Concert Review with PHOTOS: 2018 Summer Concert Tour - Colin Hay, Alanis Morissette & The Orchestra

Photos by Teylor Moss

By Teylor Moss

Artist: Colin Hay, Alanis Morissette & The Orchestra

Date / Venue: Sunday January 28th, 2018 - Whitianga Waterways, Whitianga 

Within one month of release for the summer concert tour all tickets sold out in Queenstown, Taupo and Whitianga. Which comes as no surprise with the stellar line-up.

After a three-hour hot drive down to Whitianga from Auckland, it was worth it to see thousands of people gathered under the scorching sun to see these artists perform and blow off a little steam. Filling the arena with umbrellas and heads across the field and on the banks. There was free sunblock, chilled water bottles, taps to refill and big water spraying jets on either side of the stage. Greenstone Entertainment did an amazing job at keeping everyone cool and hydrated this year, in previous years there have been a few people who suffered heat stroke and I feel they provided a lot this year to keep everyone safe from the sun and the smouldering heat.

Colin Hay and his 5-piece band walked on stage and began to play. The band; consisting of Colin Hay singing/rhythm guitar, San Miguel Perez lead guitarist, Yosmel Montejo bassist, Charlie Paxson drummer, Fred Kron keyboardist/ saxophone, Cecilia Noel backup singer/percussion presented a very chill welcoming vibe, made everyone sing and dance along. They were laughing and running around the stage, the vibe was perfect for this type of festival. Colin’s backup singer was stealing the limelight by claiming the stage as her own and dancing as if she was in her bedroom. Colin was in his element and didn’t seem nervous at all, calmly strutting around the stage with a kick in his step - finishing their set with the infamous song 'Down Under'.

Next up was Alanis Morissette. The well-known 90s indie-rock goddess walked onto stage with two guitarists (unfortunately I didn’t get their names) and sat down to perform an acoustic set. A roar of cheers greeted Alanis as she sat down looking very composed in a white mock neck shirt and a blazer. Sounding amazing in her slowed down acoustic set, the crowd was loving it, I along with some of the other fans were expecting something different with a little bit of an attitude but it was still an amazing show and she performed beautifully. Playing top hits such as 'Ironic', 'Hand In Pocket, 'You Oughta’ Know' and finishing her final performance in New Zealand with the touching 'Thank U'.

Last to perform was The Orchestra. Opening with the banger 'Evil Woman' got everyone up and dancing and throwing water everywhere trying to cool each other down which turned into a massive water fight. Consisting of Eric Troyer keyboards/vocals/guitar, Mik Kaminski Violin, Gordon Townsend drums, Parthenon Huxley guitar/vocals, Glen Burtnik bass/vocals, Louis Clark keyboard/ conductor. They had an amazing stage presence especially with the electric violin, the crowd was going insane by this point and screaming the lyrics back towards the stage. They had so much energy during their performance by running and jumping around the stage, interacting with the crowd after any song to make sure we were all still breathing from the heat. They were truly an amazing performance to watch, I would highly recommend seeing them live if you get the chance.

Those water spraying jets were the perfect touch to an amazing day. Thank you to all the artists for coming all the way out to perform for us and thank you to all the promoters who made this event possible. It was amazing, and I would highly recommend going. (bring a hat and sunscreen)

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL 2018 SUMMER CONCERT TOUR GALLERY