Summer Concert 2024 at the Claudelands Oval, Hamilton, took off with thousands of people rocking hard. Texas and Simple Minds were the closing acts.
Video / Malisha Kumar
Thousands of people at Hamilton’s Summer Concert series this evening were forced to evacuate after extreme weather hit during the final act’s performance.
One of the evacuated concert-goers told the Herald she was near the front of the crowd when a security guard came on stage and interrupted Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr.
There was an announcement that the concert, which was held at Claudelands Oval, was being stopped and people should get out and leave their belongings behind.
The woman said it happened towards the end of the concert as Kerr was halfway through the band’s most recognised song, Don’t You (Forget About Me).
She said the crowd left the ground in a calm, sensible fashion as the rain began bucketing down, interspersed with lightning.
Jim Kerr and Simple Minds performing at the Summer Concert Tour in Taupō on Saturday. Photo / Daniel Hutchinson
Another concert-goer told the Herald she left the venue before the crowd was evacuated after an announcement was made about the weather.
”Before Simple Minds had gone on, the organisers sent out an alert over the microphone asking everyone to take down their gazebos due to the extreme weather warnings,” she said.
They said the weather had been on and off throughout the afternoon.
”Every 20 minutes or so you would get heavy rain and it would stick around for five minutes and go away but by 5.15pm it was pretty ongoing,” they said.
A police spokesperson said they had been made aware the show had been stopped due to lightning but weren’t aware of any evacuation.
In a statement to the Herald, the event organisers said; “Due to an isolated thunder and lightning storm beyond the control of event organisers, and for the safety of all people involved, including concert goers, staff and artists, todays Summer Concert – Claudelands Oval was brought to a close five-10 minutes earlier than scheduled”.
Newshub reported the facility that hosted the concert posted a message to Facebook urging attendees to evacuate.
“Due to adverse weather conditions beyond our control, the show has come to an end. Please remain calm,” it wrote.
“Walk, do not run, towards one of the marked exit points. Do not stop to collect personal belongings. Please assist those who may need help and follow the instructions of security and event staff.”
Other bands performing at today’s concert were Texas, Collective Soul and Pseudo Echo.
Jim Kerr and Simple Minds performing today on the Summer Concert Tour at the Claudelands Arena in Hamilton. Photo / Supplied
In an ironic post to Simple Minds’ Instagram after playing at the Taupō Summer Concert tour yesterday, the band posted a photo of the crowd with the caption “TAUPO & HAMILTON : COME IN, COME OUT OF THE RAIN!”
“After a gap of around 8 years or so, it felt great for Simple Minds to be back in New Zealand playing live,” it read.
“It’s true that the glorious weather mentioned in a previous post was no longer evident on the day of the gig, instead a fair amount of moisture hung in the air. Nowhere near enough though to dampen the spirits of all who had come to Taupo with the aim of having a good time”.
Earlier today, MetService said heavy rain watches had been issued for central parts of the North Island covering Waitomo, Taumarunui, Taupō and Tongariro National Park, as well as the Bay of Plenty’s eastern ranges.
The watches were forecast to come into effect from about 1pm today until early tomorrow morning.
However, the forecast heavy rain was expected to clear by tomorrow, with a few lingering showers in place.
Today is nearly a year to the day since concert-goers attending the ill-fated Elton John concert at Mt Smart Stadium were sent packing after the gig was called off at the last minute due to the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods.
Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.
