By Kelvin McDonald, of Whakaata Māori
Māori metallers Alien Weaponry opened for US rock royalty Guns N’ Roses at Eden Park last night in front of a massive crowd.
The te reo Māori-singing thrash metal band arrived in Tāmaki Makaurau for their last show of the year fresh from opening for the American rockers at a sold-out concert in the capital.
The band say they are keen for crowds to sing along with them in Māori but find it is a tough ask in Aotearoa compared to overseas.
“I mean that happened in Spain on our most recent tour. We were playing Kai Tangata [to] 15,000, 20,000 people,” bassist Tūranga Morgan-Edmonds (Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Hine) told Re: News on Friday.
“Everyone in the crowd, just ‘Anei Rā’, singing along”, said guitarist Lewis de Jong (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Raukawa).
“Singing their absolute hearts out in Māori,” Morgan-Edmonds added.
“They can hardly speak a word of English but they can sit down and learn the Māori words, pronunciation and all. It’s like, why can’t people in NZ do that?” said de Jong.
Alien Weaponry played before Guns N’ Roses took the stage at about 7 pm.
A crew of 100 spent the past five days setting up for last night’s concert.
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