Bruno Mars
27th February 2018
Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Kate Taylor. Photography supplied.
You know you’ve had a good night when you get home and you’ve got gold confetti in your bra. Bruno Mars and his crew of multi-talented Hooligans slid into Spark Arena in Auckland last night to open the first of four sold out shows at the venue before embarking on the rest of their 24K Magic World Tour. Vibe was high, the mix of punters was as varied as the size of his popularity would dictate and it was one of those gigs where if this was your first one ever then sorry; but you’ve been spoiled for all future performers having to live up to Bruno’s vocal and dance prowess.
Joining Bruno Mars to support the tour is the overachieving Dua Lipa; a singer, songwriter and model, this Glasto-Goddess oozes swag which her merest movement and commands the space effortlessly. Dua Lipa’s band strode on-stage first and propelled us into the night, hammering out a forceful drum pattern for Dua Lipa to catwalk stomp to stage to in her impossibly chic yellow play-suit. Delivering her signature husky vox in crystal clear perfection Dua Lipa treated us to: Hotter than Hell, Dreams, No Lie her feature with Sean Paul, Lost in Your Light, Be The One, Garden, Blow Your Mind (Mwah), IDGAF, Scared To Be Lonely her collab with Martin Garrix, Begging and finishing with massive hit New Rules. Transitioning easily between her more ballad flavoured tunes and the sassy, attitude filled bangers that have secured her audience; it was on IDGAF and then New Rules that the crowd was passionately hurling the lyrics back at Dua Lipa as she rocked and shimmied on-stage. Giving praise to her band, Dua Lipa thanked us and excused herself from stage as the band continued on, laying down a gauntlet of new electric pop-rock for Mars to follow on with.
As the packed out Spark Arena jostled for position for the main event, there was a stack of people doing the “I’m on the phone waving at you, where are you?” thing that we do at big concerts; as the stage crew feverishly set up the impressive set-up for Mars to dazzle us with, eking out that delicious anticipation even more as giant black curtains emblazoned with crowns dropped from the ceiling and kissed the stage, so we could see no more of the surprises we were in store for. As the P.A. played out hits for us to bob along too, the Crowd MVP of the night goes to the old bloke with fluffy white hair that stood up in the lower bowl of the seats and danced and directed the crowd through a lusty rendition of “Return of the Mack” by Mark Morrison; where everyone was clapping and mimicking his moves like some giant game of Simon Says: we loved it, he loved it, we applauded and this then opened up the vibe for small little dance-off circles to form in the GA standing area as people demonstrated their style and were cheered on by the assembled. Thanks to the impressive stage set up I wasn’t able to see it, but I could tell due to the audience reaction over the stage left side of the venue, there was some big-time action going on over there with the crowd loosing it – if you saw what was happening, hit us up in the comments and let us know what you saw.
Dripping with 90s finesse, Bruno Mars preempted his appearance with title cards in a rad 90s font and graphic which flashed on the huge video screens that were erected on stage left and right of Spark Arena; and let us know that things were about to get hot and sweaty. These screens were perfect for the big-budget gig we were all expecting as it meant everyone could see everything later in the show as multiple cameras tracked along with Mars and zoomed in on his movements at just the perfect time and ensured intimacy and connection with the capacity venue from the front to the back to the nosebleeds. Immediately you’re struck with the sheer intensity of talent that Bruno Mars carries; he’s not just a dancer, he is dance. Mars doesn’t just nail his vocals, he plays with them, embellishes on them beautifully and joyfully flits around the scales to absolutely dazzle us. As showy pyrotechnics pop along with the beat, Bruno Mars startled us sleepy Kiwis into a good night as he addresses us, constantly making little moments with people in the audience. Alternating between hip hop slides and old school doo-wop formations, Bruno Mars and the Hooligans compliment and support each other; especially attaining this synergy on Treasure as the horn section of the Hooligans shined. Bruno Mars excelled at showing us what a well-rounded performer he is; not only with his incendiary dance moves, album-perfect vocals or sexy stage banter, but also with his sense of humour by treating us to a little skit with a gold Motorolla-styled brick cellphone (seeing that was almost funny enough…) and the comedy ensued; or when Bruno Mars showed he’s got serious chops on guitar by picking it up and leading the Hooligans on both Calling All My Lovelies and Marry You.
As swathes of laser cut through the crowd and dappled their upturned faces with blotches of light, video screen platforms rose from the stage on Chunky so that the body positive and super thirsty lyrics could flash up. That’s What I Like upped the suggestive stakes with much air-humping and mic stand caressing; where conversely on When I Was Your Man the tone was taken down, Mars was a defeated-in-love lone wolf on-stage in a torchlight song, during which he paused and wiped a tear away; I dunno if it was just theatrics or if singing this personal song on the opening night on a tour of this magnitude got to him, but it was beautiful and poignant, giving everyone the breather we all needed. Kicking it back into high, sexy gear Versace on the Floor was of course coupled with laser light Versace logos illuminated onto the stage as gold Tetris block shapes descended from the ceiling. Making sure to check in with us often, Bruno was light on the cliched stage banter and instead opted for much more real-time comments that knitted the crowd together. On Marry You, the track I was least looking forward to; Mars lovingly arranged this pop hit to reflect some of his own culture with a kind of surf guitar slide threading in his Hawaiian upbringing and melded with Mariachi styled flourishes that garnished the tune with some of his Latino heritage too; it actually made this perfectly formed pop song into so much more, especially with Mars out front and centre showing he can solo your face off just as well as anyone else.
Locked Out of Heaven saw an ejaculation of gold confetti spewed from canons at front of stage as we all clapped and moshed along; leading into Bruno dedicating Just The Way You Are to all of us and thanking us for loving and supporting him from the get-go here in NZ. We all sang along and held our phone torches high and reflected on the set list Mars provided us with including: Finesse, 24K Magic, Treasure, Perm, Calling All My Lovelies, Chunky, That’s What I Like, Versace on the Floor, Marry You, Runaway Baby, When I Was Your Man, Locked Out of Heaven and Just The Way You Are. After taking some time out to thank the Hooligans individually Bruno and band disappeared only to return with the Mark Ronson collab Uptown Funk as a blistering encore. With horns blaring, dance moves and shapes furiously being cut it was the joyous cacophony of that song’s crescendo which played on as the big black curtains descending from the ceiling once more and closed off Bruno Mars from us; and as they finished and the tunes died out, the house lights flipped on and people started to gather their things to leave their seat; you could hear just Bruno, saying quietly into the mic, “Thank you Auckland, good night. See you tomorrow”…and with a performance that commanding, I wish that I was.
Were you there at Spark Arena for this funk-filled pop gig? Or have you seen Bruno Mars perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Finesse
- 24K Magic
- Treasure
- Perm
- Calling All My Lovelies
- Chunky
- That’s What I Like
- Straight Up & Down
- Versace on the Floor
- Marry You
- Runaway Baby
- When I Was Your Man
- Grenade
- Gorilla
- Just the Way You Are
- Locked Out of Heaven
- Uptown Funk
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