Watch: Drew Baldridge stages pop up show in Ponsonby

Patrons at a country bar and restaurant in the Auckland suburb of Ponsonby were treated to a thrilling performance on Saturday night when an American country star stopped by to perform a surprise set.

Drew Baldridge, best known for his song She’s Somebody’s Daughter, was in Aotearoa to support Jelly Roll at his Western Springs show scheduled for Saturday night, but the performance was called off at the last minute, due to illness.

Ticket promoter Live Nation announced on the day: “We regret to announce the Jelly Roll Down Under 2025 Tour tonight at The Outer Fields, Western Springs in Auckland, will no longer go ahead due to illness.”

Still fit and keen to perform himself, 34-year-old Baldridge diverted to Jolene, a restaurant on Ponsonby Rd that describes itself as “Auckland’s 5 Star Dive Bar“, to play to a packed venue of unsuspecting country fans.

In a video posted to his Instagram account, Baldridge admitted: “Never thought this would be my first play in New Zealand.”

In the clip, the country star explained: “We’re in New Zealand tonight and Jelly Roll had to cancel his show due to illness. So we’re about to go to this bar called Jolene. We’re going to see what happens. Could be fun.”

“Hoping Jelly gets better soon. In the meantime, we did a pop-up show!” the musician captioned footage of his surprise set.

The video shows the singer – dressed casually in khaki chinos, a white T-shirt and trucker cap – standing on a table to play songs to a crowd that packed out the Ponsonby venue, surrounding him as he serenaded onlookers with an acoustic guitar.

The venue said it was “such a treat” having Baldridge stop by, sharing: “We cut down an old guitar off the wall and he treated everyone to some absolute magic.”

On social media, the eatery said the singer was “such an amazing human” and in the comments many lucky enough to be at the impromptu performance concurred.

One wrote of a wholesome moment when the Illinois-born artist “came outside afterwards and signed a young lad’s hat and took a photo with him, you could see his face just light up”.

Another wrote: “Love that you still did a pop-up show for fans since the show was cancelled. Also, hope Jelly Roll feels better soon.”

Saturday’s concert was going to be the first time Jelly Roll had performed in New Zealand and was the only stop of his Down Under Tour in Aotearoa.

In what was described as a “silver lining”, the cancellation meant Baldridge was available to make a guest appearance at Kaylee Bell’s concert at Auckland’s Civic Theatre later that evening.

“How lucky were we to have this absolute gem of a human, friend and artist Drew Baldridge join us on stage for his special song Somebody’s Daughter,” Bell wrote, when sharing footage of Baldridge’s cameo on social media.

This article was first published by the NZ Herald and is republished here with permission.

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