'The energy in the room tonight is mental': Ocean Alley prove NZ crowds are ready for international music's return & More News Here

REVIEW: For the first time since March 2020, Auckland’s Spark Arena hosted a serious international rock band on Saturday, and the sold-out crowd gave the impression to be buzzing earlier than the opening act even took the stage.

This was the largest crowd Ocean Alley – the rock band from Northern Beaches, Australia – had performed in New Zealand. The band appeared as excited to have lastly made it as the crowd was to have them right here.

Being the first main international gig since restrictions lifted, who was on stage was maybe much less essential than the truth they had been on stage in any respect.

The mass of punters would have been singing and dancing all night time regardless. But it helped this band was impressively tight, performed catchy psychedelic reggae-inspired rock, had been stoked to be there and the sound high quality at Spark Arena was at its finest.

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The opening act Hockey Dad – a rock trio additionally from Australia – had been catchy and constructed up a good-sized crowd on Spark Arena’s floor ground.

But when the loudspeakers blasted the basic Eagle Rock by Daddy Cool to announce the arrival of Ocean Alley, the noise – and crowd numbers – amplified.

“Kia Ora,” vocalist Baden Donegal yelled to the crowd earlier than being met with the sound of some thousand sweaty followers screaming.

“F…..g hell, we’ve waited so long to get here.”

By the time the second tune Way Down was midway by way of, the seats close to us had emptied, and the mass of individuals on the floor stage was rising.

“The energy in the room tonight is mental,” Denegal mentioned. And he was proper.

The vibe between the band and crowd, but additionally simply amongst the crowd had a fairly magical really feel. Maybe it was the mellow, catchy rock tunes that had everybody on their ft. Maybe it was the truth the total area had been ready for this for greater than two years.

It felt like a crowd that desperately wanted to really feel part of one thing particular with like-minded folks, and Ocean Alley occurred to be doing an important job of giving it to them.

The crowd and the band each appeared to feed off one another, and watching the packed ground leaping and clapping in unison to Confidence and Happy Sad was visually spectacular.

The true spotlight got here midway by way of the set, with an unimaginable Pink Floyd medley of Breathe, Comfortably Numb and Money.

They later additionally closed the set with their cowl of the Player basic Baby Come Back – highlighting each this band’s love of basic rock tunes, but additionally the incontrovertible fact that if Ocean Alley ever decides to launch an album of covers, it could be value a purchase order.

The hour and a half set ended with the spectacular noise of each screams from the crowd and the closing tune Knees.

“I’ve been on my knees,” Donegal sang as nearly everybody, besides for a choose few, had been on their ft.

After a large hiatus, stay international music to sell-out crowds is again in New Zealand. If Ocean Alley’s first cease on their New Zealand tour is something to go by, 2022 might be a very good 12 months for music.

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