Summer Hummer 1999

DD Smashing concert
By Celia Donaldson

FOLKS...

DD did particularly well in little old Masterton tonite...he had the town rocking.

Just got home from the concert and boy was it fun. (made even sweeter by the fact it only cost me $1 to get in).

Dave did fantastic in what were probably difficult conditions for him:

1. Outdoors and quite dusty
2. Sun in his eyes for most of night
3. Probably about 30 degrees for most of performance
4. REAL diverse crowd since entry was practicly free there were all sorts there, hard to please.
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But he overcame all this to give a sterling performance.

I had my 5 year old nephew with me but still managed to venture up the front with him on my shoulders to get a good glimpse of the man himself. He had a bright blue shirt on and pants that looked like they belonged in a dinner suit but still managed to look very cool. (and he was SKINNY! much skinnier than I thought)

Highlights were:

1. LAMENT FOR THE NUMB....a marvellous rendition of that and took out first place in my book.

2. BLINDMANS BEND and BESIDE YOU were a close second.

3. GUILTY THROUGH NEGLECT was third

4. Highly commended had to be HANDS and a third time encore of BE MINE TONITE along with Ian Morris.

Jackie Clark did backing vocals, she looked superb and sounded even better...she even did her own solo rendition of Pokare kare ana and I would have to agree with Dave when he said it rivalled Kiri Te Kanawa's rendition...because it certainly did. Incredible.

Very difficult concert to do I would think as there were age groups from toddlers through to 70 year olds there and everyone in between, including a load of drunk teenagers. But by halfway through the concert even people who I didn't think would be into Dave Dobbyn music (shame on them I know) were grooving and singing so it was good to see.

He was definitely a hit and also looked like he was enjoying himself, even if he wasn't.

Anyway Ummers, hope you are all suitably jealous as you missed a great night. I think there would have been about 6000 people there but since it was all outdoors there was heaps of space and most people had picnics etc.

Well past my bedtime.

Shall go to bed humming `THIS IS MY LAMENT FOR THE NUMB'...

Dave in Masterton!
By Emma George

Well I've finally got a few minutes to sit down and send you an email to tell you about Dave Dobbyns gold coin concert that he played here in Masterton last night! Well as expected he was awesome and put on a fantastic concert for the 10,000 people who were there. According to the newspapers for the three years that the "Summer Hummer" has been running Dave had the biggest crowd come, which in my opinion is pretty awesome since the previous acts were Hunters and Collectors (WOOO:P gotta love Mark S:P) and last year the Muttonbirds. But anyway to get back on track! Dave strolled on stage wearing a lovely bright blue shirt at about quarter to seven and well it was all go from there! He played heaps of songs and well here are the ones thatI knew, that he played they're not in any particular order:

Language: I'm pretty sure he played this first and well it was really awesome!
Maybe the Rain
Blindmans Bend: I thought this song totally went off and sounded fantastic! A definite highlight for me:)
Mobile Home
Hanging in the wire
Beside You: This is one of my fave songs off the Islander so I thought this sounded really good and enjoyed it heaps!
Waiting: Got a good response from the crowd.
I can't change my name
Standing Outside
Whaling
Keep the light on: Dave on keyboard
Lap of the Gods: Awesome:)
Loyal: Also awesome, this was the last song he played before coming on for encores. Also in there were probably about 5 songs I didn't know the names of so sorry about that!
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1st Encore:
Hallelujah Song: Dave onstage by himself playing keyboard
Slice of Heaven: Crowd totally went off as expected, and a local culture group came on stage and helped with backing vocals, another highlight for me!:)

2nd Encore:
Be Mine Tonight: After much yelling from the crowd for more Dave finally gave in and we were treated to one final song which was a Dudes song.

Well that was the set list as best i can remember it! Dave seemed to be in fine form and talked quite a bit with the crowd commenting on the fact that good rugby players come from down our way in particular Eketahuna:P. I was most suprised to see in his band none other than Jackie Clarke I hadn't realised she had been touring with him or anything, but she was there singing backing vocals which she did a good job on in particular on Blindman's Bend, she also played the Tambourine and well danced around the place. Dave even managed to get her to sing a verse of Po Kare Kare Ana. He introduced Ian Morris by saying he had known him for 20 or 30 thousand years. But anyway I shall stop all this rambling! All in all it was a fantastic 2 hours and I had a blast!

Summer Hummer
By Mike Bourke

I am glad that some Ummers were able to catch the Summer Hummer in Masterton. Avenues Event Management, whom I work for, organises the event for the Masterton District Council. I am really pleased with the way the show went and Dave was such a great choice.

As Celia and Emma have pointed out it was unbelieveably hot but the show was terriffic. I may be a little biased, but this concert
in my opinion was better than the others I saw at Indigo and Frank kitts park in Wellington. From the moment he arrived, Dave was really enthusiastic for the gig and was delighted with the response from the community.

I agree with Celia also, Lament for the Numb was a real highlight. I've always like that song. I felt that "Guilty thru neglect" , "Hallelujah Song" and "What do you really Want" were especially good also. It was excellent to meet Dave, he was a
thoroughly nice chap, ( bought me a coffee at the airport.) The band were excellent too, a real laugh. The belltower gets a few hits from them. Hummer 07.gif (84804 bytes)

I must tell you about the welcome, when he arrived in Masterton at the Hotel, a small Maori group performed for the band in the lobby.
(a little tradition at Summer Hummer where the band meets the mayor) Dave responded by grabbing his acoustic and doing an excellent rendition of "Mobile Home" only a dozen of us there to hear it, with jackie lending a hand on backing vox. It was a fantastic moment. The Maori group, as Emma pointed out, were subsequently invited onstage at the gig for "Slice".

All in all I had a great time and it was fantastic for me to be involved in a concert in my home-town. I think Masterton was treated to some brilliant entertainment for a gold-coin. Would you believe some people actually painted five-cent pieces gold to get in?!

They don't know how lucky they really were. Official figures point to between 8-10,000 people.

Thanks JP , as promised I will get you the stuff in the paper, concert poster and some photos when I get them developed. I see there is a link to Uncle Monkey's site! They did a great job in support.

"A Marvellous Day for Dobbyn and his Fans"

Headliner Dave Dobbyn has told organisers of yesterday's Summer Hummer Concert he thought the crowd was "marvellous".

It was the biggest crowd recorded in the three-year history of the open-air concert held in the Masterton Sports Bowl.

The Mayor of Masterton, Mr Francis, said there would have been about 10,000 people there with a good mixture of young people and families.

Opening the concert was Wairarapa band Atlas Woods, followed by Uncle Monkey from Wellington.

Both had a good following, with people dancing in front of the stage and even crying out for Atlas Woods to perform again after the main performance by Dave Dobbyn.

Dobbyn seemed to be the crowd favourite. People got to their feet and danced and bodysurfed throughout his more energetic songs, with a mellow feeling taking over during the softer ones.

He played favourites among other not so well-known songs, relating well to the crowd, inlcuding them as part of his performance.

He was called back to sing twice and finished with a song by his former band Th' Dudes.

Mr Francis said Dobbyn had told him he thought the crowd was marvellous.

Police said six arrests were made and ranged from breach of the peace to assault and trespass.

Entry to the concert was by gold coin donation and the takings will be used to cover the cost of running the Summer Hummer and tomorrow night's twilight Opera.

Mr Francis said to run both events cost about $130,000.

He said the people of Wairarapa were very lucky to be exposed to special acts of affordable prices."

Article courtesy of Wairarapa Times Age Š1999.

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Photo by Pete Colvin, courtesy of Wairarapa Times-Age