Close, but… _{by Madelaine Empson}

Close but no cigar – almost, but not quite successful. Riffing off New Zealand’s tall poppy culture, a breakout five-piece Kiwi band named themselves after the famous idiom.

“The self-deprecating nature of us taking the first jab at our artistic venture makes it less impactful when others come at us”, the genre-blurring indie, surf, alt-rockers explain, admitting that the name originated from a cool surfing vid they found on YouTube. “It was a great video, and was a fun name. We had it as a backup in case we came up with something better. We came close to finding one, but... So we stuck with it. NO CIGAR.”

With their 2023 sophomore album The Great Escape spending more than 74 consecutive weeks on the NZ Top 20 Albums Chart, their hit Concubine voted the 10^th best rock song of 2024 by listeners of The Rock, and their highly anticipated third album Under The Surface making waves since the day of its release in July this year, NO CIGAR needn’t have worried.

“Feedback from the new album and the response to the tour has been immense”, the band buzzes. “Selling out our largest headline show with months to go was epic. It has us all fizzing for the upcoming run of shows and a busy summer.”

With a rep for unforgettable, magnetic performances, don’t come close to missing their biggest shows on home soil to date. The electric tour reaches Meow Nui on the 7^th of November.