FUTURE GENERATION
HONOUR MITCHELL: SIX60 CONCERT Most of us have been lucky enough to go to a concert in our lifetime - one, two or perhaps more. Exciting, adrenaline-pumping and hectic are just a few words I’d use to describe the experience. Seeing an artist you admire performing live is a one-of-a-kind moment. Sure, listening to music on your phone is great, but when you get the opportunity to hear a band live the tunes move to a whole new level. The energy alone in the mosh pit (or wherever you may be) gets your heart pounding and your body moving. Being surrounded by so many people getting their groove on and just dancing the night away is pretty euphoric. And quite the mood booster! You can’t really leave empty-handed either; you’ll take home some of the best memories of a lifetime, nicely packaged up as videos on your phone. Phew! Thanks to the digital age we can look back and enjoy those little parcels of happiness whenever the feeling grabs us. The first concert I went to was Benee at Spark Arena late last year clearly I’m still a bit of a rookie. So, honestly, when I first heard about the SIX60 concert I was a bit on edge - over 50,000 people attending? My anxiety rose but the opportunity was far too good to pass up! This was going to be the largest live, in-person concert world-wide since the Covid-19 pandemic began and I wanted to be part of this historical moment, of which I suspected music fans globally would be jealous. SIX60 started off as a few Otago Uni students jamming around before they formed a band in 2008 - not knowing - I bet - they would later become one of the most popular bands in New Zealand.
Then suddenly they were playing magical song after magical song. Blown away by the performance, the crowd was left begging for more. And I was not surprised. Just hearing their music live was so much more amazing than on the radio (and their songs are pretty good on the radio.) Something I really loved about the concert was the way they made fantastic connections to New Zealand’s heritage. In their song ‘Don’t Forget Your Roots’ they brought on a full Kapa Haka group who did a spectacular performance to the Maori verse of the song... a very nice cultural touch. And, in ‘We Won’t Fade Away’ they had soldiers come on and play trumpets and drums as an Anzac day tribute. As it was 24 April (the eve of Anzac Day) this was also a major hit with the crowd since it was a chance to reinforce how memories of our brave soldiers haven’t faded away over time! Overall the concert was a blast and actually was the most fun I have had in a very long time. I guess all the effort we Kiwis put into lockdowns and keeping the virus out of our country gave us a chance to live it up big time! There was something so thrilling about being able to partake in such an awesome event. Congrats to SIX60 for making history in a very enjoyable way! (HONOUR MITCHELL) PN
Twelve of their singles have gone platinum or better and they are the first band to win a total of 17 NZ music awards across their career. If you turn on the radio, I guarantee at least one of their songs will be familiar to your ears. My friends and I arrived at Eden Park around 7pm. We slipped into the mosh pit and found ourselves a pretty satisfactory spot. First up was the renowned Dave Dobbyn and we were just in time for the Kiwi classic, ‘Slice of Heaven’, which was well appreciated by the crowd. Next was ‘Drax Project’ who, although not as well known as SIX60, put on a great performance including a cool guy playing the saxophone, which I found captivating. But we can’t forget the star of the show, the one and only SIX60! The opening lines delivered to the impatient crowd were, “We did it in New Zealand. We are the first band to play Eden Park”. (So not only was this concert a Covid-19 first, but it also marked the dawn of a sensational new venue for large musical events in Aotearoa.) PONSONBY NEWS+ June 2021
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