One NZ Stadium, a craypot of possibility. (Image: One NZ)<\/p>\n
I staked my reputation on it being Six60, and was proved right when the \u2018Once in a Lifetime\u2019 opening gig was announced last week<\/a>. But there was another name on the top billing along with Six60 that I didn\u2019t see coming, because I never see it coming: Synthony. As described here, the event \u201cwill feature full sets from both acts, culminating in a collaborative finale. Six60\u2019s biggest hits will be reimagined with Synthony\u2019s full orchestral production.\u201d<\/p>\n Synthony remains a cultural mystery to me, and it\u2019s not for a lack of trying. I can read all the words in the world about how Synthony is a \u201ca breathtaking collision of the biggest electronic dance anthems with a live orchestra, DJs, vocalists, and immersive visuals\u201d and still emerge utterly dazed and confused. It has the same slipperiness of trying to read The Luminaries, or the rules for any board game made for players over the age of eight.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hoping moving pictures might help, I turned to YouTube, and my brain was immediately overloaded with lasers and buzzy visuals. A conductor in a snakeskin blazer gesturing wildly at violinists going hell for leather on Darude\u2019s \u2018Sandstorm\u2019. An extremely muscular gentleman in a sleeveless vest playing the double bass on Coldplay\u2019s \u2018Sky Full of Stars\u2019. A crowd of 40,000 New Zealanders rapturously singing \u201cfiiiiire away, fiiiiiire away\u201d and giving me involuntary goosebumps.<\/p>\n I took to Instagram to see if anyone could share their on-the-ground experiences of Synthony to give me a better understanding, and was met with a flurry of insights from die-hard fans. Several characterised it as a rave-like experience for ageing millennials, who have likely booked a babysitter and need to get to bed at a reasonable hour. Many revered the \u201cunreal\u201d orchestra and the powerfully nostalgic setlist, with songs from the likes of Fatboy Slim, Calvin Harris, Ellie Goulding and Bomfunk MC\u2019s<\/p>\n Others found themselves as bewildered by it as me. Comedian Johanna Cosgrove admits Synthony was also a \u201ccultural black hole\u201d for her when she was invited along to the Auckland Domain show by a colleague, assuming she was headed to a charming outdoor symphony. \u201cI did think \u2018Christ, what a funny time for the orchestra\u2019, but I do love a bit of orchestra in the park, so colour me curious,\u201d she says. \u201cLuckily I had brought a crop top, because it was simply not that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Cosgrove describes the Synthony experience as \u201cTarocash Tomorrowland \u2013 but in a good way\u201d. While she admits the night\u2019s excesses eventually saw her holding a cup of her spew, she can still recall the impressive onstage visuals. \u201cThere were fireworks and glittering dragon holographic visions,\u201d she says. \u201cThey finished up with \u2018Sandstorm\u2019 by Darude and it was absolutely insane and electric. Was it the best night of my life? Not sure. But it was really something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Along with 2000s nostalgia, substance-related impairment also seems to go part and parcel with the Synthony experience. One former reality television star remembers arriving at the same Domain event as Cosgrove, hearing \u201cAND THE LOVE KICK STARTS AGAIN\u201d, and assuming there was a \u201cfiller DJ\u201d onstage. \u201cI said to my friend \u2018when is Synthony playing\u2019 and they said \u2018they\u2019ve been playing for the last 30 minutes.\u2019 I couldn\u2019t see the orchestra\u2026 but also I was very drunk.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n No matter what state you\u2019re in when you experience it, Synthony is not going anywhere. Not only are they doing many local iterations from metal Synthony<\/a> to Pride Synthony<\/a>, they\u2019re also taking over the world <\/a>with recent events in Mexico, the US and Greece. Perhaps Synthony is just what you make it. Synthony is millennial heaven. Synthony is Tarocash Tomorrowland hell. Synthony is an orchestra. Synthony is an EDM concert. Synthony is a state of mind. Synthony is you. Synthony is me?\u00a0<\/p>\n On May 16 2026, I guess I\u2019ll find out once and for all.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Synthony is everywhere, including headlining Christchurch\u2019s new stadium curtain-raiser with Six60. But what even is it? All year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[156,111,139,69,115493,1066,115494,108041,115495],"class_list":["post-181850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-one-nz-stadium","tag-pop-culture","tag-six-60","tag-synthony","tag-te-kaha"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A saxophonist performs with Synthony. (Photo: Supplied)<\/p>\n