Halsey
19th April 2018
Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Bridget Herlihy. Photography by David Watson.
This time last year Halsey was performing at Coachella, one of the biggest musical festivals on the planet which is renowned for having the créme de la créme of the music world playing over two back to back weekends. Showcasing tracks from her soon to be released sophomore album, Halsey was lauded for her fierce set, which is no mean at only 23 years old. Fast forward a year almost to the day, and Halsey made her live arena debut in New Zealand. After a brief promotional stop here towards the end of 2017 she had promised her NZ fans that she would be back very soon. And true to her word Halsey rewarded her very patient and loyal fans with a night to remember. Although this was the sole NZ performance of the Hopeless Fountain Kingdom world tour Phase II, no corners were cut. She even bought hip-hip sweetheart Kehlani along for the ride.
A wave of anticipation and excitement continued to grow within the arena as show time approached with dozens of eager audience members clambering towards the front of the stage to get a coveted spot. And right on time Kehlani’s live band and DJ wandered on stage to loud cheers, taking their respective places, moment before a platinum blonde Kehlani sauntered on stage looking every inch the sexy siren in a black suit jacket and shorts and black boots. Barely recognisebale from her headlining show at the Logan Campbell Centre only six months ago she effortlessly strutted and gyrated her way across the stage as only Kehlani can do. This was the Oakland native’s third trip to our shores in six months, an opportunity she sincerely admitted was a “blessing”. As much as Kehlani loves NZ, the audience loved her right back as they danced and dutifully sang along to every track. It was an all-too-brief set but she delivered a solid set of material that spanned her career, opening with the upbeat I Wanna Be, which was quickly followed by fan favourite Undercover. Highlight included a throw back to her mixtapes, with a supurb rendition of The Way, and arguably the most poignant moment of her set came when she gave a shout out to all the members of the LBQT community in the audience, especially “all the woman who are queer and loud about it”, dedicating an impressive and heartfelt performance of Honey. Towards the end of the set it came to light that it was in fact Kehlani’s 23rd birthday, and while the crowd didn’t quite manage to get it together to sing her happy birthday, she was indeed bathed in their adoration as she rounded out the set with Calvin Harris track Faking It, to with she provides vocals, the smooth and sultry Distraction, and ending on CRZY. Leaving the stage to rapturous applause it is at time hard to fathom that Kehlani is a mere 23 years old as she has already become a master of her game.
As the stage was cleared for Halsey’s imminent arrival member of the crowd began to be plucked from behind the barrier as the crowd continued to swell. After a half hour wait the house lights slowly dimmed as the stage was illuminated red, yet it was several minutes before the stage came to life. Running fashionably late (although only by ten minutes), Halsey knows how to maximise levels of anticipation and make a memorable entrance. As the stage lights dropped two a huge spotlight spotlight revealed a large silhouette of the woman of the hour behind a huge white curtain, opening the show with Eyes Closed from second album Hopeless Fountain Kingdom. The curtain dropped after the first verse revealing a scantily clad Halsey, clad in a silver sequined leotard, matching head mask and boots, complete with sequined suspenders dangling from her waist; an outfit perhaps best described as disco-inspired chain mail. This was a mere taste of things to come as Halsey took the crowd through a nearly two-hour tour of her Kingdom. Both of Halsey’s LPs have been concept albums. The first, Badlands, was based upon the premise of a dystopian society, its inspiration drawn from the demise of a relationship. Hopeless Fountain Kingdom was loosely based upon the tale of Romeo and Juliet, although with more of an edgy Baz Luhrmann vibe as opposed to Shakespeare, and also inspired from a breakup.
While at times Halsey has fought hard against being stuck with the label of a pop artist, her second album included a number of radio friendly tracks that translate beautifully well to the stage, in no small part due to the fact that Halsey can not only deliver live vocally, but can set the perfect scene for her performance. As the tracks and effects came thick and fast, the stage was used to maximum effect with the back half a staircase flanked with lights, smoke machines and flame throwers that stretched the width of the stage, with large screen projecting a vast array of abstract images handpicked for each track. The second song of the night, Castle from her debut album Badlands, saw a sole backup dancer emerge, creeping her way down the stage as the smoke canons let rip for the first time in synch with the chorus. The scene was well and truly set for the evening, and the hits just kept on coming, as if Halsey was making a concerted effort to make up for lost time, as she formally welcomed the crowd to the Hopeless Fountain Kingdom. There was another shout-out to the LBQT community as she launched into the divine Strangers as and the sole dancer seductively moved around each other.
Not only did Halsey pack a show with punch, it was also an evening about instilling a sense of empowerment in each and every member of the audience, as she waxed lyrical about her own past relationships and learning to learn who she is as an individual, imploring everyone to look back to their earlier years and acknowledge how much stronger they are now. This provided a fitting segue into Bad At Love, arguably one of Halsey’s most popular releases to date. Suffice to say that show featured numerous highlights, including a stripped back version of Closer, her collaboration with The Chainsmokers, which was arguably superior to the original with a sole keyboard accompaniment. The tempo went up again with Halsey re-emerging with another costume change, and it quickly became apparent why this one was not as ornate as the first, as she moved towards a riser at the front of the stage that was covered in water and stomped in unison with her dancer, kicking water over the crowd, who were no doubt appreciated to be cooled down. The water play continued into Don’t Play, with the ‘catch phrase of “women, don’t play no games”. A rendition of Is There Somewhere saw Halsey leap down from the stage and do a circuit of the arena, touching as many outreached hands as she possibly could. Along with promoting self-awareness and confidence, building rapport with the crowd appeared to be another of the key elements of the evening. Now it Never saw the third costume change for the night, this time a white leotard, silver sequin jacket and thigh high white boots, and this time it was the dancers turn to head to the floor with NZ flag in hand. The final phase of the night saw Halsey re-emerge from the back of the stage after another costume change to deliver an ‘encore’ which consisted of a blistering performance of Gasoline before ending on the highest of high notes with a breathtaking performance of Hurricane, complete with smoke and confetti cannons and a reminder that “you don’t belong to anyone but yourself”.
It was easy to get lost in the splendour of the Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, which was nothing short of a feast for the senses. And with a promise to be back soon, the Kingdom faded from view and the crowd reluctantly returned to reality. Halsey can indeed put on a show, and makes it one to remember.
Halsey:
Kehlani:
Were you there at Spark Arena for this spellbinding show? Or have you seen Halsey perform live some other time? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Halsey Setlist:
- The Prologue
- Eyes Closed
- Hold Me Down
- Castle
- Good Mourning
- Heaven in Hiding
- Strangers
- Roman Holiday
- Walls Could Talk
- Bad at Love
- Alone
- Closer (The Chainsmokers cover)
- Sorry
- Lie
- Don’t Play
- Him & I (G‐Eazy cover)
- 100 Letters
- Is There Somewhere
- Now or Never
- Colors
- Young God
- Hopeless
- Gasoline [encore]
- Hurricane [encore]
Kehlani Setlist
- I Wanna Be
- Undercover
- Get Like
- In My Feelings
- The Way
- You Should Be Here
- Gangsta
- Honey
- So Into You
- Faking It (Calvin Harris track)
- Distraction
- Crzy
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