Six60 coming to Napier: 'Iconic' McLean Park to host its first stadium show

Six60 will return to Hawke's Bay in April next year for a stadium show at McLean Park in Napier. Photo / Supplied

The ground that Six60's Marlon Gerbes was in awe of as a child was McLean Park in Napier.

Now he'll get to rock it - at the stadium's first "full-blown concert".

Six60 is bringing its Saturdays tour back to the region on April 2, 2022 - the show will be one of six around the country, with the other stops in Rotorua, Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland.

It will be an especially memorable homecoming for Gerbes, who grew up down the road in Maraenui and attended Napier Boys' High School.

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"It's kind of personal for me. That's my home, so I'm super-excited."

The band conquered Eden Park earlier this year as the first band to play there, belting out tunes to a sell-out 50,000 crowd.

Now they're looking to break new ground at Napier's "iconic" McLean Park.

Growing up, Gerbes said stadium shows never came to the region and it wasn't until his 20s when he moved to Auckland he got to experience his first.

"There's something special about a stadium show. It's going to be a whole different show."

Six60 band member Marlon Gerbes, who grew up in Maraenui, said it was special to bring a stadium show to Napier. Photo / NZME

He said it would be great for people to be able to see them perform "down the road", especially for the youth of Hawke's Bay.

"To bring that stadium show to Hawke's Bay, we can't wait to see the look on their faces.

"To come to McLean Park, for my family especially, is going to be something cool."

Gerbes has fond memories of watching the Black Caps taking on the best teams in international cricket teams at the stadium.

His last time in the Bay was for their sell-out Hastings show in January, which made headlines around the world as the largest concert at the time due to Covid-19 restrictions, with 20,000 people in attendance.

"It's been hard for everyone in the world.

Six60 previously played to a sell-out crowd of 20,000 people at Hawke's Bay Tomoana Showgrounds in Hastings in January this year. Photo / Matt Clode

"A show like this will remind everyone of what it's like to get back to normal."

He hoped it would provide a bit of a celebration and a chance to get back with friends and family.

The setlist, usually one of the last things to be finalised, has yet to be decided, though Gerbes said would include fan favourites from the band's debut (Gold) album.

The band is also soon to release its new album.

Napier City Council event manager Kevin Murphy said it was an event a long time in the making and the park's "first full-blown concert".

"It's pretty exciting that we've been able to score Six60."

The concert is said to be McLean Park's first stadium show and has been three years in the making. Photo / NZME

He said they had been working for close to three years to get a concert at McLean Park, despite previous performances by Stan Walker in 2013 and Split Enz in 1984 to smaller crowds.

The venue has a maximum occupancy of 25,000 and the council was still working through the details with promoters of how the stage would be laid out.

Hawke's Bay Today understands the stage will be at the grass end so the band will be playing into the stadium, though details have yet to be confirmed.

Turf protection would be provided by the promoter.

It would be a change from the stadium's regular mix of rugby, cricket and other sporting events, Murphy said.

"We see it as an opportunity to do it well so that we can attract other events.

"We do want to see the park getting used for more events and more variety of events."

Pre-sale tickets open from 12pm on Friday while tickets to the general public will go on sale on November 8 via Ticketek.