Thousands flock to Gibbston winery concert despite frigid weather

Summer missed the memo.

Puffer jackets, beanies and blankets were the order of most of the day at the Gibbston Valley Winery Summer Concert on Saturday as a frigid southwesterly wind blasted through the valley, bringing with it some early rain, and even a dusting of snow to surrounding mountains.

However, the unseasonably cold weather was not enough to deter about 13,500 people from flocking to the concert venue for the last stop on the 2024 summer concert tour.

Wakatipu High School band Estrogen warmed the crowd up, before Australia band Pseudo Echo took to the stage playing their hits from the 1980s, including Funky Town.

American band Collective Soul was next on the lineup - fronted by Ed Roland, fist pumps and head banging was par for the course as he belted out 1990s classics, including The World I Know, Shine, December and Where The River Flows.

While Scottish band Simple Minds was the headline act this year, closing out the concert with the smash hit everyone was waiting for, Don’t You (Forget About Me), it was fellow Scots, Texas, which proved the most popular act of the day.

Lead singer Sharleen Spiteri won the crowd over almost immediately during her first visit to Queenstown, opening the set with I Don’t Want A Lover before blasting out banger after banger, concluding their set - which coincided with the sun finally coming out - with Say What You Want.

While there were smiles for miles inside the concert venue, many of those faded as ticket-holders tried to leave.

There was chaos in at least one of the carparks where four or five lines of traffic attempted, with mixed success, to merge into one.

That caused lengthy delays, frustration and road rage.

A police spokesman said he was not aware of any arrests at the concert.

- Staff reporter