Six60’s gig: ‘It’s jaw-dropping’
‘Building a small city’ for Western Springs’ near 50,000 sell-out
Promoter Brent Eccles is promising a concert “unlike anything anyone has seen” at tonight’s record-breaking Six60 concert.
Nearly 50,000 people are expected to attend the sold-out gig at Western Springs Stadium, the first time a New Zealand band has filled the venue to capacity.
Eccles, head of Eccles Entertainment, said the show was unlike anything he’d worked on before — and it kept growing.
“It’s the biggest show I’ve been 100 per cent responsible for. What started out as a modest-sized stage is now the biggest stage you can get in New Zealand,” he said.
“It’s a world-class production. We’re talking big screens . . . and content for the screens, built specifically for Six60. It’s unreal.”
The band’s singer, Matiu Walters, told the Herald this week they had put together an all-new show for the occasion, and had been rehearsing every day for weeks. He also said they would debut several songs.
“It wasn’t good enough to just be standing on stage,” Walters said. “We’re trying to put a narrative into the show, trying to take people on a journey . . . rather than just adding fireworks and pyro.”
The show is so big builders have been putting up the stage, fencing and venue amenities for the past 10 days, unloading 30 trucks-worth of equipment onto the site.
“It’s a totally unique show with the biggest production a New Zealand band has ever had,” said Eccles, who has spent 40 years in the music industry, 20 of those as a promoter.
“I’ve been down there . . . we’re building a small city. It’s jawdropping. It’s huge.”
The pressure is on Six60 to deliver; Western Springs is the only North Island show they’re playing this summer, and they’re performing in front of the biggest crowd they’ve ever pulled.
That’s not all: a documentary crew
will be filming for a planned feature film focused on the historic occasion, while music-industry bigwigs are flying in from overseas to see what the fuss is about.
That, said Eccles, could lead to future opportunities for Six60 to take tonight’s one-off stadium show on tour.
“It’s created a lot of attention,” he said. “The people I talk to internationally, they say, ‘Sorry? 50,000? Who are they?”
Crowds are expected to arrive from 4pm, when the gates will open, and they’ll be treated to sets from opening acts illBaz, SWIDT, Sons of
Zion and Drax Project.
Six60 are due on stage at 8.50pm, with the show scheduled to end about 11pm. The show has been sold out since September, and promoters have warned against buying tickets from unauthorised sellers and may refuse entry to those who do.
As for predicted bad weather coming from the tail end of Cyclone Oma, Eccles said it’s “unlikely to be a show-stopper”.
“Any decision would be made on the morning of the show,” he said. “We’ll definitely play in the rain; a cyclone might be a different story.”