Cocker socks it to 'em on the Green

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Joe Cocker performed at the Mud House vineyard, Wairapa on Saturday. Apart from a bracket of songs from his 2007 album, Hymn For My Soul, the playlist was all from the singer's classic songbook.

Waipara's weather gods turned on a glorious Canterbury evening for New Zealand's first Day on the Green concert.

The Australian vineyard tour has jumped the ditch this summer, and organisers could not have hoped for a better kickstart to their ambitions.

The Day on the Green recipe is good food, good wine and great music in a picturesque setting. Joe Cocker on stage, the sun setting on the Waipara Hills behind, and a glass of sauvignon at hand -- all boxes ticked.

I arrived just as Kiwi blues stalwart Hammond Gamble started his solo set in front of an audience more concerned with catching up and checking on the contents of picnic baskets. After 45 minutes he had won over those who were there to listen.

Midge Marsden fared better with a band behind him. Many punters by now also had a few wines behind them, getting them up off picnic rugs and onto their feet dancing.

For most of the crowd the show started at 8.35pm when Joe Cocker strolled on stage and kicked into Hitchcock Railway, off his self-titled second album, way back in 1969.

Apart from a bracket of songs from his 2007 album, Hymn For My Soul, the playlist was all from the Cocker classic songbook, Feelin All Right, My Baby She Wrote Me a Letter, Come Together. You Are So Beautiful proved he still has the pipes. Leave Your Hat On was its raunchy best. With a Little Help from My Friends prompted a breakout of platonic hugs. The encore included Delta Lady and She Came in Through the Bathroom Window. These were songs from the soundtrack of people's lives, and they were replaying the moment.

The eight-piece band was polished to perfection. Some of the sax solos suffered in comparison to the Bobby Keyes originals, but Nick Milo and Mike Finnigan on keyboards and guitarist Gene Black made the most of their chances to shine. On the duet Love Lifts Us Up Where We Belong, vocalist Nichelle Tillman was an excellent substitute for Jennifer Warnes.

At 10pm, after a second encore, Joe was gone. Punters headed to their cars and into a waiting gauntlet of drink-driving checkpoints.