My wife and I and friends went to the Lakeside Concert: Whenua, #itsabouthome. The concert turned out to be ''#itsallaboutmonoculturalism''.
The items became increasingly oppressive and alienating. The lengthy changeovers between groups and bands was filled with more coercive froth and bubble, all monocultural. Most of the ''music'' was a neo-indigenous interpretation of adolescent American genres.
What were we missing? Anything classical. We recalled the Auckland Symphony Orchestra at an earlier Lakeside Concert playing Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, with firework mortars substituting for the cannons. Brilliant.
The near absence of any other cultural classics suggested the event has been captured by a narrow set of interests. It risks losing the support of many other and larger demographic groups. Which would be a pity given the colossal and mostly voluntary effort that goes into producing it.
Like many others, we walked out before the end. We loaded the vehicle and paused to watch the spectacular fireworks, which finally started about an hour late, far too late for the long-gone small fry. Especially the little pet who spent the evening putting up umbrellas in front of us to make a cubby house for her mates.
