NZ: 20,000 attend biggest concert since lockdown

An estimated 20,000 people attended a concert by homegrown heroes Six60 at a sports stadium in Paihia, New Zealand, on Saturday 16 January.

The show – touted as the biggest headline show in New Zealand since the pandemic began – follows successful editions of multi-day festivals Rhythm & Vines and Rhythm & Alps (also headlined by Six60), which attracted crowds of 20,000 and 10,000, respectively, in the run-up to new year’s eve.

The New Zealand live music market has been open for business since last summer, when prime minister Jacinda Ardern axed all remaining capacity limits. The island nation’s Covid-19 alert level is currently at one, indicating the virus is contained bar sporadic, isolated flare-ups. In tier one, face coverings are mandatory and citizens are expect to carry a ‘Covid kit’, though no social distancing is necessary.

Saturday’s concert, at Waitangi Sports Grounds in Paihia, was the first date of a six-show domestic tour, Six60 Saturdays, which now moves on to Hastings, New Plymouth, Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton.

“We are so lucky in New Zealand to be able to have shows”

In a statement, the band say a “20,000-strong crowd” attended “the first sold-out show of the Six60 Saturdays tour”, adding: “We seriously can’t wait to do it all again for five more epic outdoor shows.”

In a review of the show, Stuff described a celebratory atmosphere at Waitangi, featuring “enthusiastic sing-a-longs” and a “meaty encore” featuring a guest appearance by Drax Project.

According to the band’s label, Massive Entertainment, Six60 expect to play to a capacity crowd of 20,000 at Hastings’ Showgrounds Hawke’s Bay this Saturday, where support will come from an all-domestic line-up of Shapeshifter, Kings, Maimoa and Nouri.

Speaking to Hawke’s Bay Today, Brent Eccles of promoter Eccles Entertainment predicted the Six60 event would be the biggest show in the world that night. “We are so lucky in New Zealand to be able to have shows,” he commented.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.