The Solidaz crew may be new to Guangzhou but don’t be surprised if you find them to be some of the best hosts in town, enjoying beers before and between sets with new friends at the band room at McCawley’s Guangzhou and obliging with every song request they know.
Aiming to fill a niche in the live music scene, the five-piece band includes New Zealanders Kristen Hapi (drums/vocals), Cam Hapi (guitar/piano/vocals) Chris Toal (piano/vocals) and Mark Tamati (bass/vocals) and sole Canadian Samantha Chemerika (vocals/percussion). All take turns at lead and backing vocals, creating an energy-packed, party-style experience that long-time regulars are falling for, while at the same time winning over a range of younger expats and locals alike.
This seasoned touring group, having honed their skills over the past decade in five-star hotels and restaurants such as MGM Macau, Hard Rock Cafe Bali, Beijing and Jakarta, V Bar Shenzhen and other top locations throughout Asia and the Middle East, offer a crowd-pleasing repertoire of pop, rock and R&B classics, with a few Chinese songs thrown in too.
“Our guests love the song ‘Hotel California!’ We have no prejudices here; we’ll play anything our guests request! One of our all time favorites is ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’; it's a hard song but we love belting it out. It gets the crowd wild!” says the very gregarious Chris Toal, who first came to China in 1996 and has spent 17 years touring with Solidaz.
The band is no stranger to fame, either. Just two years ago Kristen was inducted into the New Zealand music hall of fame for his work with the band Herbs. Samantha was part of the touring production of Les Miserables at the early age of 10 and has worked with people like the Crash Test Dummies and Bobcat Goldthwaite.
It’s time to do yourself a solid and get down to McCawley’s for Neil Diamond and Eagles lovin’.
// Solidaz performs at McCawley’s from Wednesdays to Saturdays from 10pm till late and on Sundays from 9pm to midnight. No. 101, 16 Huacheng Dadao Zhujiang Xincheng, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 广州市天河区珠江新城花城大道16号101 (020-3801 7000)
