For those who spotted a deep blue colour on Six60 base guitarist Chris Mac's fingers on Saturday night in Waitangi, not many would have guessed it was inspired by a 17-year-old Whangārei girl.
However, this unlikely outcome was played out when the renowned band member jumped at the opportunity to wear blue nail polish, given as a gift by a young Whangārei wāhine.
Before performing to a sellout crowd of about 14,000 people at the Waitangi Sports Grounds, Mac and fellow Six60 member Eli Paewai were participating in a series of media interviews when The Hits Northland day radio announcer Charmaine Soljak said she had a gift for Mac from her daughter, Sophia.
Soljak then produced a pottle of blue nail polish which had been bought specifically for Mac - a regular user of nail polish.
To many onlookers' surprise, Mac was ecstatic with the gift and insisted he wear it while performing one of the world's biggest music productions of 2021.
"What a great gift," Mac said.
"It is such a beautiful colour, I never would have bought it for myself. It's kind of ocean blue, which is fitting for being here in the Bay of Islands."
Mac said he started wearing nail polish when he was younger, before giving it away. However, he said it was now a regular part of his ensemble.
"I started wearing it again about a year ago and people have really enjoyed it.
"Whenever I do QnAs, they say, 'what's your favourite nail polish', and I love it."
Soljak said she did not expect the award-winning musician to use the nail polish, much less put it on straight away.
"I just thought it was going to be a cute thing he could take away and think about Northland when he puts it on," she said.
Soljak said her daughter had bought it specifically for Mac and she was glad the bassist was representing Taniwha colours while performing the gig in Waitangi.