HAIL! singer Tim "Ripper" Owens (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, BEYOND FEAR, ex-JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH) has issued the following post G-Taranaki Festival report:

"Our newest Hail! brothers, Scott Travis (JUDAS PRIEST), Tony Franklin (THE FIRM, BLUE MURDER, WHITESNAKE) and Tony Macalpine, CRUSHED it. With only one short rehearsal and an unworldly impromptu 'talk-through' kind of jam in the dressing room (highlighted by Scott playing a lounge chair and a light stand!) the night went off in amazing fashion. It is such an honor and privilege to witness and experience these types of magical moments that happen when musicians of this caliber just close their eyes and flow together. It truly is the magic of music.

We played two shows, the main set at TSB Stadium and then a more intimate VIP type 'midnight session' at the Puke Ariki Museum.

In Hail! tradition, we love to invite our friends and compatriots to join us and tonight was no exception. Our motive has always been to provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the fans to see something unique and special. It is also our belief that an open door fosters friendships and we all benefit from these artistic and personal pairings because it produces a genuine feeling of connection between people and styles. Plain and simple, it’s fun for all of us.

Talk about great fortune:

We had ex-SCORPIONS guitarist (and ABBA’s all-time favorite guitarist) Uli Jon Roth join us for a scorching rendition of RAINBOW’s 'Man On The Silver Mountain'.

MICHAEL JACKSON guitarist, Jennifer Batten, ripped through The Firm’s 'Radioactive' (which also included an awesome bass solo from Tony Franklin) and

UFO shredder, Vinnie Moore closed the show with us by crushing BLACK SABBATH favorite 'Paranoid' (we ran out of time for 'TNT' but we played it later).

To witness Tony Macalpine trading screaming leads with these folks was awesome! We had a great set, the crowd was fantastic and the overall vibe was outstanding and warm.

We hung around to watch SLASH’s set, predictably he was great, and then we all headed over to the midnight sessions. In the spirit of the jam, we didn’t have any real plan so what better way to kick start things then with a Lemmy sized boot to the face?! And 'Ace Of Spades' did just that. We followed that with the fan-friendly sing along of AC/DC’s TNT (OY!), BLACK SABBATH’s 'Heaven & Hel'l and 'Mob Rules'. Jennifer Batten rejoined us for 'Living After Midnight' and another guitar assault of trading volleys with Tony and then Slash, Uli, Tony Franklin and Brent Fitz jammed the rest of the evening away in a guitar lesson that won’t be forgotten. The playing tonight was sick!

We had a wonderful time in New Zealand and thank all the people who worked so hard to make this happen especially event producer Dan Allen and the spirit of Garry Sharpe-Young. Special thanks and heartfelt appreciation goes out to the Gulliver girls – Therese, Lucinda, Francine and Sonja, who made our whole experience unforgettable.

KIA ORA New Zealand!"