Blindspott have made Rock 2000 history, with ‘Nil by Mouth’ becoming the first Kiwi song to take out the countdown, before the band pulled off a surprise live performance at Spark Arena.

Speaking to Bryce backstage straight after the performance, band members Damian Alexander and Shelton Woolright were still wrapping their heads around a song they wrote roughly 25 years ago landing at number one. “We gave that song to the fans years ago, so it’s more theirs than ours now,” Shelton said.

“We’re just so thankful that everyone’s still playing it and appreciating it.” The band have played ‘Nil by Mouth’ at every Blindspott show since, and reckon its staying power comes down to something pretty simple. “We were living what we were talking about. So it was real, it was authentic,” Shelton said.

Then came the sneaky bit. After ‘Nil by Mouth’ was revealed as number one, Blindspott suddenly appeared at Spark Arena to play it live to a crowd that had no idea what was coming. Damian admitted the whole thing got to him.

“I was pretty moved when all that was happening, when they announced the number one,” he said.

Not bad for a tune the West Auckland boys once had to ring radio stations and plead with people to play. Twenty-five years later, it’s sitting on top of The Rock 2000. Bloody good stuff.

READ: Blindspott's ‘Nil By Mouth’ voted #1 in 2026 historic NZ win