Aukland 12/4

From Tom:
When we come to New Zealand we usually do both Auckland and Wellington but the logistics just didn’t work out this time to do both of them but we still wanted to make sure we at least got Auckland. In addition to traveling from Sydney to Auckland for the one show there was an extra challenge built in because of the shipping strike. That resulted in having to play the show with almost entirely rented gear- and you know how hard it can be when musicians can’t have their favorite instruments with them -it’s a sad story (please note sarcasm) but they all got thru it. As it always is it’s always well worth it to make the jump over to NZ -Lu has always loved it there and the crowds are always great, and tonight was no exception. There were several highlights but a couple really stood out -both of the brand new songs, The Ghosts of Highway 20 and the best version yet of Dust went over great. The version of World Without Tears was really special, with Lu talking briefly about all the troubles going on in the world now. In the middle of the song , just after Stuart had finished an amazing solo, Lu was so caught up in it, she told Stuart, “play some more” and he just continued on. Great moment. Throughout the show a few people started to get up and dance and by the end of the show Lu told everyone to get up and dance if they wanted and the open space in the front of the stage quickly disappeared. Thanks New Zealand for a great night -you always make us want to come back and spend more time.