Summer Concert Tour Rocks Hamilton

For the second day in a row this year’s Summer Concert Tour brought together thousands of music lovers for yesterday’s Summer Concert – Claudelands Oval in Hamilton, following on from Saturdays crowd pleasing Taupō Summer Concert.

With Greenstone Entertainment’s philosophy of supporting local New Zealand artists, the day kicked off with WHITE CHAPEL JAK, who have also opened previously at the Whitianga Summer Concert. Their high energy was the prefect precursor to the four international artists who followed – PSEUDO ECHO, COLLECTIVE SOUL, TEXAS and SIMPLE MINDS.

PSEUDO ECHO, an icon of 80’s Australian music, got the line-up of international artists underway and had the crowd up and dancing to their array of hits including Funky Town, A Beat For You, Listening as well as Send Me An Angel.

COLLECTIVE SOUL are proving to be a true rock influence at this year’s Summer Concert Tour shows, and once again proved to be a popular choice for the bill as they performed their classics The World I Know, Shine, December and Where The River Flows as well as songs from their most recent album, Vibrating.

In the words of Sharleen Spiteri, founding member of Scottish band, TEXAS, “as a band I don't think we've ever been happier, and I don't think we've ever been tighter”. This was clear to see and it’s no surprise they’ve sold more than 40 million albums worldwide across their career with hits songs such as I Don’t Want A Lover, Say What You Want, Black Eyed Boy and Summer Son.

The weather, challenging at times, didn’t dampen spirits, and the day was rounded off by yet another band originally from Scotland, SIMPLE MINDS. Their set of well over an hour and a quarter, headed by founding member and lead singer, Jim Kerr, and fellow founding member Charlie Burchill, brought to life why they are one of the world’s most popular bands with unmistakable hits including Don’t You (Forget About Me), Waterfront, Promised You A Miracle and Glittering Prize. It’s no surprise we love these Scottish icons with no less than 15 of their singles reaching the NZ Top 50 singles charts across the 80’s.

Due to an isolated thunder and lightning storm beyond the control of event organisers, and for the safety of all people involved, including concert goers, staff and artists, todays Summer Concert – Claudelands Oval was brought to a close 5-10 minutes earlier than scheduled, finishing with Simple Minds most recognised song, Don’t You (Forget About Me).

Amanda Calvert, CEO of Greenstone Entertainment comments, “We’re stoked to have been able to accommodate our upper North Island fans and to bring the Summer Concert Tour to Hamilton as an interim measure before returning to our traditional Whitianga Summer Concert in the Coromandel in future years. While yesterday’s show wraps up our North Island leg of the tour, we’re excited to now head to the South Island and another gorgeous New Zealand location for this coming Saturdays Gibbston Valley Winery Summer Concert in Queenstown. If you haven’t yet been to one of our North Island shows, it’d be amazing for you to join us in the picturesque Central Otago for the final show in this year’s tour”

Tickets for Gibbston Valley Winery Summer Concert, Queenstown (Saturday 3 February) are still available and can be purchased at www.greenstoneentertainment.co.nz or at the gate on the day.

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