazz-inspired cinema, there really is something for everyone...as long as it has something to do with jazz.

This year's line-up is bursting with major international headliners as well as the best of the local scene, including: the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen, both performing their first concerts in New Zealand; Dutch guitarist Reinier Baas; award-winning saxophonist Celine Bonacina; and the so-called “the future of Australian Jazz” Ross McHenry. All that plus a huge range of local jazz celebs.

Jazz-influenced food will be on offer at the Wellington Night Market on lower Cuba Street, and the Light House Cinema will screen jazz-inspired movies across the festival. See the full programme via the festival's website.

When: June 3 - 7
Where: Various venues around Wellington
How much: Various

Return to Puppies

One year on from closing the doors of beloved Wellington venue Puppies, and DIY music aficionado Ian ‘Blink’ Jorgenson has announced his return to the venue to throw a weekend-long party. Details of the artist line-up are thin on the ground, but we can tell you that attendees are welcome to bring their own snacks and beverages.

To ensure you’re kept in the loop about tickets, sign up to the mailing list over here.

When: June 5 - 6
Where: Puppies
How much: $30

Reeps One

One of the world’s most respected beatboxers will unleash some organic tongue twisters and more than likely a decent amount of saliva when he appears in Wellington.

London’s Reeps One initially began beatboxing at the age of 17. His style of vocal aerobics is led by dubstep sounds and intricate rhythms pulled off at breakneck pace. He's also one of the only beatboxer to win the Vauxhall UK Beatbox Championships two times running.

Joining Reeps One on his New Zealand visit will be Wellington’s very own vocal artist King Homeboy. Over his career, the Cuba Mall regular has performed alongside The Black Seeds and Fat Freddys Drop, appeared at World Beatbox Championships in Berlin, and notably smashed the world record for the longest continuous beatbox in 2009, managing 34 hours of mouth work to pulverize the previous record by more than ten hours.

When: Thursday, June 11
Where: San Francisco Bath House
How much: $29 - 40

Tyra Hammond

Tyra Hammond initially found herself in the limelight after performing on Scribe's 'Say it Again'. She then went on to lead soul-hip hop supergroup Opensouls front woman before racking up  a decent number of collaborations with the likes of Ladi 6, Funkommunity, She's So Rad, The Side Steps Quintet and @peace. The vocal powerhouse has branched off and released her debut solo EP.

The six-track output was by produced by fellow Opensouls band member Jeremy Toy and captures her vocal prowess, with underlying raw and live instrumentation. In a one-off performance at Wellington’s Matterhorn, Tyra will be joined by Jeremy Toy and Chip Matthews to play songs off the EP and more.

When: Saturday, June 13
Where: Matterhorn
How much: Door sales only

Don McGlashan

With his third solo album firmly under his belt, legendary New Zealand songwriter Don McGlashan is hitting the road for a string of dates around the country.

Self-described as his “most personal album yet”, Lucky Stars was written with an idea of stillness and isolation in mind at a bach on the Thames Estuary, before being realised at Neil Finn's Roundhead Studios. As well as agreeing that it may be his most personal offering, the NZ Herald went on to call it his "best solo set yet", giving it an unheard of five star rating.

At his Auckland show he will be joined on stage by guitarist Tom Rodwell and Chris O’Connor on the skins for two sets each night.

When: Friday, June 19
Where: Paramount Theatre
How much: $37.50

Trinity Roots

Since their reformation in 2010 and the comings-and-goings of different drummers, Trinity Roots have melded back into a live tour-de-force and a fully operational band.

The Wellington trio is now held down by Ben Wood on the drum stool, joining well respected musicians and songwriters Warren Maxwell and Rio Hemopo. As well as a new member, the band recently released their first album in 10 years – Citizen. The album builds on the trio’s fusion of rock, reggae, slow-funk and jazz, while coming packed with lyrical observations about last year’s election and the dismal voter turn out.

The band will celebrate the release of Citizen with a national tour this May and June. It kicks of in Dunedin on May 14 before winding its way around the country and wrapping up in Wellington on June 20.

When: Saturday, June 20
Where: San Francisco Bath House
How much: $30

Marlon Williams

Off the back of releasing his debut self-titled solo album in late April, Christchurch-bred, Melbourne-based songwriter Marlon Williams sold-out a string of shows in London and received praise from high flying publications Rolling Stone and Billboard Magazine, including words like, “captivating” and “the voice of an angel”.

Returning home this month, Williams’ will show off his angelic voice, wonderous guitar skills and knack for writing bonafide modern country hits with a performance at Wellington's Bodega venue.

When: Thursday, June 25
Where: Bodega
How much: $30

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