Anika Moa & Priya Sami
The Chop Chop Hiyaaa! Tour
21st July 2017
Mt Eden War Memorial Hall, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Bridget Herlihy. Photography by Doug Peters.
On a miserable winter’s day in Auckland at the tail end of the school holidays a throng of eager parents and children descended upon the Mt Eden War Memorial Hall for one of the final performances of singer/songwriter/media personality and bona-fide livewire Anika Moa’s children’s road show. Given the overwhelming success of Moa’s Songs for Bubbas volumes I and II, it was a stroke of genius to take her much-loved material on the road around the North Island for interactive musical performances aimed at preschoolers. This was the 18th show of the tour, which has seen Moa performing a couple of shows a day for a majority of the duration of the July school holidays.
Children can prove to be a difficult crowd, but Moa won them over from the moment that she walked onstage. Clad in kung fu inspired garb, complete with what appeared to be a large mouse-tail, Moa strutted on stage like a rock star. Accompanied by the wonderful Priya Sami, dressed in a resplendent witch’s costume complete with striped tights, who as well as strumming along with Moa provided much of the performance’s sound effects, ranging from an enviable witch’s cackle, to dogs, sheep, monkeys, and everything in between. Both Moa and Sami were full of energy, encouraging the audience to get up on their feet and dance and jump, and their level of interaction with their captivated audience was formidable, and it was evident that the two were enjoying themselves as much as their young audience (apart from Moa’s twin sons, who the singer joked were more interested in playing on her iPad than watching their mother perform). Admittedly, it was a joy to watch so many children having an absolute blast busting out their best dance moves, even more so those youngsters who chose to rock out while crawling. The performance included Moa originals including ‘Taniwha, Taniwha’ and ‘The Nigh Nighs Song’, as well as trued and true Kiwi classics like ‘Oma rapiti’, complete with the mandatory actions from Sami.
Anika Moa is a superb storyteller, with her spooky and kooky songs and tales proving to be far more interesting than an abundance of other forms of entertainment for tots. Along with Sami, their talent to both entertain and engage the audience is outstanding. Here is hoping that Moa and Sami take another show on the road for future school holidays; it is a must see for children, parents and caregivers alike that is guaranteed to entertain and make everyone laugh out loud and sing along.
Were you there at the Mt Eden War Memorial Hall for this super fun family oriented gig? Or have you seen Anika Moa perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!