Once in a Lifetime concert
One NZ Stadium, Ōtautahi Christchurch, NZ
Saturday, May 16th
We cycled away from the Port Hills, through the crisp autumn air and into the shadow of the shiny new One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha (that’s its full name), with all of its Major Events and Tourism Package-affiliated political context. I rid my cynical brain of thoughts of Robbie Williams and Six60’s scratchie controversy, and approached the stadium with total open-mindedness, welcoming the honest possibility of a true ‘Once in a Lifetime’ experience.
Kids wrapped up in scarves and beanies were walking around with their mouths hanging open, likely the first time a lot of them have been in a space this large with so many people at once. As we strolled through the E entrance, one of the vendors literally yelled “hotdogs hotdogs, come get your hotdogs,” while someone else handed me a free sample of fancy muesli, just the beginning of an evening of confidence and abundance.
We arrived early enough for the opening act, so the lines were a breeze (one of many reasons gig-goers should be punctual for support bands), and with two beers, two hotdogs, hot chips, and muesli sample in hand, we found our seats with no trouble and soaked in the atmosphere.
A large circular structure in the middle of the stadium had me imagining some sort of Taylor Swift-esque understage rocket sled situation, while a constant stream of people trickled around ‘Chekhov’s Stage’ and pooled in front of the enormous north stage, growing closer to the total 37,000 slated to attend.
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Right on schedule, local five-piece Castaway barrelled into view, and within about 30 seconds of their first pop-rock anthem, the band’s frontperson was rallying the crowd to clap along, and we all happily obliged. Another band member introduces themselves as “five best mates, formed in 2018 just down the road at Canterbury Uni,” before crashing into their next song: “This one’s written about young love — of course it is, we’re a boy band!”
Image: Castaway Credit: @greghaver
These guys know exactly what they’re doing with their glam-rock leanings, a moustache each, and three mullets between them, all looking like a cross between Troye Sivan and Freddie Mercury. They sound, meanwhile, like a teen dream band with hints of the 1975, Evermore, and Silverchair. A special mention must go out to Castaway’s keys and saxophone player Jack Hassell, whose full-noise thrust dancing was visible (and felt) from every single seat at Te Kaha.
“Are you ready for the night of your lives?” Sarah Gandy, MC for the night, asked us, and I realised the rest of the crowd had green light-up bracelets, while my wrist was bare. Would this stop me from having the night of my life?
The next support act was 2025 AMA Best Pop Artist Cassie Henderson, a real-deal pop princess with flawless blonde curtain bangs and a Paris Hilton-esque blue dress. There was so much to love about Henderson’s magnetic stage presence and baffling vocal chops — she even brought up 12-year-old competition-winner Annie to sing a song with her, followed by a classic Busker Talent Discovery story in saxophonist Mike, who stayed on for the rest of her set.
Image: Cassie Henderson Credit: @greghaver
You’ll be relieved to know that this is when my boyfriend’s mum found me a spare green light-up bracelet, and I finally untucked my pant leg from my sock that had been that way since the bike ride. I hardly had time to think about how strange it is for one of the country’s most popular songwriters to sing in a full-blown American accent.
Cue the Crusaders theme song — aka “Conquest of Paradise” by Greek composer Vangelis — jump-scaring me into 2005 memories of ‘Take a Kid to Footy’ packs, cheeseburger vouchers, and horses galloping around Jade Stadium. There may not have been horses inside Te Kaha last night, but Kaylee Bell was delivered to the stage by the Crusaders lads themselves; she even performed her first song whilst holding a rugby ball in one hand, bedazzled mic in the other.
Bell’s whole thing is that she’s a small-town country girl who lives the Americana dream from South Canterbury. Like Henderson, she sang in a thick American accent, only switching to her thick New Zealand accent to talk to the crowd between songs. It could be the current political climate of the Southern US, the AI visuals towering two-storeys high behind her band, or the significance of a local sports team being called the Crusaders, but something about Bell bringing out Zed’s Nathan King didn’t quite hit my 2000s nostalgia button the way it was supposed to.
Image: Kaylee Bell Credit: @greghaver
In the nick of time, however, Bell welcomed onto the stage Aotearoa’s Black Ferns to line dance in white cowboy hats and cut-offs, and all was forgiven. I was completely sucked in to the spectacle, my eyes taking in every bonkers thing that happened next.
Bell’s hoedown was followed by the returning MC Gandy, who made sure everyone was still having a good time. She boldly asked more than 30,000 people to turn off their green light-up bracelets so they didn’t interfere with Synthony’s production. 99% of the crowd duly followed her request, turning off their bracelets en masse — Sarah Gandy for Prime Minister, anyone?
With 30 minutes to go before co-headliner Six60 were due on stage, I faced the unknown: the toilets.
