Sweat and synths: Electric Avenue’s unstoppable second day

Sunday, 1 March 2026

REVIEW: Electric Avenue, Saturday February 27, Hagley Park

I didn’t think Electric Avenue could get any bigger after day one – now I’m eating my words.

If Friday’s line-up wasn’t enough to fill my cup, Saturday’s saw it overflowing with glee.

Day two of one of Australasia’s biggest parties saw even more people swarm Hagley Park to get their fill of the ripper line-up, and the lion’s share of the crowd bounced between the Electric and Park stages for most of the day.

Royel Otis on Electric Stage had people dancing in the sun working up a sweat. Their Linger cover, which pushed them into the minds of the mainstream radioheads, had me serenading my buddies.

One cool feature of their set was every song they played, they also had the name of the song on an LED screen for those new and unfamiliar fans.

The swarm of festivalgoers then headed to Park Stage for another Australian band, Ocean Alley. This year they only stole our hearts with their surfer beachy vibes as Baden Donegal’s smooth, raspy voice sang Confidence.

Immediately, we all headed back to Electric Stage for the one, the only, Kesha.

In recent years the pop diva has been through legal battles and tragedy, but on Saturday she showed Ōtautahi just how free she’s made herself.

Her stage presence was masterful as she strutted in front of thousands of adoring – and very loud – fans, ready to soak up every last drop of nostalgia from her early tracks, like Tick Tock, to her later songs like Praying.

Between songs the pop superstar changed outfits to suit her tunes, wowing the audience with a latex-inspired body suit, corsets, and even an accessory of her own head.

Not only did she sing for us, but the city sang Happy Birthday for her, in honour of her big day on Sunday.

The festival saw a different kind of screaming once we moved from Electric back to Park Stage.

Pendulum, the Perth pioneers of drum and bass, graced us with their live set – a show never to be missed if they come to your town.

A live production mixing vocals, drums, guitar, bass and a DJ made Christchurch shake like it was the early 2000s.

It seemed as if at least 10% of the crowd was on someone’s shoulders being blinded by the light show as they played their high-energy classics like Tarantula – so good. Even if you didn’t know the songs you were still getting an abs workout from rocking back and forward as hard as you could.

With the sun down it was time to take us back to the 2020s with another Australian DJ – there’s a theme here – Dom Dolla.

The man behind the decks turned the dance floor of Electric Stage into a mosh pit to be reckoned with as he took us to the end of the evening.

His laser light show was so incredible it didn’t matter how far away you were from the stage, you always felt like you were in the thick of it.

It took him 14 hours to fly to the city, so he thought he’d spend that time creating a Dave Dobbyn Slice of Heaven remix to get his Kiwi fans in the mood.

Finally it was time for the festival to end, but not without lighting up the skies with an unexpected fireworks display, reminding us just how special Electric Ave really is.

The only let down was the Hangar. The music inside was always 10/10, but damn it got hot in there. Maybe Electric Avenue needs to invest in some fans for their fans – or at least open up the sides to allow for greater airflow.

Alas, until next year, Electric Avenue. Please, try to top it.