New Zealand band Six60 are 'gutted' to postpone their concert tour. Photo / Photosport
New Zealand band Six60 are 'gutted' to postpone their concert tour. Photo / Photosport
The postponement of next month's Rotorua Six 60 concert has been labelled a disappointing "blow" but city leaders and fans say it's still the right move.
The Six60 Saturdays tour was due to begin at Rotorua's International Stadium on March 5 but has now been postponed until October, with theRotorua concert happening on November 12.
The band said that under the Red Covid-19 setting, it wasn't possible to hold the concerts on the original dates.
Rotorua Economic Development chief executive Andrew Wilson said its tourism arm, Destination Rotorua, had worked with event organisers and Rotorua Lakes Council to promote the concert.
"The concert was expecting to attract around 20,000 people to Rotorua so it certainly was set to be one of our biggest events this year," Wilson said.
"However with increasing rates of Omicron in the community, continuing with the red traffic light restrictions around events is the safest option for us right now."
"While this is a blow for fans, the events industry, local businesses and the band, not all is lost as we can still look forward to the event taking place later in the year.
"The health and safety of people is paramount, and I hope that by November we will be in a much better position to continue safely with the concerts and events we enjoy so much."
Yesterday, there were 1160 new cases of Covid-19 in the community including five in the Lakes District Health Board area. One of the five is in Rotorua Hospital.
In a personal statement for fans, the band said: "We are gutted to have to push the tour back. We have been spending the past year building, practicing and designing a new show to bring home."
"We even hoped to debut our new album for our fans live in NZ, but it's really out of our control and we also want all of our fans to experience Six60 in a safe, unrestricted environment.
"We're really sorry for our fans who are disappointed, but we will do everything we can to use this delay to bring NZ our greatest show and our greatest album ever."
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick. Photo / Andrew Warner
Rotorua fan Janelle Retemeyer was planning to take her children, aged 16 and 10, to what would have been their first-ever concert.
"This will be our first Six60 concert so we're all really excited to see them live."
She said the postponement was disappointing but she reckoned most people would have seen it coming.
"With everything going on I think you just have to expect disruptions so we made sure to keep our expectations of it happening in March realistic and we made sure to set those expectations for the kids too.
"We can still look forward to it later on in the year. It will be an awesome way to end the school year for the kids and a sweet way to welcome summer."
She joked that one upside was she would have longer to use the tickets as a "bargaining chip to keep the kids in line".
Another local fan, who would not be named, said she organised a babysitter and had friends coming from out of town to stay with her and go to the concert together.
"We'll probably still go out anyway but it's a real shame, I was looking forward to the concert. I went to their Mount Eden one and it was amazing."
The fan said she would hold on to her ticket and wait for the November gig.
All tickets would be valid for the new show dates and ticket holders would be contacted with details about the new show dates.
The tour will move to new dates that were previously agreed on in case of a Covid-19 outbreak.
New Six60 Saturdays tour dates
• Saturday October 29, 2022: Sky Stadium, Wellington • Saturday November 5, 2022: McLean Park, Napier • Saturday November 12, 2022: Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua • Saturday November 19 ,2022: Eden Park, Auckland • Saturday December 10, 2022: Orangetheory Stadium, Christchurch • Saturday March 4, 2023: Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
