Fans of Kiwi music are in for a treat when bluesman and free speech advocate Darren Watson plays his one-night performance in town on November 8.

The Whanganui-based performer has a 7pm concert at the Ōpōtiki Senior Citizens Centre, with limited door sales. Booking via Trybooking.com is recommended.

As well as a string of well regarded recordings to his name and delighting audiences around the motu for years, this troubadour has a name as a freedom of speech advocate.

Some of us will always associate Watson with the Planet Key controversy of 2014, and the lengthy court battle which followed.

This song satirised prime minister John Key, but as it was released in the run-up to the 2014 general election, the Electoral Commission said it could not be played on New Zealand television or radio, nor could it be sold unless it was labelled as an election advertisement.

Watson chose to remove the song from the iTunes Store, claiming the Commission’s advice was censorship.

Former Prime Minister John Key commented that the song and its music video were “quite professionally done. It was anti-us, but as a parody it was okay.”

A lengthy court battle ensued, with Watson fighting the Commission’s ruling up to the High Court and winning the appeal which followed.

In 2016, the Court of Appeal ruled for Watson, saying he and animator Jeremy Jones were not representing any political party or vested interest when they made the video.

The court said they were “simply expressing their own political views”.