At the start of this week I was chastising Auckland for being a dump these days and don’t get me wrong, I still hate the traffic, the cones, and the congestion. But, I am here today to defend the city of my birth. 

When I criticized Auckland this week, part of my long list of complaints was the way people behave at concerts (Snoop Dog was the example). Someone who attended said the crowd was so baked and out of it they were barely alive. 

But in Auckland’s defence, I was at the sold-out Morgan Wallen concert this week and boy did Auckland lap him up. What an audience. 

The packed Spark Arena absolutely loved him, sang every word of his songs, cheered and clapped and danced til the bitter end and even then insisted on an encore and got a spectacular one. 

Two things I learned. One, the support for country music in this country is phenomenal, and rightly so. Bands and singers out of Nashville are slick, well-organized, class acts, brilliant musicians who know how to play a live show. They’re humble and connected to their audience, they’re authentic, and they deserve the amount of love they get back. 

I had no idea just how big country was in this country until I saw that show and that crowd. 

The second thing I learned was that, although every audience has their overly sauced inhabitants who’ve hit the bar a bit hard and a bit early, there are equally some great people around, and even in a big city like Auckland, there’s still a sense of community. 

We were seated next to some hardcore fans who’d been drinking by the looks of them since about 9 o’clock that morning, they were absolutely smashed and partying hard before Morgan even came on at 9.15pm. They were swaying into us and slurring their words and pushing us as they rocked out to their hero, as my teenage daughter tried to keep her spot alongside them. 

Seeing this all unfold behind us were some actual sober people, who were so kind in offering up help. They offered to hold our jackets at their seats so they didn’t get drinks spilled on them. They periodically intervened and tried to pull the drunks away from us so we could have some more room given these guys had hijacked our seats and sort of merged across us... one kind woman even offered to swap places with my daughter to protect her from the drunken hilarity engulfing us. All of which was totally unnecessary but extremely kind and observant.

I was encouraged that even though there are always those who lower the bar, there are still many more who see it for what it is and try to help out or make sure everybody has a good time.

The funniest part was one of the super sauced guys next to us kept telling us through beer fuelled spit bubbles that he’d been waiting 5 years for this concert. He loved Morgan Wallen, waited 5 whole years to see him live, so excited… which does make you wonder why you’d get yourself so drunk that you probably won’t remember any of it, but he’s telling us during the warm-up acts, how much he’s amped for Morgan. Then just as the lights dip and Morgan starts, he has to go to the toilet. Five years he’s waited, and now he has to go to up and off to the loo at the critical moment. Couldn’t believe it. 

But my thanks today go to all those who do look out for others at concerts and in the community, the kindness of strangers, and the warmth of country music fans. It reminded me that even in a cluster of a city like Auckland, there’re still some great people around.  

At the start of this week I was chastising Auckland for being a dump these days and don’t get me wrong, I still hate the traffic, the cones, and the congestion. But, I am here today to defend the city of my birth. 
When I criticized Auckland this week, part of my long list of complaints was the way people behave at concerts (Snoop Dog was the example). Someone who attended said the crowd was so baked and out of it they were barely alive. 
But in Auckland’s defence, I was at the sold-out Morgan Wallen concert this week and boy did Auckland lap him up. What an audience. 
The packed Spark Arena absolutely loved him, sang every word of his songs, cheered and clapped and danced til the bitter end and even then insisted on an encore and got a spectacular one. 
Two things I learned. One, the support for country music in this country is phenomenal, and rightly so. Bands and singers out of Nashville are slick, well-organized, class acts, brilliant musicians who know how to play a live show. They’re humble and connected to their audience, they’re authentic, and they deserve the amount of love they get back. 
I had no idea just how big country was in this country until I saw that show and that crowd. 
The second thing I learned was that, although every audience has their overly sauced inhabitants who’ve hit the bar a bit hard and a bit early, there are equally some great people around, and even in a big city like Auckland, there’s still a sense of community. 
We were seated next to some hardcore fans who’d been drinking by the looks of them since about 9 o’clock that morning, they were absolutely smashed and partying hard before Morgan even came on at 9.15pm. They were swaying into us and slurring their words and pushing us as they rocked out to their hero, as my teenage daughter tried to keep her spot alongside them. 
Seeing this all unfold behind us were some actual sober people, who were so kind in offering up help. They offered to hold our jackets at their seats so they didn’t get drinks spilled on them. They periodically intervened and tried to pull the drunks away from us so we could have some more room given these guys had hijacked our seats and sort of merged across us... one kind woman even offered to swap places with my daughter to protect her from the drunken hilarity engulfing us. All of which was totally unnecessary but extremely kind and observant.
I was encouraged that even though there are always those who lower the bar, there are still many more who see it for what it is and try to help out or make sure everybody has a good time.
The funniest part was one of the super sauced guys next to us kept telling us through beer fuelled spit bubbles that he’d been waiting 5 years for this concert. He loved Morgan Wallen, waited 5 whole years to see him live, so excited… which does make you wonder why you’d get yourself so drunk that you probably won’t remember any of it, but he’s telling us during the warm-up acts, how much he’s amped for Morgan. Then just as the lights dip and Morgan starts, he has to go to the toilet. Five years he’s waited, and now he has to go to up and off to the loo at the critical moment. Couldn’t believe it. 
But my thanks today go to all those who do look out for others at concerts and in the community, the kindness of strangers, and the warmth of country music fans. It reminded me that even in a cluster of a city like Auckland, there’re still some great people around.

A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.

A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.