Christian Livingstone of The Datsuns rocks out on stage at Homegrown. Photo: Jesse Wood
They were Trinket in the mid-1990s at Cambridge High School – but the world got to know them in the early 2000s as The Datsuns.
And a new generation of music fans – 30,000 of them – had the chance to hear them at the Claudelands Arena on Saturday at the Homegrown Festival which featured New Zealand performers.
Trio Dolf de Borst, Christian Livingstone and Phil Somervell are original band members, the drummer today is Scandinavian Adam Lindmark and they are spread across the globe.
from left, The Datsuns Christian Livingstone, Dolf de Borst, Phil Somervell and Adam Lindmark (obscured) haven’t toured New Zealand since 2018. Photo: Jesse Wood
Homegrown – whose chief executive is Cambridge’s Andrew Tuck – was the third leg of The Datsuns’ first New Zealand tour since 2018.
Cambridge News 19 March 2026
The Hamilton event followed shows at Gisborne and Mt Maunganui.
Tokyo-based guitarist Livingstone said the band had been touring Europe but until now “we just haven’t managed to get back down here”.
“Phil still lives in New Zealand, Dolf and Adam live in Sweden and I live in Japan – we’re spread quite far and thin.
“It’s always fun to come back and play in New Zealand. Whenever we get back here – we haven’t been back in quite some time – it’s always nice to get to come back and not only get to play, which I enjoy doing, but I get to see all my friends and family at the same time.”
When the hard rock band formed in 1995 at Cambridge High as Trinket, de Borst was the vocalist and bass guitarist, Matt Osment was on drums and Somervell on guitar.
Phil Somervell performs at Homegrown on Saturday afternoon. Photo: Jesse Wood
Livingstone joined in 1997 as their second guitarist and the following year they became The Datsuns. Another Cambridge High graduate, Ben Cole, would replace Osment on drums. Members used the band’s name as their last name on stage.
They won the 1998 Battle of the Bands and performed in Hamilton that year, supporting Swedish band the Hellacopters.
In 2002 the first of their seven albums was number one in New Zealand and in the top 20 in the United Kingdom – their next stop.
“When you start a band, you’re just thinking about playing music and enjoying yourself, you’re not thinking you’re going to get to do this for a career and travel the world or anything like that,” Livingstone said.
The Datsuns lead singer Dolf de Borst at Claudelands. Photo: Jesse Wood
“I never really thought about anything like that back then. You know, what am I going to be doing 30 years in the future? But it’s great.”
The tour was originally designed to celebrate and highlight their new album – the last was five years ago – but it hasn’t come to fruition yet.
“This was supposed to be a tour for a new record but we haven’t quite finished that because we’re terrible at sticking to a deadline. Hopefully, we’ll have that record out later in the year.”
The Datsuns guitarist Christian Livingstone in action at Homegrown. Photo: Jesse Wood
After Homegrown, The Datsuns played a show in Lyttelton on Wednesday, followed by another one tonight before heading to Wellington and Auckland.
“We’re going to be touring Europe later in the year. That’s where we spend most of our time,” Livingstone said.
“Beyond that, it depends on what happens with the album release when we finally manage to get that out.”
