Banding together

The sun is just breaking through here in Christchurch, and it looks like it's going to be a pretty decent sort of a day. That's great, because over 100,000 Cantabrians are tipped to head down to Hagley Park today for Band Together, a free concert to lift the mood in Earthquake City, and celebrate Christchurch's lucky escape.

We made a brief mention of Band Together yesterday, but it wasn't until we got down here that we realised that this is a big deal. It's been put together by those in the music industry, including Opshop frontman Jason Kerrison who is quoted thus in this morning's Press:

One of the concert organisers, Opshop frontman Jason Kerrison, said driving around quake-damaged Dallington yesterday brought home the amount of rebuilding work to be done.

"Therefore I cannot use the word exciting when talking about the Band Together concert – not when people are using portable toilets at their front gate and still don't have any water," he said.

"The word I would use to describe how I feel is `overwhelmed' – overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone who has made the day work."

Kerrison said the concert was about families and the city getting together and relaxing and having fun together.

"I've watched this go from an idea to an email thread, and yesterday I stood in Hagley Park while a guy told me this was the biggest setup the council had ever been involved with. It's humbling," he said.

And a Who's Who of the New Zealand music industry will be there; Opshop, Midnight Youth, Bic Runga, Che Fu, Dave Dobbyn, The Exponents and many more. We're hoping to wander down at some point of the day; possibly towards the end when Dave Dobbyn and the Exponents take to the stage at 7pm.

And we salute all those who have freely given their time and resources to make this event happen. Though we are from the other Island, we have strong links to the Garden City, and we know that there are a lot of people down here who have been affected in many ways since September 4; we're meeting a family today who can only occupy two-thirds if their house at the moment. We hope that everyone can get out today and chill out to some great New Zealand music; and we reckon that the odds are pretty high that Jordan Luck will manage to slip this song in ...

Have a great day Christchurch; you deserve it!