Words by Ed King
New Zealand blues rockers, Lazy Fifty, are playing a free afternoon gig at Oikos Café on Saturday 26 July – coming to Erdington Town Centre as part of the citywide Blues and Jazz Festival.
Doors at the popular Erdington High Street venue will open at 4pm, with Lazy Fifty playing a headline set at around 4:30pm. All ages are welcome.
Tickets are free and allocated at the door on a first-come-first-served basis. Advance tickets can be reserved through the online ticketing agency Eventbrite – click here.
A local support act will also be performing a short warm up set, getting the Erdington crowd up and jumping – as provided by Ceol Agency and the Erdington Arts Forum.
Lazy Fifty are an established blues rock trio from New Zealand, renowned for their dynamic live performances and melodic rock – and taking inspiration from the stalwarts of 70’s British rock such as Black Sabbath and Led Zepplin.
Travelling over 10,000 miles to play their first gigs in Birmingham, Lazy Fifty are in the city for the Jazz and Blues Festival 2025 – joining hundreds of other musicians from across the world, playing at 115 venues across the West Midlands over a ten-day festival programme.
Lazy Fifty released their 10 track debut album, Petra et Volvo, to critical acclaim in 2017 – following with their sophomore album, Fifty Shades of Lazy, a year later.
After a short break form recording the band released their third album, The Broken Stone, in 2020.
A year later saw the release of Lazy Fifty’s fourth studio LP, 2021: A Lazy Odyssey, which was described by leading New Zealand music website music.nz as “an absolute blast from start to finish” and “a sheer delight… channelling Sabbath, or George Thorogood.”
Lazy Fifty’s latest release – their five track EP The Good, The Bad and The Lazy – was released in May 2025.
But the stalwarts of the international blues and rock circuit are also known for being watertight live musicians, who embrace the essence of blues, rock, and a self-declared “healthy dose of funk” through their “dynamic” on stage performances.
In a special video posted on the band’s YouTube channel, ahead of the gigs in Birmingham, Lazy Fifty dusted off a “Lazy Sunday” version of their track ‘Vigilante Blues’ – taken from the band’s debut album, Petra Et Volvo (2017).
A spokesperson for Lazy Fifty told: “To celebrate our upcoming gig at the Birmingham Jazz and Blues Festival we’ve delved into the archives to bring you this lazy Sunday version of ‘Vigilante Blues’.”
They added: “It’s seven minutes long and that’s what we love about the blues – long, mellow, lazy and chilled – just like us when we play the blues.
“Bring it on Birmingham.”
Watch Lazy Fifty perform ‘Vigilante Blues’ at Harley Owners Group National Conference in Rotorua, New Zealand
Having run for 41 years, the Jazz and Blues Festival 2025 is the brainchild of Jim Simpson, one time manager of Black Sabbath and longstanding musical figurehead in Birmingham and beyond.
The widely respected festival added Erdington back onto its programme after being invited to the area by the Erdington Business Improvement District, as supported by local retailers, and the Erdington Arts Forum.
In the Blues and Jazz Festival 2025 brochure, festival organisers describe Lazy Fifty as a “powerhouse blues-rock trio… playing a mix of toe tapping blues-rock that’ll see you bringing out your air guitar and traditional blues with emotion pouring out of the guitar.”
Playing a special free at Oikos Café, Lazy Fifty will get to perform down the road from where bands like Sabbath and Led Zeppelin cut their teeth at the pivotal music venue Mothers Club.
Erdington BID is listed as an official supporter of the Blues and Jazz Festival 2025 alongside other BIDs from Southside, Jewellery Quarter, and Sutton Coldfield – as well as larger governing bodies including the West Midlands Combined Authority, Sandwell and Dudley Council, and Wolverhampton City Council.
For more on Lazy Fifty visit www.lazyfifty.com
For more on the wider Blues and Jazz Festival 2025, including a full vent programme and details on artists performing, visit www.birminghamjazzfestival.com
For more on Oikos Café visit www.oikoscafe.co.uk
For more on Erdington Business Improvement District (BID) visit www.erdingtonhighstreet.co.uk
