It's a long way from Castle St to Glastonbury

Six60 band members (from left) Eli Paewai, Matiu Walters, Ji Fraser, Chris Mac and Marlon Gerbes...
Six60 band members (from left) Eli Paewai, Matiu Walters, Ji Fraser, Chris Mac and Marlon Gerbes pose outside the Castle St flat, the namesake of the Dunedin band, before performing in Dunedin on Saturday night. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
Dunedin band Six60 was back home at the weekend in front of a sellout crowd before taking its ''energy, passion, power'' to the rest of the world.

Bassist and synth artist Chris Mack said the band arrived in Dunedin for a gig on Saturday after three nights of Christchurch concerts.

The Dunedin concert at the Union Hall, with more than 1500 attending, was the last on the New Zealand 10-gig tour, he said.

''Everywhere's been a sellout.

''In most places, we were doing multiple nights, which is great.''

Performing in Dunedin was different from other New Zealand cities, he said.

''It's a different atmosphere than the other show.

''We've been doing a lot of theatres and tonight it's going to be true Six60 style,'' he said before Saturday's performance.

Six60 took its name from the 660 Castle St flat where some of the band members once lived. The band's style could be defined as ''energy, passion, power and hopefully a bit of beauty'', Mack said.

Usually, following Dunedin concerts, the band could be found partying in Castle St, which was ''like a magnet'', Mack said, but this time they opted to relax at the end of the tour with cocktails at a bar near the Octagon.

The band put the six second-year university flatmates now living in 660 Castle St on the concert guest-list.

A student living in the ''big and cold'' flat said it was ''famous'' for being the past residence of some of the Six60 members.

With the New Zealand tour completed, the band was booked on an Australian tour and to perform in London and the Glastonbury Festival, where they would share a bill with the Rolling Stones.

''I'm really excited by that and Nick Cave as well, I'm a big fan of Nick Cave,'' Mack said.

The band were told they were part of Glastonbury ''a while ago'' but had been sworn to secrecy, he said.

After Glastonbury, the band would base themselves in Berlin for most of the year, he said.

-shawn.mcavinue@odt.co.nz

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