Common Kings, Auckland NZ, 2017

Common Kings

13th May 2017
Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Leah Victoria.

It may be a clear and rather cold autumn’s evening in Auckland tonight, but Common Kings have brought the heat with them tonight all the way from California. Tonight’s show is being held at the Powerstation who recently won the ‘Best Large Venue’ award at the 2017 MMF Music Managers Awards held in Auckland last week and judging by last night it is easy to see why. Not only does the venue feature one of the best layouts for live music, the staff are also incredibly helpful and efficient; which was particularly useful last night with many of the patrons attending having never stepped inside the venue before.

As the house lights go down the crowd begins to cheer, the spotlights on stage highlighting three mini risers along the front edge of the stage. Mikey Mayz suddenly appears from behind the curtain dressed in black with a matching beanie and hops onto the middle riser, the ladies in the front row going wild. Born in Washington, USA, Mayz is of Tongan/British decent and currently resides here in Auckland. Touted as ‘the future of NZ R&B’ after releasing his debut single ‘Thunder’ in 2015 – which was quickly picked up by Sony music – Mayz expertly mixes together elements of Hip-Hop, Soul and R&B. He begins with ‘Reload’ his smooth voice easily charming the crowd as he moves around the stage. “I’m Mikey and I represent Juvenile Music” he declares to the crowd – “When I say I can’t, you say help it”; the crowd happily repeating back the chant several times before Mayz moves into ‘I Can’t Help It’ from his debut album Alpha released in January of this year.

It is not easy to command the attention of an entire audience when you are the only person on stage (well there is a rather attractive young female DJ behind the turntable desk – but she is rather static while spinning Mayz backing tracks) however Mayz handles it with ease. Not only does he have the vocal skills – his voice remaining velvety and full bodied throughout the set; but he knows how to work the crowd. It is easy to see how he took out the ‘Most Promising Pacific Artist’ award last year; this guy is going places. Just for good measure and to raise the tempo another notch, Mayz throws a nice little split cover of Montell Jordans ‘This Is How We Do It’ followed by Blackstreets ‘No Diggity’ into the mix, pulling them off with ease and capturing perfectly that feel good swagger of both songs. He takes a moment to thank the audience and Common Kings for the opportunity of sharing the stage with them before moving into his last song of the night ‘Solid’, a pure R&B track that certainly brings the love to all the couples in the audience. Mayz once again thanks everyone including all of those “who have supported my musical journey”. As a testament to his character and appreciation of his fans he tells the audience “If you see me afterwards, come and say hi, I’m a pretty friendly!”; sure enough later that night there he was moving through the crowd shaking people’s hands and saying hello.

Usually at most shows, house music would be played between the support and main acts, however tonight the house music is dramatically cut short as a large figure suddenly appears on stage and bellows into the microphone “Yo, Yo, Yo!” BigBody Cisco host of BigBodyRadio storms the stage sporting a baseball cap and some rather impressively sized and heavily tattooed arms. “Ladies put your drinks in the air!” he declares as Bruno Mars ‘That’s What I Like’ blasts across the speakers, Cisco hyping the crowd up as it plays. It is quickly evident that this man knows his stuff as he moves straight into ‘Humble’ by Kendrick Lamar which is currently burning its way through the charts. “You want some reggae” Cisco the master of ceremonies asks the crowd “I can do reggae” before he moves swiftly into ‘One Love’ by Bob Marley which then morphs into another famous track by Marley, ‘Jammin’. By now the sold out crowd is absolutely pumping, every single person smiling and dancing. Cisco doesn’t let up for a second moving through tracks like ‘Red, Red Wine’ by UB40 to JBoog’s ‘Let’s Do It Again’. He even throws in ‘Shape of You’ by Ed Sheeran for good measure. After a blistering half hour DJ set Cisco can definitely claim the crown of “Best Hype Man’ of the night as the crowd are perfectly amped and chomping at the bit for the Common Kings.

As the lights go out and the crowd screams in anticipation; strobe lights flash across the stage emulating the effect of lightning as drummer Jerome Taito takes his place behind an impressive drum kit and begins to play. From out of the darkness the remaining three members of Common Kings run forward and jump up onto each of the risers. Singer JR King raises his microphone and begins to sing his voice soaring out across the crowd. You could be forgiven for thinking at this exact moment in time that you had wandered into a rock show as lead guitarist Taumata Grey shreds on one corner of the stage. In the meantime bass guitarist Ivan Kirimaua dressed in a grunge style outfit complete with chain from the back pocket leans out over the crowd in his best rock star pose.

Common Kings are unlike the usual reggae/hip-hop style bands that tour the circuits; instead they embody elements of rock, pop and soul. They are musicians first and foremost and they are bringing their all to the show tonight. Currently based in California, each of the members of Common Kings was born in the South Pacific which adds yet another flavour to their music. Jump starting their career in 2011 by releasing self-produced singles, they quickly began to gain attention, following up with the release of two EP’s in 2013. Just this year they released their first full length album ‘Lost in Paradise’, an impressive collection of songs that capture the heart and soul of the band. JR King donned in a baseball cap sings to the audience from the centre riser, every so often hopping down and leaning out to the front row taking the outstretched hands of the ladies and singing directly to them, their eyes never leaving his face as they melt into the floor.

“Powerstation – are we feeling the vibe?” King shouts out, and indeed they are, drinks raised in the air and arms waving as the band begins to play popular track ‘Alcoholic’. All of a sudden King cuts the track short, signalling to the other band members to stop playing. The crowd looks confused for a second as King steps forward. “Powerstation – are we doing this??” he calls out, the crowd cheering back to him louder than ever; “Are we doing this?? – then let me see those drinks in the air!” King signals to the band to restart and the crowd goes wild. These boys sure know how to bring it. Periodically throughout the set, each member is given the chance to shine, none more so than Kirimaua on bass with his solo (that cheekily features the bass line from ‘So Fresh, So Clean’ by Outcast), which sees him pull the hair tie out holding his mane of curls in check and head banging at the edge of the stage as strobe lights flash around him. Not to be outdone Grey later treats the crowd to a guitar solo that could easily hold its own on any major rock stage, the crowd showing their appreciation for this musicians outstanding talents.

Finishing on ‘No Other Love’ the group thanks the crowd and exits side of stage, Cisco appearing once again to ask everyone if they would like to hear more (Hana Hou – encore!). Needless to say the crowd are nowhere near ready to go home, and so begin to cheer loudly; Common Kings answering their call with an encore of two songs. A band like Common Kings was certainly never going to go out quietly, and so instead they play an instrumental outro (X-Men) as the lights go crazy. Guitars held aloft, Taito hammering the skins like there is no tomorrow and the Common Kings bid everyone farewell. The house lights rise and Queens ‘We Are The Champions’ plays over the speakers as the band returns to hand out pics, handshakes and high fives. They also take numerous selfies with the audience spending several minutes interacting with anyone who catches their eye, a testament to their love of their fans.

And those fans certainly got their money’s worth tonight as rather than being respectively ushered from the venue they are treated to a further half hour DJ set by BigBody Cisco, this time instead of hyping the crowd he brings them down gently with a mix of R&B and Reggae Love songs. What a night.

Common Kings perform live in Auckland, NZ 2017. Image by LeVic Visuals.

Were you there at Powerstation for this magnificent Hip Hop / Reggae masterpiece of a show? Or have you seen Common Kings live somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comments below!