Click photo to enlarge
The Black Seeds delivered a standout performance at Rippon
2010 and had the crowd stomping in a dusty mosh pit. Photo
by Matthew Haggart.
The 2010 Rippon Music Festival will go down in history as
one of the hottest.
Temperatures climbed above 30degC on Saturday, while some of
the country best musical acts turned up the heat onstage.
• Slideshow: Hot entertainment at
Rippon
About 5000 people gathered on the Rippon vineyard hills above
Lake Wanaka to listen to the 11 bands assembled for the first
festival of the new decade.
There was a decidedly Wellington flavour to the 2010 festival
line-up, with the main crowd-pleasers all hailing from the
capital.
Rippon debutantes Opensouls got the crowd on its feet with an
impressive early-afternoon set, with the performance of
vocalist Tyra Hammond and MC Bjorn Peterson well-backed by a
tight ensemble of seven instrumentalists.
The Black Seeds delivered a typically polished performance as
veterans of the New Zealand music scene and festival circuit.
Lead guitarist Mike Fabulous told the crowd he could remember
playing as a 17-year-old at the first Rippon Festival in
1997.
Police hailed the well-behaved attitude of the crowd and the
"terrific" organisation of the management team.
Sergeant Paul Crosshill, of Wanaka, said five males were
arrested inside the venue for drunken and disorderly
behaviour.
About "two or three" men were arrested in Wanaka after the
festival had finished, he said.
The Dunedin team policing unit and staff from Alexandra
travelling to Wanaka for the festival, as well as the Central
Otago traffic alcohol group.
About 4500 motorists were breath-tested in Wanaka during the
weekend, with only one person on Waitangi Day, after the
festival, exceeding the limit, he said.
First-aid services treated some people for heat exhaustion,
sunstroke, and dehydration during the festival, paramedic
nurse Rhonda Johnson said.
