Synthony Festival 2027 line-up announced, L.A.B among the headline acts
Synthony Festival returns to Auckland Domain on March 20, 2027, with Paul Oakenfold, Poolside and local legends L.A.B among the headliners. Frontman Joel Shadbolt tells the Herald what his band has in store for one of his biggest-ever gigs.
There’s always something different about playing to a huge crowd in New Zealand, Joel Shadbolt says.
“You never really get used to walking out and seeing that many people in front of you.”
When the award-winning Kiwi band started, they were just mates making music and playing shows because they loved doing it. They never imagined they’d be playing sold-out festivals and arenas.
Now, they’re preparing to perform for an estimated 50,000 people at Auckland’s Domain, when Synthony Festival returns in March 2027. L.A.B have today been announced as one of the headline acts, alongside UK DJ Paul Oakenfold and American nu-disco stalwarts Poolside, plus Ladyhawke, Corella and Synthony with Auckland Philharmonia.
It will be one of only two live shows L.A.B are playing this summer; the other is Rotorua’s 8th Wonder on January 23.
“We weren’t sitting there thinking about stadiums or crowds this size,” the Mr Reggae hitmaker tells the Herald.
“Even now, there are moments when you walk out and look at everyone and think, how did we get here?”
Shadbolt had a taste of the scale of Synthony, New Zealand’s biggest one-day music festival, a few years ago, thanks to a chance encounter with Australian music producer CYRIL (Cyril Riley), who was performing at the event.
“CYRIL originally sent us a remix he’d done of [L.A.B song] In the Air, which he’d been playing at his shows all over the world. We connected with him in Sydney and then happened to reconnect when he was back in New Zealand [for Synthony],” he says.
“The whole thing was pretty spontaneous. We got together, jumped up and did it, and it was a really cool moment.”
Now ready to rock the stage with the full band, Shadbolt says they can’t wait to enhance Synthony’s production, “especially those massive screens”, to create content specifically for the show.
“It gives us an opportunity to do something a bit different visually and really make the most of the scale of the production,” he says.
“We’ll have all the songs people know, but we want to make this particular L.A.B set feel really special.”
He says the band are pretty relaxed backstage before big shows, having now been together for more than a decade. Normally, it’s just, “hang out, have a laugh, and get ready”, he says.
“There are always a few nerves before a big one, but I think that’s healthy. Once we’re together and the first song starts, everything settles down, and we’re into it.”
The moment he’s most looking forward to is when he first catches a glimpse of the crowd. With a show as big as Synthony, he thinks the energy is going to be pretty special.
“Then there are those songs where the crowd basically takes over and sings them back to us. Those are probably my favourite moments because you can’t manufacture that.”
What: Mānuka Phuel Synthony Festival featuring Paul Oakenfold (UK), Poolside (US), L.A.B, Ladyhawke, Corrella and Synthony with Auckland Philharmonia.
Where: Auckland Domain
When: March 20, 2027
Tickets: SYNTHONY.com
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.