Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand.
Ridiculous, genius, hilarious and brilliant. Such words don't even begin to describe Jesse 'Devil' Hughes and the Eagles of Death Metal, but they're about as close as one can come, when left reeling from a night of outrageous rock 'n' roll magic.
Strutting on stage in a shimmering
gold cape, vintage aviators and the world's best-fitting jeans, Hughes stood and postured himself, basking in the crowd's growing hysteria. Shaking fans' hands and giving goat kisses - when the index and pinky finger of one person align with that of another - the eccentric frontman built an instant rapport with the audience that never wavered throughout the night.
Opening with Don't Speak (I came to make a BANG), Hughes did exactly that. Followed by the fierce, thrashing track Kiss the Devil, the band spent the next two hours crossing between their two albums Peace, Love and Death Metal and Death by Sexy.
Punctuated by dramatic pauses and flamboyant hip swaggering, Hughes proved himself the master showman, who can work a room like no other. Cooing over the audience in his syrupy southern drawl, Hughes proclaimed his love for the crowd, Auckland and 95bfm - who were the first radio station ever to play an Eagles of Death Metal single.
Ever the charmer, Hughes changed the lyrics of English Girl to "Kiwi Girl" and dedicated the song to the "beautiful ladies" of New Zealand, before calling for ladies' choice, which saw hysterical female fans call out their personal requests. Unsurprisingly, by the end of the night, a collection of female undergarments littered the stage, flung by Hughes' lovestruck followers.
An encore solo performance of Midnight Creeper saw the thrashing crowd reach fever pitch, before the band re-grouped for the final four tracks, including a stellar cover of Brown Sugar, which - dare I say it - was better than the Stones themselves.
Oh yeah - and the rumours were true. Queens of the Stone Age frontman and sometime Eagle Josh Homme was nowhere to be seen. But really, who cares? Next to Hughes, you wouldn't have noticed him anyway.
