These were the words not of a Labrador on heat, but Macklemore as he headlined Orientation 2013 at Forsyth Barr Stadium alongside Ryan Lewis. After 20 weeks charting on the Billboard 100, with hit song “Thrift Shop” peaking at #1, Macklemore proved the ultimate crowd-puller with the 5000-strong gig selling out well before anyone expected.
While Butterflies’ fur collection undoubtedly took its biggest hammering since Grandma was riding the peace train, “Thrift Shop” ensured that the collection of $20 bills in pockets exceeded even that of your friendly O-Week pinga dealer.
Flowing smoothly between songs with a bit of sweet talk and sentimental blab for the crowd, the fresher inferno rejoiced at Macklemore’s proclamation that “you guys might be the craziest crowd we have ever ever EVER seen!” That could have had something to do with the average age being dramatically weighed down by the 7:1 ratio of girls to guys, the entire roll of Queen’s High School being in attendance, or the drunken stupor of legions of Scarfies whose Hyde Street roofs can’t hold them.
After a successful set, the encore saw Mack- lemore don a black wig reminiscent of Kiss for no apparent reason, and the crowd “lose its shit” when the only song anyone really knew, “Thrift Shop,” came on for a second time. “This is fucking awesome,” indeed.
Summer Thieves, Max Dad-E, and Home- brew warmed up the stage for the headliners, with the event finishing up around midnight, but the real treat of the evening was the “fuck John Key” number chanted stadium wide. Critic expects this crowd-pleaser will finally surpass Macklemore in the NZ charts in the coming weeks.
"Thank you for letting me come here and dry hump your women!"
