Editorial: Mission Concert a great success

Andrew Austin, Editor of Hawke's Bay Today.

It has been a 2 year wait, but I think it is safe to say that the Mission Concert is back.

And for that we have the Dixie Chicks to thank - and the promoters and organisers who managed to persuade them to tag us on the end of their Australian tour.

It was a lovely sight to see Mission Estate Winery full of people there to enjoy themselves.

Many of those there from quite far afield and it highlighted just what an internationally renowned act The Dixie Chicks are.The near-capacity crowd was fairly well behaved and police reported only a few alcohol related incidents.

From what I saw everyone was simply there to have fun and while there were one or two people who seemed a bit tipsy, they were not aggressive in any way.

Credit must go to the organisers and Peter Holley and his team at Mission Estate because everything was well organised.

Yes, there were some very long queues but with that many people you probably were always going to get that.The line-up for the concert was also well chosen and the crowd was well involved by the time Avalanche City's last song was played.

It was as the crew started setting up the stage that I began to suspect that we were in for an amazing show.The attention to detail was of the highest order with the crew going to great lengths to ensure everything was perfect.

And it was.

As good as the undercard was, the main act took things to a new level.

If there is one thing that the euphoric organisers and promoters can learn from Mission Concert 2017, it is that if you get a class act, the crowds will come.