Parachute Band
Parachute Band was a Christian worship band from Auckland, New Zealand, formed out of the New Zealand-based Christian organisation Parachute Music. The band made pop/rock music and spanned over two generations of musicians. 1995–2006. The first Parachute Band line-up was formed in 1995 to lead worship at Parachute Festival, and has since grown into a full-time endeavour. Parachute Band records New Zealand-written contemporary worship music, and performs it both in New Zealand and worldwide. The original line-up, led by Wayne Huirua, Libby Huirua and Chris de Jong, released seven studio albums, toured  extensively in the U.S., won numerous New Zealand Music Awards for Best Gospel/Christian Album, won the Gospel Music Association's International Achievement award (in the U.S.) and paved the way for what the band is today. In 2006 the original members retired from the band and a generational changeover took place. This was marked by a ceremony at the 2007 Parachute Festival. 2006–2013. The second generation Parachute Band (formerly known as Victor Rose) released three studio albums; Roadmaps and Revelations (September 2007), Technicolor (September 2008) and Love Without Measure (February 2011). The band toured the United States, Canada, Asia , South Africa, UK, Europe, New Zealand and Australia, including performances at Creation Festival, Kingdom Bound Festival and also being the house band for the annual Parachute Festival. The band won the 2008 VNZMA Peoples Choice Awards. Love Without Measure was the first recording that the band self-produced. In 2012, the band announced Omega would be leaving the group in order to "have more time to enjoy marriage and to invest more into his local church community." Without Omega, Parachute Band collaborated with American Christian rock band Leeland at the 2013 Parachute Festival and The Almost frontman Aaron Gillespie in  2014 for worship sets.