Push Push Celebrate 35 Years of Trippin’ with North Island Tour + EP

Plus1 proudly presents Push Push, who in February 2026 will roar through Hamilton, Auckland, Whangaparaoa and Mt Maunganui to celebrate 35 years of Trippin’, and release a brand new EP.

Emerging from deep in the suburbs of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s North Shore in the mid-1980’s, Push Push was formed by a group of young music lovers obsessed with everything loud and vivid. Vocalist Mikey Havoc, guitarist Andy Kane, bassist Steve Abplanalp, and later drummer Scott Cortese and guitarist Shayne Silver forged their path by playing any gig they could find, and selling cassettes of their demos in local record stores and mail order.

Their breakthrough came in 1991 with the hyper-charged single Trippin’. Together with an hallucinogenic video and rip-roaring refrain, the song spent six weeks at No.1 on the charts – an extraordinary achievement at a time when local rock acts rarely broke into the mainstream.

Building on that success, the band’s debut album A Trillion Shades of Happy arrived in early 1992, peaking at No.3 and staying in the charts for months. The record showcased Push Push’s range – hook-driven anthems alongside more introspective grooves – earning them the Best Group and Best Live Act award at the 1992 New Zealand Music Awards.

Relentless touring through New Zealand and Australia followed, but in 1993, the exhausted band went on hiatus as Mikey Havoc decided to try his hand in TV and Radio. Havoc’s forays as host on 95bFM and Hauraki are well-documented, as were his legendary television shows with Jeremy Wells aka Newsboy.

In 2017, after 20 years apart, the band rekindled their brotherly love at Auckland’s famous Mexican Cafe, and proceeded to pick up where they left off, releasing the Talk 2 Me EP, a compelling clip to go with it, and touring with UK band The Darkness.

Fast forward to February 2026 and Push Push are about to return with a brand-new five-track EP, signalling not just a reunion but a reinvention. The EP features brand new songs The Truth and Under The Eye, plus an incredible re-working of live favourite, Euphoric Plunder In Bliss, and a song written in 1993 but never recorded – the rollicking Sleep In The Morning.

Also on the release is a track that may be the most personal song they’ve ever written. Starting as a soundcheck jam in the early 90’s, the song was finally completed 30 years later in 2024 as Havoc and fellow lyricist Andy Kane hacked through their usual bravado to arrive at a heart-wrenching song named Skin.

The new Push Push tour is a great chance to reconnect with fans and rock out hits like Trippin’, Song 27, and What My Baby Likes, other fan favourites, and songs from their new EP.

The timing of the tour and the new EP underscores the band’s legacy as pioneers of Kiwi rock who never lost sight of the blood-pumping thrill of music, and reaffirms their place in Aotearoa music history.

Tickets go on Plus1 24-hr presale from 9am, Wednesday 12th November, with general public sales opening 9am, Thursday 13 November.
Sign up for Presale access, at plus1.co.nz

Push Push – North Island Tour March 2026
Proudly presented by Plus1

Thursday 19 February – Hamilton, Last Place

Friday20 February – Auckland, Double Whammy

Saturday 20 February – Whangaparaoa, Paraoa Brewing 

Sunday 21 February – Mt Maunganui, Totara St

Tickets and Info: www.plus1.co.nz