New Years music festivals in Gisborne have begun with a bang.
Two nights of the BW Summer Festival are done and dusted as the curtain-raiser to the larger main act, the annual three-day Rhythm and Vines Festival that builds up towards New Year's Eve.
Ten thousand people flooded into the Gisborne "Soundshell" in near-perfect weather on Saturday, and 12,000 joined in the party last night.
BW event manager Toby Burrows said both nights ran smoothly, and any bad behaviour at the campgrounds and concerts was dealt with quickly.
"We have reduced our tolerance to bad behaviour in the camps, so we are evicting more people than we usually do -- around 40 so far," he says.
"We also give what we call a 'yellow card' to those who commit moderate to small offences and make them join our enviro clean-up crews for a few hours as punishment. They learn their lesson and it's proving an incredibly effective tool to help with behaviour management."
The first night saw Australian band Sticky Fingers take the stage. A self-described melting pot of psych, rock, reggae and bourbon, their chilled-out vibe fitted into the beachfront venue and got the party started.
They were followed by BW and Rhythm and Vines mainstays Shapeshifter, who played old favourites as well as new tracks from their recent EP.
"There is a lot of excitement in the crew because we've got some new numbers," said vocalist P-Digsss before the set.
"It's exciting to play them -- it's going to be electric. We'll be on fire."
The band first performed at R&V in 2005 and say the festival's huge numbers keep them coming back.
Australian electronic music duo Peking Duk took the stage as the early hours of the morning rolled through. The duo reached gold in New Zealand with their hit single High.
"Tonight is going to be raw. It's just going to be us and the crowd, with the natural tension, vibe, chemistry. It is going to be awesome," they said.
The second night featured David Dallas, who recently won male artist of the year at the Vodafone Music Awards. Another BW and R&V regular, he says the festivals have become a right of passage for young New Zealanders.
He was followed by Australian electronic music artist Flume, who had festival-goers rushing to the stage for the popular Holdin' On, and dancing till the early hours of the morning.
Nineteen-year-old Jack Fowler was in the crowd and said the festivities had been "awesome" so far.
"We're all really excited to head to Rhythm."
Rhythm and Vines is on over the next three nights at Waiohika Estate and will ring in the new year.
Danish singer MO, and Belgian drum and bass producer Netsky, will play on the main stage at Waiohika tonight, before Australia's Chet Faker and British electronic music duo Chase and Status take the stage on Tuesday. Headliner act Bastille will ring in the New Year.
Area police commander Inspector Sam Aberahama said police were happy with the standard of behaviour at the two BW concerts.
There were several arrests and a man was taken to Gisborne Hospital on Saturday night after an alleged assault.
Some under-age people got into last night's BW concert.
"They used wire cutters to cut their way through an area of the fence," a witness said.
"There were heaps of under-age people there last night, which was a bit disappointing."
Inspector Aberahama said there were fence jumpers on Saturday night.
"Some were caught, some were not."
St John territory manager Shane Clapperton said the two BW concert nights were both really good from St John's point of view.
"We've seen nothing unusual. Our crews have been steadily busy but they have been a good bunch of people to deal with," he said.
"We've dealt with far fewer intoxications so far and we hope to see that continue. We have had a little bit of sunburn to deal with as the festival goers enjoy our fantastic weather."
GSH lb
