In January 2020, New Zealand reggae band Fat Freddy's Drop—from Wellington and famed for jam sessions fusing soul, funk, and dub on albums like Based on a True Story (2010)—delivered a climactic set at Rhythm and Vines, a New Year's festival on Gisborne's beaches born in 2005 as a haven for roots music emphasizing reggae and indie under open skies. Their hour-long performance, brimming with improvisational horns and bass lines, embodied the summer season's zenith, where tropical grooves intertwined with emotive vocal surges to spark euphoria among thousands beneath New Year's fireworks. As a rare artifact of their live mastery, this show transmuted the coastal stage into a ritual of unity.