Havoc and Newsboy's Sell-Out Tour - Gay Man's Rock

Exploring the Options in Gore

By Mikey Havoc 04/09/2024

When you arrive in the country music capital of New Zealand and park in the centre of town by the enormous statue of a leaping brown trout, it's easy to be lost for words. If you happen to be still suffering from a rather boisterous post-Miss NZ Contest night out in Dunedin as well, then identifying which fun facts or fascinating tales about Gore to put in your TV show is challenging. So…you explore your options. In our case, one of the options was to make something up.

So we did: we said Gore was the gay capital of New Zealand. Ha ha, great idea. What could go wrong? So began an unintended but very timely social experiment, and a gag that just keeps on giving. We honestly never even thought it would end up in the show, but I'm glad it did. Homophobia has always baffled me and there is no place for it in the world. Although it has caused some prickly moments on occasion since, it's still very funny and I'm awfully proud that it made NZ On Screen's top 60. 

- Mikey Havoc pushed the television boat out from the late 90s, often in tandem with partner in crime Jeremy 'Newsboy' Wells. He has also done time as a radio DJ and as lead singer of band Push Push.