Live at BurgerFuel Head Office
30 October 2026
Live Review by Music Journalist: Paul Marshall
Zed, JessB & a night of rock 'n' roll indulgence: BurgerFuel brings back Friday Night Bites
It's back! And it's as cool as it ever was.
There are gigs, there are parties, and then there are BurgerFuel's Friday Night Bites. For those unfamiliar, this is an invite-only affair at BurgerFuel's head office, bringing together business partners, collaborators, associates and staff for an evening where good music, great food and a few well-deserved beverages take centre stage.
Having attended some memorable nights here over the years, I can tell you that BurgerFuel has never been particularly interested in doing things by halves.
One Christmas party springs immediately to mind. Free tattoos, fancy dress, photo opportunities, arcade games, dancers on plinths and a giant ice sculpture featuring a rather ingenious vodka delivery system. Imagine sitting down, leaning back and having your vodka poured through an ice channel before being delivered straight to your mouth. Add an open bar, a mountain of BurgerFuel's finest food, DJs and live music, and you begin to understand the level of entertainment we're talking about.
There's also a little history between BurgerFuel and yours truly. Many moons ago, one of the company's directors was a massive Everclear fan. That's Everclear, the American rock band responsible for classics such as Santa Monica and I Will Buy You a New Life, not the alcoholic beverage! As luck would have it, I was touring the band in New Zealand at the time and arranged for them to perform a private show at BurgerFuel headquarters. To this day, they're the only international act to have played the venue. Not a bad little piece of music industry trivia.
Fast-forward to tonight, and Friday Night Bites is back, delivering another cracking combination of an open bar, excellent food, DJs, hip-hop and, of course, a live band.
JESSB & DJ MANGALISO
Opening proceedings were Auckland DJ and music selector Mangaliso, originally from South Africa, alongside rapper JessB, real name Jess Bourke.
JessB is no stranger to the New Zealand music scene. A former professional netballer who made the transition into music, she has built an impressive career, releasing the EPs Bloom and New Views, and picking up the Best New Zealand Act award at the 2019 MTV Europe Music Awards.
Her musical identity draws on hip-hop, Afrobeat and contemporary club sounds, and tonight offered a welcome opportunity to experience that combination in a more intimate environment.
At one point, JessB encouraged everyone to move closer to the stage, which immediately changed the dynamic. Rather than performing at an audience, she was bringing us into the performance.
On Ring Ring, she introduced a call-and-response section, with the crowd enthusiastically chanting back "Pick It Up". It's a simple technique, but when delivered with the right energy, it works a treat.
She also treated us to an unreleased track, Pon It, featuring the infectious lyric, “Girls Wanna Have Fun (Have Fun)”. Come Find Me, with its wonderfully self-assured declaration, “I don't need a chauffeur, I'm so driven”, was another standout moment.
As the set progressed, the musical landscape shifted between hip-hop, Afrobeat, almost house-like club rhythms and some particularly interesting marimba-inspired sounds.
It was something a little different, with JessB bringing her own personality and distinctive sound to the evening. A very good way to get things moving.
ZED, BACK WHERE THEY BELONG
Then came Zed.
From the opening notes of Renegade Fighter, the band were absolutely on it. Nathan King's vocals were warmed up, powerful and commanding from the get-go, while the rest of the band delivered the harmonies and instrumental backing with the precision you'd expect from musicians who have spent decades playing together.
And here's the thing: Zed are an exceptionally tight live band.
There's no unnecessary messing about, no tentative introductions and certainly no question of whether they've still got it. They have.
For anyone who remembers the late '90s and early 2000s, Zed were an important part of the New Zealand musical landscape. Formed in Christchurch by school friends Nathan King, Ben Campbell and Adrian Palmer, with Andrew Lynch joining in 2000, the band went from playing local venues to becoming one of the country's biggest musical success stories.
Their debut album, Silencer, arrived in 2000, debuted at number one and went on to achieve triple-platinum status. It delivered a string of radio favourites, including Glorafilia, Renegade Fighter and Oh! Daisy. Their follow-up, This Little Empire, continued that success in 2003.
After disbanding in 2004, the band reunited for selected performances, including their 2019 national tour celebrating 20 years of Silencer. Their return to recording eventually produced Future Memory, released in 2024, proving that Zed's story was far from finished.
Tonight, though, it was all about the live experience.
Performing in such a small, private environment was a real treat. You could get up close, watch the musicians working together and appreciate the individual performances in a way that simply isn't possible in a large concert venue.
Nathan also entertained us with a few stories from the band's heyday, including the rather extraordinary tale of making a music video featuring Hollywood actor Rob Schneider. It's these little insights into a band's history that make an intimate performance even more enjoyable.
A quick technical observation for the sound enthusiasts: the two middle foldback speakers were facing the audience, although the band were all using in-ear monitors, making the wedges somewhat redundant. Meanwhile, the room itself sounded excellent, so credit where it's due to the sound engineer. The mix was clear, punchy and nicely balanced.
A shout-out, too, to Gav, the guitar technician, who was working away behind the scenes, keeping the guitars tuned and ready for action. It's a job that rarely gets the spotlight, but without the crew doing their thing, the show doesn't happen.
And then there was the mystery of Glorafilia.
Nathan introduced the band's final song by revisiting the question that has apparently followed them around for years: who exactly is Glorafilia? To this day, none of the band seem to know.
Quite frankly, it doesn't matter.
As the opening chords rang out, the room erupted into a collective singalong. It's one of those songs that has embedded itself into the New Zealand musical consciousness, and hearing it performed live, with the entire audience singing along, was a fitting way to close the set.
THE VERDICT
Some nights are about the music, some are about the people, and occasionally you get the perfect combination of both.
Friday Night Bites delivered exactly that. JessB brought a fresh, contemporary energy to the opening proceedings, while Zed reminded everyone why they became one of New Zealand's most loved rock bands in the first place.
But perhaps the real magic was seeing a band of Zed's calibre performing up close and personal, without the barriers, production scale or distance of a conventional concert.
Add some outstanding BurgerFuel food, an open bar, great company and an atmosphere that only a private event like this can deliver, and you've got yourself a night to remember.
A big thanks to BurgerFuel for resurrecting Friday Night Bites. If this is the standard, let's hope they're here to stay.
Music, mates, burgers and a little rock 'n' roll history. What's not to like?
Zed Set List:
- Renegade Fighter
- I’m Cold
- Oh! Daisy
- Starlight
- Hard To Find Her
- NTL
- Crawl by Atlas (Cover)
- Glorafilia
Reviewer: Paul Marshall
Photography by Paul Marshall
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WATCH THE LIVE VIDEO at Paul Was There -