Inside the SIX60 Grassroots Tour

4 Islands, 5 Weeks, 25 Small Towns

Goff van’t Hof (Paul), Managing Director of The Production Co., has a long and rich history with SIX60, providing production for their first few tours way back in the 2010s. Dave Munro, agent for SIX60’s promotor Eccles Entertainment, acknowledging Goff’s links to the band, turned to him for support with the Grassroots Tour 2024, “It was the tail end of last year when Dave got in touch and I was already committed to the Dragon’s 50th Anniversary 10 gig tour in April, meaning they would overlap. Initially I just planned on coming up with some concepts but ultimately, we decided with some serious planning, support from my team, and a few long days, I could do both.”

Goff’s brief as the ‘Grassroots’ title suggests was about SIX60 getting into the regions and connecting with fans. The band had rearranged their biggest hits into acoustic and unplugged stripped back versions which would be recorded at each show to create a new ‘Best of’ album. They were also planning to play and record a different cover every night, selected from requests via social media. Chris Tate, longtime FOH Sound Engineer for the band, was on board to do the recording in a mobile studio, including capturing the covers, tidying them up and releasing them via socials throughout and after the tour. Matt Clode, another old hand from previous tours, was in charge of capturing stills and video footage of the shows.

Goff’s concept capitalised on the recording element and he designed the set as a recording studio. He used large rolling Baffles’ acoustic panels to form the backdrop with ‘studio-esque’ lighting built in, all fixed to dollies, “As we toured, the band collated or were gifted memorabilia from each place such as road signs or rugby jerseys. These decorated the panels and became a part of the set.”

The venues were some of the most diverse that Goff has toured, “We played at a marae, community halls, taverns, a winery, even Piha Surf Life Saving Club which only held 150 people. There were more people out on the sand dunes watching than in the venue, and Matiu went out and sang on the deck for them which was pretty special.” At the other end of the scale were 2,000 capacity events in Queenstown, Nelson and at the Waipara Winehouse, “I designed the set so that we could nearly always use all the panels, just shrinking and expanding it as required. Sometimes they’d be on all sides of the stage, sometimes across the back, sometimes overlapping. We also integrated two and a half metre tall letters spelling out SIX60, flying them above the band where possible and projecting video content onto them. Brad Gledhill from Filament Eleven 11 was the LD for the tour and provided video content and worked tirelessly on tweaking the lighting design for the ever-changing venue shapes and sizes. The giant letters when not flown in the smaller shows were placed around the venue for fans to get photos in front of. These were a huge hit on social media.”

“Production managing two tours at the same time was challenging but both tours had great crews on board. Production Co GM Lance Cathro took on the production management role for SIX60 when I jumped off to do the Dragon shows. Then Owen Drew took over the reins on the Dragon tour in my absence. Logistics were the most challenging part with me literally moving from Kaitaia to Invercargill to get both tours started.”

The diversity of the venues, not so much in terms of size but more in terms of range of equipment could also be challenging at times, “Everyone chipped in. All the crew helped when we had to think outside the square.” Touring across four islands was also interesting, “We ran two trucks in the North Island and over on the ferry to Great Barrier for a concert on a tennis court, and reduced it to one in the South, relying more on local AV companies down south for assistance. At the end of the five week tour the band went to Stewart Island where we opted for a more stripped back set as we had to get everything on a small barge.”

Transported separately from the set and AV, a miniature replica of the band’s Dunedin student flat travelled with the tour, parking up at a local Four Square in each town for promotional opportunities, “I was very glad I wasn’t responsible for hauling that off the barge.”

Outside of the logistics and the variety of venues, the tour was pretty straightforward, “We had good rehearsal time and did pre-production at our place. Eli (Paewai – the drummer) had left the band in February, so Chris (Mac – bass) moved to drums and Marlon (Gerbes – keyboards) shifted to bass, and the band had been working through that. From the start of the tour, it was obvious how much they were enjoying the opportunity to reconnect with their fans and the immediacy of the venues. The first show at Pōtahi Marae in Te Kao in the Far North, Matiu’s (Walters – lead singer) whānau marae, set the tone for the whole tour really, good fun and a non-stop supply of food. I’d never seen so much crayfish.”

Goff’s highlights include Te Puka Tavern at Tokomaru Bay where the locals performed a rousing haka during Kia Mau Ki Tō Ūkaipō, the Te Reo version of Don’t Forget Your Roots. Also Waipara Winehouse for the super cool venue and being gifted the most amazing sunset, “Looking back though, there were no duds.

Every show was special in some way, and the vibes were so different from hakas in the East Cape to oysters in Invercargill. The crew and band put a lot into that run. I am grateful to the band, their management and the promoters for trusting us with a special bunch of shows.”

The Gear

College Hill Productions supplied the touring PA system; an Allen and Heath C5000 for Chris to capture everything on side of stage with a full suite of beloved Universal Audio UAD plugins bringing the magic and a C1500 at Front of House for Ben Klinkenburg to mix the show on. Powered JBL SRX835SP and SRX828SP were the FOH speakers. The band mixed their own monitors on headphone amps to complete the studio vibe.

The ‘Baffles’ acoustic panel carts were designed inhouse at The Production Co by Peter Allerby and featured custom LED strips manufactured by Tungsten Projects. Vintage Blaze units were provided by Kenderdine Electrical. The Production Co provided all the control equipment, LED batons, Chauvet MK2s for front light and Panasonic projector for the letters.

The Crew

• Goff (Paul van’t Hof): Designer and production manager
• Ben Klinkenberg: Stage Manager and FOH engineer
• Theo Turner: Audio systems
• Chris Tate: SIX60 Audio Connoisseur and capture
• Brad Gledhill: Lighting Director
• Pedro Maher: Backline
• Sam Whareaitu: Lighting and video assist, driver
• Colin Molloy: Staging, letter wrangling, dressing, driver
• Ash Edwards : Staging, letter wrangling, dressing
• Lance Cathro: Production Manager