“Endeavour Live was the first to re-establish concerts at Auckland Domain after 20 years with the reunion of Groove Armada live in 2022.”
Live at the Domain earlier this year.
Pinkham also tested the Live at the Domain formula in February with a one-off, one-day festival, where US pop-punk band Good Charlotte headlined a bill that also featured fellow US rock bands Highly Suspect and Yellowcard, and Kiwi rockers Tadpole.
Pinkham says Good Charlotte’s Madden twins loved their time in New Zealand. Aside from playing to a Domain packed with more than 10,000 fans, Benji and Joel – who are married to Cameron Diaz and Nicole Richie, respectively – also took time for their favourite pastime of golf, playing the exclusive Tara Iti course with producer Joel Little.
Hamish Pinkham with Joel and Benji Madden at Live at the Domain earlier this year. Photo / Antonia Pearl
Pinkham’s years running Rhythm and Vines have helped him steadily build his network of A-list international talent – not only the music stars themselves, but also their agents, managers and power players.
His success resulted in Live Nation, the world’s largest live entertainment company, acquiring a controlling interest in Rhythm and Vines in 2018, as well as shares in Pinkham’s Endeavour Live.
Pinkham has continued to be the face of the R&V brand, as well as a director and shareholder but now wants to focus solely on Endeavour Live.
Hamish Pinkham in 2024. Photo / Paul Taylor
He says the line-up is coming together nicely for the first multi-date Live in the Domain, which will take place over the first few months of 2027.
Pinkham has just had Kalvin Peary to stay, a Los Angeles-based promoter and godson of Janet Jackson, who is among Pinkham’s network helping to secure the yet-to-be-announced Stateside acts.
As well as his live events business, Pinkham and his wife Roma have many side projects together, including their food truck Sheppards. Currently based at the Garage Project taproom in Kingsland, the truck idea came when the couple were at Pop Culture and industry festival South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin a few years ago and were inspired to recreate Texas’ smoky Tex-Mex flavours back in New Zealand.
The Pinkhams live in Auckland’s Bayswater and in 2023, started the Bayswater Markets on a reserve that borders their house.
Hamish and Roma Pinkham’s Bayswater Markets.
“The markets ran monthly with fresh produce, barbecues, a bouncy castle for the kids and night movies, but we moved the event to biannually after our son Harper was born in late 2024.”
Harper helps his dad Hamish Pinkham set up at Live at the Domain earlier this year.
The couple decided to make the most of Roma’s maternity leave last year to travel with their baby son, also allowing Pinkham to do some networking. He was a guest speaker at Santa Barbara’s FestForum, a B2B live gathering for festival producers, organisers and industry leaders. The family spent time in LA, Palm Springs and the Caribbean before heading to the UK to attend Glastonbury.
The couple left Harper with his grandmother and were guests of the Glastonbury promoter, Festival Republic, in a private VIP area that hosted the likes of the Spice Girls and Noel Gallagher’s family.
Hamish, Harper and Roma Pinkham in Europe last year.
They later spent time in Europe, and while in Spain, enjoyed the scene in Ibiza, where they were hosted by luxury concierge service Lush Ibiza, which organised for them to stay at DJ Roger Sanchez’s villa.
“Ibiza is such a good place to catch up with industry contacts and witness some of the best productions in the world,” Pinkham says.
Hamish and Roma Pinkham in Ibiza last year.
“We were hosted backstage at the world’s hottest new club UNVRSE for DJ Fisher, and we caught up with former R&V headliners DJ Cyril and Dom Dolla’s team.”
Pinkham was a guest speaker at last night’s Green Room Seminar, a music and events industry summit at Big Fan Studios in Grey Lynn, where he talked about the realities of working in the live event industry.
Pinkham himself holds biannual creative seminars called The Phoenix Summit. Previous speakers have included the creatives and managers behind some of pop’s biggest stars, including John Legend’s manager Ty Stiklorius, and LA-based Kiwi Ben Dalgleish, who recently created the Justin Bieber show at Coachella.
Next on Pinkham’s busy to-do list is writing a book, which he says will include a warts-and-all look at his journey within the industry, some of the people he’s met, and challenges he has overcome.
“Hopefully, I can inspire the next generation of creative entrepreneurs to follow their dreams,” he says. “It will be juicy, so keep a lookout, later this year.”
Party People of the Week
Sgt. Haane premiere
Director Tearepa Kahi’s latest film Sgt. Haane had its world premiere at Reading Cinema, Rotorua last Sunday, and was followed by the Tāmaki Makaurau premiere at Event Cinemas Newmarket the following evening.
The movie, which is released today, tells the story of Lance Sgt. Haane Manahi, 83 years on from the days in which he and the B-Company of the Māori Battalion conquered a mountain in Takrouna in World War II.
The entire cast and crew of the film came together in Tāmaki Makaurau for the special night, alongside Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Whakaue and whānau of Haane Manahi and the 28th Māori Battalion. The latter included producer and niece of Manahi, Dr Donna Morrison, and Anaru Grant jnr, also a descendant, both of whose voices are in the film.
Broadcaster Scotty Morrison introduced the night, followed by a whakatau by Ngāti Whātua and speeches from Kahi and his wife, the film’s producer, Reikura.
Actors from the movie in attendance included Alex Tarrant, Niwa Whatuira, Vinnie Bennett, Poroaki Merritt-McDonald, Matu Ngaropo, Rīhare Te Are and Damian Edwards.
Other guests included broadcasters Mike McRoberts, Jess Tyson and Jenny-May Clarkson, Celebrity Treasure Island co-host Jayden Daniels, and actors Jordi Webber and Amelia Reid-Meredith.
Jayden Daniels, Niwa Whatuira, Vinnie Bennett and Ray Edwards at the Sgt. Haane film premiere. Photo / Robert Trathen
Rīhare Te Are. Photo / Robert Trathen
Damian Edwards. Photo / Robert Trathen
Shadon Meredith and Amelia Reid-Meredith. Photo / Robert Trathen
Gunner Ashford, Anaru Grant jnr, Donna Morrison, Reikura Kahi, Tearepa Kahi and Waiheke Kahi. Photo / Robert Trathen
Scotty Morrison and Anaru Grant jnr. Photo / Robert Trathen
Ocean Michael and Win Wolf. Photo / Robert Trathen
Sala Anslow and Blaise Clotworthy. Photo / Robert Trathen
Ricardo Simich has been with the Herald since 2008 where he contributed to The Business Insider. In 2012 he took over Spy at the Herald on Sunday, which has since evolved into Society Insider. The weekly column gives a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and famous.