Drax Project
27th July 2019
The Town Hall, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Alexis Brook. Photography by Richard Myburgh.
Returning back home in the middle of touring with Christina Aguilera must be a thrill for the Drax project and certainly the sold-out crowd at the Town Hall were pleased to see these kiwis grace our presence once more.
Opening the evening was Auckland local, Paige, who performed a solid selection of songs. Do check out ‘Alignments’ and ‘So Far’ to see what this talented lady can do. The second openers were Australian-based Kiwi’s Fortunes. Vocalist Conor McCabe’s voice has elements similar to Stan Walker and while some songs had my toes tapping, they morphed into what felt like one long song and at times it seemed like we were watching a bunch of X Factor auditions. The crowd seemed to enjoy recent single ‘Disc Read Error’ and ‘Justin Bieber’ however knowing your set list without dashing to your DJ’s laptop screen to check what is up next would be a great start to build on for future live performances.
By now, the floor was full and the crowd was pumped and ready for the Drax Project. Opening with ‘Sidebit’, the audience members (particularly in the balcony), were assaulted by harsh strobe lighting from a lighting rig much more suited to larger/wider venues rather than an intimate Town Hall show. Trapped with nowhere else to look, most of us on the balcony had to close or shield our eyes until it was over. A real shame, as it did detract most of our attention from the band who were full of energy.
I liked that they were set on the same plane across the stage instead of the usual band formation of placing drummers out the back. This enabled all of us to see the musicianship of everyone clearly and enhanced interactions with the visuals projected on stage.
Moving through tracks from their EPs T/W/OO and Noon , a crowd favourite of their cover of Ginuwine’s ‘Pony’ showcased the fusion of saxophone into this blended genre of music. The crowd were loving it. and there is no denying the camaraderie these four talented musicians have with each other as well as with the crowd. Having earned their performance stripes while busking the streets of Wellington, it is pleasing to see that despite some large international tours they haven’t lost their skill to connect with their audience.
Returning home to New Zealand after over a year touring, the band was “Looking forward to some fish and chips with Watties sauce”. Being home proved a good opportunity to try out some new material amongst friends and throughout the evening we heard several new tracks ‘Brain’ , ‘Relax’, and ‘Catching Feelings’. Catching Feelings is a good tune, with a great hook and I’d expect this to soon get the same airplay and coverage that ‘Woke Up Late’ has received across many international charts and stations.
Returning after a classic call for encore including over a thousand feet stomping the floor, we were introduced to a very very new song ‘Smart Love’, which was apparently written just a couple of weeks ago, followed by recent single ”All This Time’.
Closing the evening was one of their well known covers- Justin Timberlake’s ‘Cry Me A River’ where lead singer Shaan showcased more of his falsetto range.
Although there were some annoyances over the evening, it was a solid showcase of the talent NZ has fostered, and I look forward to seeing where each of these artists go to next. If you can, do catch the Drax Project in Christchurch this weekend before they hit the road again, it may be a while until they return for more fish and chips.
Were you there at The Town Hall for this sold out Kiwi Pop gig? Or have you seen Drax Project perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Sidebit
- Toto
- Only Us
- Pony [Ginuwine cover]
- Natural Selection
- Cold
- Holiday
- Prefer
- Brain
- City Lights
- Latch
- Hollywood
- Relax
- Pieces
- Savage
- Woke Up Late
- Catching Feelings
- Smart Love [encore]
- All This Time [encore]
- Cry Me A River / Higher Ground [Justin Timberlake cover][encore]
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