thousands of fans at Spark Arena in Auckland earlier this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cThe debut of M\u0101nuka Phuel Full Metal Orchestra in Auckland exceeded every expectation, not only in ticket sales but in the sheer power of the audience\u2019s response,\u201d said promoter and founder of Duco Events, David Higgins when the second show was announced. <\/p>\n
Toogood says the reception from fans was memorable. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing that I walked away from that show with \u2013 I haven\u2019t seen that many smiles in one room for a long time!\u201d says Toogood. <\/p>\n
Blending hard rock with an orchestra can have that effect. The raw power of both genres impacted Toogood from a young age. <\/p>\n
\u201cRight from when I was a kid and my Auntie Jean, who spotted the fact that I was obviously into the arts and music, used to take me along to see the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in the Sunday pop shows at the Wellington Town Hall. <\/p>\n
\u201cI used to go, \u2018wow, this huge sound is being made by all these human beings doing the same thing at once\u2019, you know?\u201d recalls Toogood. <\/p>\n
The orchestra isn\u2019t the only connection the show has to an impressionable young Jon Toogood. Taking the stage throughout the night is legendary AC\/DC drummer Phil Rudd.<\/p>\n
![\"Former]()
Former AC\/DC drummer Paul Rudd at Auckland’s M\u0101nuka Phuel Full Metal Orchestra show. Photo \/ RadLab<\/p>\n
The last time they graced the same stage in Christchurch was when Shihad opened for AC\/DC at QEII Stadium in 1996. Toogood says he remembers the show well \u2013 and that he still gets the same energy from Rudd. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes me feel like that young kid that was playing with them all those years ago,\u201d Toogood says.<\/p>\n
He also recalls his introduction to the music of the legendary Aussie rockers. <\/p>\n
\u201cTom Larkin, the drummer of Shihad, giving me a copy of Highway to Hell at high school when I was 15 years old and saying \u2018check this s*** out\u2019. I basically consumed that album over and over again, then moved to Back in Black,\u201d says Toogood. <\/p>\n
Back in Black is one track that Rudd appears on during Full Metal Orchestra \u2013 but there\u2019s another track that\u2019s extra special for the 71-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. <\/p>\n
\u201cI had not played Long Way To The Top for f****** years, \u2018cause AC\/DC stopped playing it after Bon [Scott, AC\/DC\u2019s original lead singer] died,\u201d says Rudd.<\/p>\n
![\"AC\/DC]()
AC\/DC drummer Phil Rudd. Photo \/ File<\/p>\n
Bon Scott died in February of 1980 and was replaced in the band by Brian Johnson later that year. <\/p>\n
Rudd told the Herald that his first experience with Full Metal Orchestra was stimulating. <\/p>\n
\u201cI loved it. I thought it kicked arse and got me excited about playing again,\u201d says Rudd. <\/p>\n
The long-time Tauranga resident is looking forward to returning to Christchurch <\/p>\n
\u201cI have not been back in Christchurch for a bloody long time. Looking forward to it. Actually, I\u2019m excited to rip into it. Hope you are ready for me \u2026\u201d warns Rudd. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s no denying Rudd\u2019s menace behind his kit \u2013 but the backstage version is a very different character, according to Toogood. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a really unassuming dude. After we played the show, I was hanging out backstage with him and his daughter came up and said \u2018Oh, who\u2019s this guy?\u2019, about me. <\/p>\n
Rudd replied: \u201cThat\u2019s Jonny Toogood. They\u2019re the best rock and roll band from this country.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, wow! I texted Tom Larkin who lives in Melbourne, I just went, check this s*** out, bro!\u201d recalls Toogood. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still like a fan when I\u2019m around that guy [Rudd]. As soon as he gets behind that drum kit, that\u2019s that sound that no one else does,\u201d says Toogood with ultimate admiration. <\/p>\n
Asked if he remembers the last time he played in Christchurch, Rudd says he remembers Shihad and Jon Toogood. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut also drummer Tom Larkin, who has to be one of the greatest drummers to come out of New Zealand.\u201d <\/p>\n
Wait until Jon tells Tom about this.<\/p>\n
![\"James]()
James Reid of The Feelers will make his M\u0101nuka Phuel Full Metal Orchestra debut in front of his hometown crowd in Christchurch.<\/p>\n
Making his Full Metal Orchestra debut on November 1 is one of New Zealand\u2019s greatest songwriters and Canterbury\u2019s own, James Reid of The Feelers fame. <\/p>\n
Reid, like Toogood and Rudd, is excited about playing alongside classical musicians. <\/p>\n
\u201cSends chills through your body when you\u2019re playing with the orchestra. I\u2019m very much looking forward to that,\u201d says Reid. <\/p>\n
He can\u2019t disclose which songs he\u2019ll be singing on the night, but he does unveil the artists. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m doing a Pearl Jam track and another one by Alice in Chains,\u201d says Reid before breaking out an acoustic rendition of a song that shall remain a secret. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a lyric!\u201d he yells with obvious excitement. <\/p>\n
Toogood shares one song that he\u2019ll cover \u2013 he says it\u2019s an example of the similarities between heavy rock and symphony. <\/p>\n
\u201cMetallica\u2019s Master of Puppets. That\u2019s like seven-and-a-half minutes, and it goes through all these different movements. The heavy bit, a really beautiful bit, and then we build it up and then it goes wide and big and then it goes fast. There\u2019s something quite orchestral about metal that lends itself playing with an orchestra,\u201d says Toogood. <\/p>\n
Rudd agrees that when the two genres come together, it can be special. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt might not all the time, but in this it does. You just have to dig in, watch me and go for it. We did that,\u201d says Rudd. <\/p>\n
Toogood is looking forward to a repeat performance. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was such a great night. I can\u2019t wait to do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
M\u0101nuka Phuel Full Metal Orchestra – November 1 at Wolfbrook Arena, Christchurch.<\/p>\n
Mike Thorpe is a senior journalist for the Herald, based in Christchurch. He has been a broadcast journalist across television and radio for 20 years and joined the Herald in August 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cEver since my son was born, our firstborn, 10 years ago, I was constantly working because it\u2019s like…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1443,62087,33846,95,62084,4487,24004,15901,49325,156,62088,2082,2070,10938,16718,78,14054,30798,5844,62086,1614,1456,45393,111,139,69,10743,193,21037,62089,11789,1629,36097,62082,5843,1305,17213,62085,7187,6759,62083,810,11744,102,2963],"class_list":["post-80630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-about","tag-acdcs","tag-along","tag-and","tag-arguably","tag-christchurch","tag-coming","tag-coolest","tag-dad","tag-entertainment","tag-feelers","tag-for","tag-full","tag-herald","tag-him","tag-in","tag-james","tag-jon","tag-journalist","tag-legends","tag-metal","tag-mike","tag-mnuka","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-orchestra","tag-other","tag-phil","tag-phuel","tag-reid","tag-rock","tag-roll","tag-rudd","tag-senior","tag-show","tag-speaks","tag-stayathome","tag-team","tag-thorpe","tag-toogood","tag-up","tag-upcoming","tag-with","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80630","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=80630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}