Music of the Month | LEAO

Formed from a Pacific heart, LEAO is a Samoan musical project formed up of guitarist/vocalist David Feauai-Afaese, bassist Navakatoa Tekela-Pule, hawaiian-steel guitarist Levi Gemmell and drummer Larsen Tito-Taylor. With a deep adoration for Pacific musical traditions and a desire to contribute contemporary ideas, LEAO synthesises non-traditional tonalities with a fa‘asamoa spirit, creating what some have called ‘niu wave’ and ‘Pacific neo psychedelia’ music.  

A creative enigma and phenomenal live act since releasing their critically acclaimed debut project GHOST ROADS in 2019 and recent single TAEAO / MEA UMA, LEAO are joining us at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki for Music of the Month, Sunday 25 May from 2pm until 3pm.

This very special show will coincide beautifully with our current exhibition Mark Adams: A Survey | He Kohinga Whakaahua, which brings together 50 years of Adams’ photography, including his documentation of the work of celebrated tufuga tatatau (master tattoo artists) in Samoan communities in Tāmaki Makaurau over the last 30 years.

‘off kilter post punk pop melodies with Pasifika guiding the way’ - 13thfloor.co.nz

‘contemporary music equally steeped in history – like the string bands of Sāmoa, Tonga and Hawai‘i –and hewn from this concrete city we live in; banana trees and tarmac, long afternoons in hot backyards’ - nzherald.co.nz

 

Image credit: Sina Leo Tui