Spark Arena: Fleetwood Mac's attack begins in Auckland tonight and sees the iconic band hunkering down and taking over Spark Arena until late next week. The pop-rock titans are settling in to play shows Saturday, Monday and Thursday nights and we highly recommend going along if you can. Sure, the four core members are all in their early 70s now (!) but live they remain a force to be reckoned with. They've got the hits like Dreams, Little Lies, Go Your Own Way and Gypsy and they play for over 2.5 hours. They've got Stevie Nicks, still the coolest woman in rock, front of stage, they've got the phenomenal force of Mick Fleetwood pounding the drums at the back, and they've got their newest recruit Neil Finn who brings his trademark ease and stage banter - along with a couple of Crowded House and Split Enz covers - to the group.
Fleetwood Mac, Spark Arena, tonight, Saturday, Monday and Thursday.
Australian pop singer, actor and LGTBQ icon Troye Sivan has managed to sneak a show in around Fleetwood Mac's schedule tomorrow night. He broke through in 2015 with the sleek dance pop on his album Blue Neighbourhood, which went Top 10 here. But it was its follow-up, Bloom, that really saw the singer's popularity blossom and announced his arrival as a pop force to be reckoned with. It hit Best of the Year Lists in publications ranging from Rolling Stone through to Time. Overseas reviews have likened his show to being at a "giant dance party surrounded by thousands of your friends". Which sounds like a pretty good way to spend your Friday night.
Troye Sivan, Spark Arena, Friday.
Arataki Visitors Centre: Here's one for those who prefer their theatre more intimate. Ghost Trees draws on science, imagination and the love for things lost as sole performer Gary Stalker reflects on his struggle to cope with the loss of his partner to cancer. He finds the devastating effects of kauri dieback on the trees surrounding his house symptomatic of a deeper malaise – climate change, species extinction, increasing isolation and loss of identity. It sounds heavy, but is a "journey from the darkness of despair back into the light" and is part of the annual Going West Writers Festival.
Ghost Trees, Arataki Visitors Centre, until Saturday.
And sticking with smaller theatre productions, the Basement Studio hosts a return season of the Comedy Fest hit I Didn't Invite You Here to Lecture Me which proves there is life after lawyer-ing. Amy Mansfield, a former lawyer turned theatre-maker, drew of seven years on verbatim quotes from 7000 pages of university notes to craft a solo show – where performer Mika Austin plays nine characters in multiple subjects – about the power of language and power itself.
I Didn't Invite You Here to Lecture Me, Basement Studio, until Saturday.
