About 14,000 people descended on the valley to soak in the summer sun while taking in the sounds of the 15th Summer Concert Tour — the last in conjunction with Gibbston Valley Winery.
Hundreds of people hunkered down in campervans on Friday night on land near the State Highway 6 concert venue, but the remainder of concert-goers almost brought traffic to a complete standstill in both directions by mid-morning.
After Cromwell College five-piece Mistep (Grace Tiko, Cam Anderson, Sullivan Sonntag, Laura Bates and Louis Maugham) warmed the crowd up, there was a short delay before American rockers Everclear hit the stage.
Frontman Art Alexakis apologised for keeping the audience waiting, explaining it was out of their control because they, too, got caught in the traffic jam.
The crowd went from head banging to humming as New Zealand singer-songwriter Bic Runga (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine) followed, bathing the audience with her soulful sound, performing an array of her hits, such as Sway, Drive and Something Good.
But as Australian band Icehouse arrived on stage, the crowd — more than ready to party — flocked to the front of the venue, where they provided back-up vocals for the entire set.
Eight years after last performing at Gibbston, frontman and founder Iva Davies, in particular, sounded as good as ever as he performed an array of their hits, including Hey Little Girl, Electric Blue and, to the audience’s delight, Great Southern Land.
Putting the official fullstop on the Gibbston Summer Concerts was Australian rock royalty Cold Chisel, featuring frontman Jimmy Barnes, who was in fine fettle, his epic gravelly voice belting out the bangers, such as Flame Trees, Bow River and Khe Sanh, as the cloud cover rolled in, and the usual chaos ensued as 14,000 people tried to leave the grounds at the same time.
A police spokesman said the concert was a good, well-run event with no major issues.
Greenstone Entertainment chief executive Amanda Calvert said it was a "magnificent day".
"We are so thrilled to close out our partnership with Gibbston Valley Winery on such a high."
The winery had future development plans — including a Fast-track Approvals proposal for 900 houses and a school — meaning areas of the winery would not be available in future years for concerts of that scale.
Mrs Calvert said Greenstone was still seeking a new home for the concerts, and had been working with Queenstown Lakes District Council and private landowners to secure a location.
