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Civic Events, promoters of the Classic Hits Acoustic Church Tour with Dave Dobbyn and Dukes, have announced a change in venue for the first Christchurch show, due to play at the Christchurch Cathedral later this month. Due to the temporary closure of Christchurch Cathedral, the show scheduled on Friday 24 September has been moved to The James Hay Theatre in Kilmore Street.The second Christchurch show on Saturday 25th September will take place as scheduled at St Michael and All Angels in Oxford Terrace.

All tickets purchased for the Christchurch Cathedral show are valid for James Hay Theatre and the show times for both shows remain as follows: Doors open 7:30pm, show commences 8:00pm and show concludes at approximately 10:30pm

Dave Dobbyn will headline the 2010 Classic Hits Acoustic Church Tour and he’ll have plenty of support with members of Christchurch up-and-comers Dukes all set to open the shows.

Now in its second year, the tour has expanded to 12 shows in 11 cities - New Plymouth and Nelson having been added to the bill. Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Napier, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch (with two shows in different venues), Dunedin and Invercargill are the other stops on this sojourn through majestic churches, chapels and cathedrals.

Dobbyn, who last year celebrated three decades of music, provides the soundtrack to Kiwi lives, with a string of hits including Beside You, Be Mine Tonight, Language, Outlook for Thursday, Loyal, Whaling, Kingdom Come, It Dawned On Me, Guilty, Devil You Know, Slice of Heaven, Magic What She Do, Oughta Be in Love , Welcome Home and countless other classics.

His enduring popularity sees perennial polls of New Zealand’s Top 100 songs returning Loyal to number one year on year, and he holds the most Silver Scroll Awards for songwriting. In 2001, Dobbyn was given a lifetime achievement award by the New Zealand recording industry. Dukes’ music has been described as infectious, unpretentious and steeped in tradition, and the fact the band cares so much about the craft of writing and the art of performing shines on stage. Their recent hit Vampires has been a fixture on the airplay charts for more than a year. According to tour promoter Brent Eccles, this is a lineup that promises the perfect union of established and emerging artists.

“We’re thrilled to have Dave on this run; his powerful and true voice will lend itself to the wonderful acoustics in these magnificent churches and cathedrals” he says.

“Churches are unique places for acoustic music, they are built to complement voices and with the exceptional talents of these artists, you have the venues, the artists and the audience – that’s the perfect trinity of any great concert.”

The Classic Hits Acoustic Church Tour is an acoustic show in three parts commencing with Dukes and then Dave’s performance in two sets. Doors open at 7.30pm show concludes at approximately 10.30pm