The Summer Concert Tour, also featuring The Angels and Stone Temple Pilots, finished its 2023 run in Wakatipu, where about 16,000 people rocked out on another quintessential Queenstown summer day.
Wānaka band powder chutes were invited by Greenstone Entertainment to warm the crowd up, but had their set cut short.
The four-piece band, all aged between 15 and 17, managed to play five of their eight songs before leaving the stage early at their biggest gig to date.
Band member Clarke West said the band held no ill-feeling towards the organisers and did not want to upset anyone.
"It was an awesome opportunity for us, and we’re grateful for it, no matter how it [ended]", he said.
"It was awesome fun, it was one of the top moments of life, to be honest, just having all those thousands of people there."
After about 45 minutes of filler music, The Angels, about to celebrate their 50th anniversary, took to the stage.
Brothers John and Rick Brewster, with John’s son Sam, Dave Gleeson and Nick Norton proved they continued to have what it took to nail their hits, including Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again, Take A Long Line and No Secrets.
As the sun beat down, the energy on the stage kicked up another notch with the arrival of Stone Temple Pilots as lead singer Jeff Gutt, and band members Robert DeLeo, Dean DeLeo and Eric Kretz delivering some of their best-known songs, like Interstate Love Song, Plush and Vaseline.
But it was Benatar and her husband of 41 years that had the crowd in raptures 10 years after their last visit.
The newly minted 70-year-old was flawless as she belted out a string of bangers, including Love is a Battlefield, We Belong, a stripped-back version of Shadows of the Night and a Heartbreaker/Ring of Fire mash-up, while Giraldo showcased his incredible prowess on the guitar and grand piano.
Finishing off the show were ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Elwood Francis and Frank Beard who, with their iconic beards, leather jackets, shades and guitars, smashed out Sharp Dressed Man, Gimme All Your Lovin and La Grange in style.
Gibbston Valley Winery chief executive Greg Hunt said Saturday marked the concert series’ 13th anniversary.
Mr Hunt said it came to fruition after he was visited by Greenstone Entertainment’s Dean Calvert who said he was interested in holding a concert on the land, and asked to look around.
"He came back in and said, ‘It’s a great site, we need to talk’."
Mr Hunt then called Gibbston Valley Winery owner Phil Griffiths, who was in Las Vegas, to run the idea past him.
Mr Griffiths had some experience in the entertainment industry in the United States, and had some reservations, but told Mr Hunt to go ahead if he wanted to.
The first concert attracted 13,000 people and the concept was proven - the following year, a second concert was held, in Taupō, and, since 2013, there have been three across the country.
While the surrounding area is about to be transformed as the $750 million 400-hectare Gibbston Valley Resort takes shape - including a Greg Turner-designed nine-hole golf course and clubhouse, residential properties, a vintner’s village, staff accommodation and two underpasses - Mr Hunt said the concert venue would remain, with plans to add more events to the calendar each year.
