New Zealand: Thousands gather for musical event at sports stadium despite COVID-19

Thousands of people gathered for a musical event in New Zealand to watch the Six60 band perform live at the Waitangi Stadium Saturday night as COVID-19 restrictions in the country eased. A huge crowd was witnessed in the audience at one of the largest outdoor shows in the first of 2021’s Six60 stage performance since the coronavirus hit New Zealand. According to local media outlets, the LIVE event was the first performance from the band’s six-date nationwide tour scheduled later this summer for Hastings, New Plymouth, Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton. In the images that the band uploaded, fans were seen flocking the stadium as band member Marlon Gerbe made an appearance. 

In a statement to local broadcaster Stuff, the band said that it had scheduled a unique line of warm-up acts, with Shapeshifter, Dave Dobbyn, and JessB that will perform in the subsequent shows. This comes as the country still has health safety norms such as social distancing and quarantine measures in place due to the looming fears of the spread of the UK’s new mutant coronavirus. At the sports ground, the audience was spotted masked up, however, unable to adhere to the 6 feet apart rule. 

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Citizens asked to carry 'COVID-19 kit' 

New Zealand’s health ministry had mandated the face covering and has ordered anyone with illness to take a test and follow the stay-at-home protocol. All of New Zealand is at Alert Level 1 that requires the citizens to carry the 'COVID-19 kit' everywhere they travel. The country has instructed that all travellers into new Zealand must complete a 14-day stay in managed isolation or quarantine and citizens from the UK and the US must have a negative COVID-19 test.

Despite the alert activated, pop kiwis gathered at the concert, singing, pulling dance grooves to the popular ballads and anthems. “20,000 strong fans attended the first sold-out show of the SIX60 Saturdays Tour in Lower Hutt last night,” the band stated in a release. “It was so amazing to kick off our Saturday tour in Lower Hutt last night. We seriously can’t wait to do it all again for 5 more epic outdoor shows,” it added. 

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(Images Credit: Facebook/Six60)