Over the weekend, Ōtautahi’s Te Kaha stadium hosted its first major music event, 'Once in a Lifetime'. Sam Brooks talks to Venues Ōtautahi CEO Caroline Harvie-Teare and Jack Hassell, one of the bandmates of Castaway, about what the new venue means for the city and its musicians.
Ōtautahi’s new stadium Te Kaha is the culmination of 15 years of mahi and collaboration: standing proud amidst everything that the city has been through. Over the weekend, it played host to 'Once in a Lifetime', headlined by Six60 and Synthony, featuring local artists Kaylee Bell, Cassie Henderson and Castaway. It promises to be the first of many gigs bringing massive international, live-in-the-flesh experiences to Ōtautahi audiences, while also introducing local artists to those same huge crowds.
“It feels like the picture is complete,” says Caroline Harvie-Teare. “In the first week alone, we had over 100,000 people through, with Super Round Rugby and the community open day. You can feel a real sense of buzz around the city, and excitement about the fact that it’s here, but also what’s to come.”
What the stadium gives Venues Ōtautahi – and Ōtautahi as a city – is a platform to attract major international events. Harvie-Teare admits that the city hasn’t been able to compete on a national scale for some time. While they have smaller venues, such as the Town Hall (2,200 and 750 seats) and Wolfbrook Arena (9,000 seats), the stadium’s capacity (15,000 and 38,000) allows larger-scale events to be programmed.
“The stadium itself gives us the opportunity to compete for international content, and to be a platform for New Zealand-exclusive content, which is obviously what we want,” she says. “What it does mean is that Christchurch people don’t have to pack their bags and go elsewhere.
“But other people have to pack their bags to come here.”
When Harvie-Teare and her team think about the events they are attracting to the venue, diversity is a major goal.
“There’s no point having five major international rock acts month after month. That’s not something for everyone, and even rock fans aren’t going to buy tickets to every show. You want to make sure you get a bit of diversity – a bit of country, a bit of pop, a bit of rock.”
Ultimately, Harvie-Teare wants to make sure that Te Kaha is meeting the needs of the community.
“We want our promoters and our venue hirers to sell tickets, but we want to make sure that the community can really enjoy their venue. That’s the important part of what we do: making sure everyone feels connected and has great access to their venue.”
The choice of having 'Once in a Lifetime' as the first concert in the venue is, in that way, a conscious one – a clear stake in the ground showing that the stadium is also a platform for celebrating local music.
For local artists, those large-scale events aren’t just career milestones – they’re part of a wider music ecosystem that helps build audiences, increase exposure and create long-term value through royalties and music licensing, ensuring musicians are supported when their work is played in public spaces, venues and businesses.
Jack Hassell, of Castaway, thinks it’s an honour to have been asked to play at the first gig at the stadium. For scale alone, the next biggest venue the band has played is Selwyn Sounds, which has a capacity of 4,000.
“When we think about how much this city has done for us – from taking us from bros jamming in each other’s rooms to one of the biggest stages in New Zealand. All the people we’ve met along the way, and all the growth Christchurch has been through in that time period as well.
We’ve kind of grown along with the city and so it feels like it’s all culminating for us and the city and this show.
He believes that Te Kaha is a “world-ready” stage.
“It’s giving New Zealand artists the opportunity to stamp themselves on a stage and say, ‘This is international, this is for everyone, it’s not just for New Zealanders and New Zealand artists.’”
It’s also an opportunity for Castaway – which Hassell describes as a band of “best mates” – to connect with the biggest audience they’ve ever had in one room. And with that audience, courtesy of 'Once in a Lifetime' and Te Kaha, comes the opportunity for listeners to continue engaging with Castaway’s music after the concert, whether at future gigs, on streaming services or through the many businesses and public spaces that play New Zealand music under licensing agreements administered by OneMusic.
“We are genuinely so blessed to live in a country where artists are protected and supported through licensing. We pour our hearts, and souls, and time, and effort, and money into this art and while it’s amazing that we can do that, you can’t eat passion for dinner,” Hassell jokes.
He remembers hearing one of Castaway’s songs being played on an Air New Zealand flight.
All of a sudden the soundtrack to that moment was something we wrote in our bedrooms in a freezing cold flat in Christchurch. It’s humbling to remember how far music can connect. It reminds you how deeply music can connect with people even when you’re not there playing it live.
“In order to have a society where there are artists who inspire people and make people feel all the emotions of the human condition, they need to be supported so they can actually make that art,” Hassell says. “Music licensing is just one of the many ways in New Zealand that you can ensure that you have a lifeblood.”
“That’s what supports artists to create the art that is then the soundtrack to people’s mornings - or the song they need to get through a tough time.”
Read about Castaway's epic Te Kaha gig in this morning-after interview by The Press:
"With it being NZ Music Month, Hassell also gave a shout out to businesses who supported the industry by paying annual music licensing fees."
Subscribers to The Press can read the full article here: Christchurch’s Castaway soaks up ‘surreal’ stadium concert debut
Share
