Sun and fun in Coromandel with classic rockers

REO Speedwagon rocked the crowd at Whitianga Waterways Arena in the Coromandel on Sunday.

Thousands of concert-goers celebrated Auckland Anniversary Weekend partying to 1970s and '80s rockers.

Huey Lewis and the News, Melissa Etheridge and REO Speedwagon played their last of three New Zealand tour dates at the Whitianga Waterways Arena on the Coromandel Peninsula on Sunday.

On the back of sellout crowds at Queenstown and Taupo concerts, organisers said today's audience brought total audience numbers to nearly 40,000 over the past 10 days.

The weather was a mixture of overcast and sunny conditions. Local artists The Blind Venetians and Paul Foulds got things under way late morning, as everyone settled in with their picnic rugs, chilly bins and umbrellas.

Etheridge took the stage at 1pm, and fans loved her solo act, which included what she calls a little "magic" - a loop pedal - as well as her heartfelt praise of New Zealand.

She played all her hit songs, including I'm The Only One, Bring Me Some Water, and Like The Way I Do.

Mid-afternoon saw REO Speedwagon take to the stage with Can't Fight This Feeling, Keep On Loving You and Take It On the Run.

Huey Lewis and the News were to perform some of their Grammy Award-winning hits such as If This Is It, Heart and Soul, I Want a New Drug and Power of Love.

Amanda Calvert, chief executive of Greenstone Entertainment, said the artists on this year's summer concert tour loved their time in New Zealand, and many said they would be back.

- NZ Herald