The loo-going experience at Te Kaha, I’m pleased to report, was functional and surprisingly chill thanks to the sheer volume of cubicles; as one lady succinctly put it, “There’s thousands of them.” (Citation needed!)
Once back in my seat, now cosymaxxing in every bit of warm-weather gear I’d brought with me (possum gloves, woollen balaclava, wool-lined leather jacket), the lights dimmed and the crowd roared. Six60 strode onto the stage, comfortable with an audience in the tens of thousands, and stood shoulder-to-shoulder to greet the wall of cheers before finding their places and playing the unmistakable bassline of their breakout hit “Don’t Forget Your Roots”.
Kudos to the production team behind the show, because the only time I thought I heard anything even close to an audio error was when I mistook the voices of 35,000 people singing along to Six60 as some sort of echoing delay in Matiu Walters’ unfaltering vocals.
Image: Six60’s Matiu Walters Credit: @greghaver
A kapa haka group took over the stage for the iconic “Don’t Forget Your Roots” / “Ka Mate” mash-up, and I was totally hypnotised by a sea of piupiu and synchronised poi, my cynicism from an hour earlier completely melted.
Behind the band on the mammoth screens, a new visual design complemented each song. There was a Haast eagle-sized 3D rendered tūī for “Only to Be”; phosphorescent butterflies for when they were joined by Drax Project’s Shaan Singh (the third featured saxophonist of the night) to sing “Catching Feelings”; swirling gold flake, Rihanna “Umbrella” music video vibes for “Special”; and three digital billboards displaying the live feed of the band while two “vibes guys” were brought onto the stage to, well, bring the vibes for “We Made It”.
For “Fade Away”, Six60 were joined by two rows of drummer boys, a sly distraction which allowed the tech team to start setting up music stands on the circular stage. While the snares, toms, and bass drums rumbled on, Six60 speed-walked around the crowd and emerged in the centre of the stadium, bassist Chris Mac making sure to bring his glass of red wine with him from one stage to the next. They were surrounded by classical strings and tasteful violin plucking for several stripped-back songs, including “Purple” and “Rivers”, with the performances elevated by the accompaniment and Walters’ velvety vocals.
When Synthony violinist Arna Morton suddenly took the spotlight, you knew it was party time: she ripped off her shirt to reveal a bikini top, played the melody from Fatboy Slim’s “Right Here, Right Now”, and a laser light show was unleashed.
Synthony — aka the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in rave mode — took over the main stage, and the decibels rose significantly. This is when you would have perfectly timed your drugs to hit (I assume), oblivious to the fact that your mind is about to be blown out of your ears by Synthony and the one and only Savage launching into “Swing”. Bolts of flame shoot upwards between the mosh pit and the orchestra as Bell came back to perform “Wake Me Up” by Avicii, followed by a stream of non-stop bangers performed by a stacked lineup: Emily Williams, Nyree Huyser, and PRINS, all helmed by Shapeshifter’s P Digsss and conductor Sarah Grace Williams.
Just when you thought the spectacle couldn’t get any more spectacular, P Digsss introduced the “bravest” saxophone player Lewis McCallum for “Good Feeling”.
I giggled and gasped and pointed as McCallum rose on wires from the back of the crowd, absolutely ripping the sax while hovering in the middle of Te Kaha. Crash-zoom back to the Christchurch Synthony Orchestra as they teased dance hit “Sandstorm” to a buzzing stadium, only for Savage to return for the most well received mash-up I’ve ever witnessed, injecting “Freaks” smack-bang into the Darude hit. The ‘Freakstorm’ ended with Savage leading the crowd in a hearty chant of “Up the Wahs”. It was epic — everyone lost their shit.
To say I am overstimulated at this point would be an understatement, and as Six60 joined Synthony for another bout of hit songs, my jaw started to hurt from my stupid grin.
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“Rise Up” rippled over the crowd and Walters literally started to rise up on a precarious platform, front and centre on the main stage, to what I would estimate was approximately a height of 20 feet. Do not quote me on that — just know that he was very high up and it made me nervous.
About a dozen encores and several motivational goodbye speeches later, Once in a Lifetime came to a close. I filed out of the stadium in a daze, trying to absorb what I’d just witnessed.
Perhaps I just haven’t been to many big-budget live productions, but I could only compare this experience to seeing Taylor Swift at Tāmaki Makaurau’s Mount Smart Stadium in 2018 — the other stadium extravaganza I’ve attended.
Even for this indie music girl at heart, who thinks major events like Once in a Lifetime have nothing on sacred local venues and DIY bands, it was impossible to deny the all-encompassing audacity of the very first concert at Te Kaha.
Annabel Kean is a writer, actor, and filmmaker based in Ōtautahi. She runs Sports Team with her creative partner Callum Devlin, and their credits include music videos for The Beths, Marlon Williams, and The Phoenix Foundation. Their debut feature film The Weed Eaters, which premiered at Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival 2025, is out now in Aotearoa cinemas.
