Lloyd Burr posted this photo on social media of a "popcorn chicken" meal he ordered at a Mission Concert over the weekend.
A punter at one of Robbie Williams’s largely incident-free weekend concerts in Hawke’s Bay was left to “have a proper giggle” after discovering his food truck meal was a lot more literal than what he’d hoped for.
Newshub political reporter Lloyd Burr was one of the thousands grabbing a snack at one of the many food trucks on offer at the Mission Estate site when he got a sweet and sour offering from a cook seemingly trying to re-invent “popcorn chicken”.
Instead of getting the typical KFC-style fan favourite, Burr was left to laugh at his meal - popcorn and chicken bits combined, with a bit of sausage thrown in for strange measure.
“I ordered popcorn chicken at a food truck at Robbie Williams, and this is what it was,” he posted to social media on Monday, noting he’d been set back $10 for the meal.
It is unknown who the seller of the mysterious chicken was, as Burr said he could not remember the name of the vendor he got it from, only that the truck was located at the left of the stage, under the trees.
Some of his fellow Press Gallery journalists suggested, jokingly, that a Commerce Commission investigation was in order.
I ordered popcorn chicken at a food truck at Robbie Williams and this is what it was! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/k1z1cpUnON
— Lloyd Burr (@LloydBurr) November 12, 2023
It’s a classic light-hearted Mission head-scratcher, in line with the 33-year tradition of things mostly going well, with some odd high jinks interspersed somewhere amid the swath of 25,000 attendees.
Police confirmed the weekend was a cracker - there were still a few arrests at both concerts, but they generally went off “without a hitch”.
A police spokesperson said just a handful of arrests were made for minor offending, with four arrests on Saturday and one on Sunday, and no further action required.
“Hawke’s Bay police report that concert-goers were on the whole very well-behaved and the event went without a hitch,” the spokesperson said.
Hato Hone St John general manager of ambulance operations – health services, Debra Larsen, said staff had a “light workload” across the two nights, with 88 patients on Saturday requiring on-site assessment and treatment for minor ailments.
“Patient numbers and treatment for ailments were similar for the event on Sunday,” she said.
“Overall, it was a very well-managed and safe event, with only 10 patients requiring transportation to hospital in a minor to serious condition across both nights.”
Larsen said small cuts, dehydration and sprains were some of the main minor ailments, with the most common ones being stings and blisters, “as is typical at an event of this magnitude”.
Williams had even joked on the Sunday stage that there were “bound to be broken ankles” as a result of people trying to navigate the steep Mission Estate hillside.
The Lowe Corporation Hawke’s Bay rescue helicopter also sprang into action on Saturday night, transporting one concert-goer to Wellington Hospital after they suffered a medical event.
“We were called about 5.30pm and landed in a paddock just beside the Mission Concert,” general manager Ian Wilmot said.
Teams took over from St John ground staff to quickly and safely transport the patient.
“From the time the patient had the incident to the time they reached Wellington Hospital, it would’ve been about two hours.”
Rockin’ Robbie’s Hawke’s Bay stay was a quick one. He seemed to keep a relatively low profile, posting only pictures of his concerts, the bathroom at his place of accommodation and a field of sheep on his social media.
At his Sunday concert, Williams said he would fly to Australia on Monday to continue his XXV tour, which is due to wrap up in early December.
He’ll then hit the slopes for ski season, which opens in Austria on December 7 and 8.
The tour, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Williams as a solo artist, has already seen about 60 dates this year across the globe.
Mission Estate’s promoters were approached for comment on Monday.
Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in late January. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community.