Black Eyed Peas give fans two-hour treat

Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas at the Vector Arena. Photo / Sarah Ivey

The Black Eyed Peas wasted no time turning a packed Vector stadium into a heaving, psychedelic night club last night.

It was the final stop of the Los Angeles' group's Australasian tour to promote their latest, and most successful album The END.

After thrusting the crowd into a version of their 2003 chart-topper Let's Get it Started, the BEPs gushed that they had saved the best concert for last.

And they saved the fans' favourites for last too.

Released in June this year, the album The END sat at no. 2 on the New Zealand charts, with its pop singles Boom Boom Pow and I Gotta Feeling winning the hearts of their youngest fans ever.

The primary school-aged Fergie-lookalikes who crammed into the arena with the Peas' oldest and staunchest fans last night were clearly there for those singles.

But they had to wait for them.

Dressed in combinations of leather, metallics and spandex - and Fergie in what looked like 30 cm platforms - the super-star performers ran through the anthems from 2005's Monkey Business, 2003's Elephunk and their new tracks, accompanied by heavy-popping bass, smoke, funky dance moves and human suspensions.

Wooping and waving their arms, the kids let their favourite pop-stars know that they had rehearsed all the lyrics and had the stamina to keep up with any high-energy non-stop two hour set they were thrown.

But their enthusiasm waned during Will.i.am's 20-minute DJ set.

Talking dirty and mixing up night club hits like Rhianna's Please Don't Stop the Music and Fedde Le Grand's Put Your Hands Up for Detroit, it was hard to decide whether the original pea was trying to prove that there was far more to his group than sing-along pop chart-toppers, or whether he was trying to entice a crowd along to hear him on the decks at the official after party.

In any case, it gave the fans a bit of a rest before the show's crescendo.

With the words The END in neon lights above the stage, Now Generation and Boom Boom Pow had the arena pulsating.

Then with a fizzle, the BEPs announced that the organisers had told them their time was up. They were sorry, but they would have to leave. The lights turned on. Have a good night guys.

Some kids genuinely looked on the verge of tears.

They had endured two hours of intense ear-ringing to scream along to I Gotta Feeling.

When they felt the crowd had chanted long enough, The BEPs emerged and not before giving each of their musicians a solo in the spotlight gave the audience what they had been waiting for. It was a celebratory send-off complete with confetti and spurts of champagne.

Will.i.am said he had heard that Auckland knew how to party, and screaming along to "tonight's gonna be a good good night" BEP fans from all walks of life proved that they did.