Kygo
17th October 2018
Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Leah Victoria.
Tropical house master Kygo rolled into town last night with his Kids In Love tour; the fact it was a school night not deterring any of the thousands of punters.
Auckland’s Spark Arena opened its doors early for the dedicated, an energetic set from Canadian EDM DJ and producer Frank Walker – who cut his teeth mixing progressive and big room house in college – starting the night off right; his latest offering ‘Heartbreak Back’ feat. Riley Biederer certainly popular.
With a free flow layout allowing those who wanted to take a break from the dancefloor for a bit of a chillout in the seats; there was a wonderfully relaxed vibe in the air to which second act for the night – Australian singer/songwriter Conrad Sewell – arrived to.
While he may have guest sung on one of Kygo’s earliest big hits, much of Sewell’s work is more melodic and soul based, his set tonight featuring interchanging instrumental highlights provided by both a guitarist and keyboardist and at one time a stunning violinist. Beginning his set seated behind the keyboards with the well-known ‘Start Again’ from his 2015 EP All I Know, and Sewell certainly had his fans hooked as they moved through the crowd and closer to the barrier; however having a performance such as his sandwiched between two acts such as Frank Walker and Kygo was always going to be difficult, many of the audience there specifically for the EDM and thus losing interest and chattering amongst themselves. Full credit to Sewell though as he turned in a magnificent set that showcased his outstanding vocal range and that distinctly aussie humour; his cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘Man in the Mirror’ breathtaking and once again capturing much of the crowd’s attention as they sang along with him to the emotional classic. Finishing on ‘Healing Hands’ from his sophomore EP Ghosts & Heartaches released a few months ago and Sewell bid farewell to the crowd promising a return later in the night to deliver ‘Firestone’ alongside Kygo.
Nearing nine o’clock and dry ice infiltrated the stage, the now packed dancefloor beginning to whoop as they waited for Kygo to appear.
While born in Singapore in 1991, Kygo – real name Kyrre Gørvell-Dahl – is Norwegian, his childhood spent living in countries such as Japan, Brazil and Egypt. Citing the late Avicii as his main influence, Kygo was soon learning how to produce music thanks to a MIDI keyboard and YouTube. But it wasn’t until 2013 and his remix of the Ed Sheeran track ‘I See Fire’ that saw Kygo shoot to super stardom; the now twenty-seven-year-old DJ and producer one of the hottest acts in the world.
Appearing atop a tower in the centre of the stage and framed by a huge screen behind him Kygo had the crowd dancing from the moment he began. Early hits included remixes of ‘The Middle’ by Zedd, ‘Jackie Chan’ by Tiësto & Dzeko and ‘One Kiss’ by Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa, each one punctuated by cascading showers of sparks or Co2 canons, hyping the crowd up from the onset. Dedicating ‘Without You’ to Avicii and you could feel the collective love and respect in the room for the Swedish producer who was taken from this world far too early.
While Tropical House can often be written off as ‘chill-out’ music and not danceable, Kygo proved throughout the evening that he knew just where to place a well-timed drop to have the crowd bouncing in time to the bass line. Coupled with an outstanding stage production that spared no expense – multiple pyrotechnics intermingling with Co2 canons, lasers and stunning graphics – and the fans couldn’t have asked for much more.
But Kygo had so much more to give.
He had brought along a few friends for the ride, one of the first Justin Jesso appearing to deliver a scorching live rendition of ‘Stargazing’ while later in the set, Bonnie McKee stole the show with both her outfit and rendition of ‘Riding Shotgun’. Kygo himself taking to the stage to sit behind a mini grand piano and show off his talent for playing the ivory keys. Mixing in some classics such as ‘Boogie Wonderland’ and his remix of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Sexual Healing’ saw the crowd celebrate, while his own bangers such as ‘Remind Me To Forget’, ‘First Time’ and brand spanking new track ‘Happy Now’ feat. Sandro Cavazza reminded the crowd that Kygo is one hell of a creator as well.
As the night drew to a close Kygo showered the crowd in rainbow confetti as ‘Stole The Show’ feat. Parson James swept through the arena, the fans giving it everything they had before loudly demanding an encore as the lights went down.
Sure enough Kygo returned with his good friend Sewell in tow to deliver his first big hit; ‘Firestone’ featuring a live string quartet and Kygo once again behind the piano; Sewell the star of the moment however as he delivered vocals that quite literally made you take a step back with how clean and powerful they truly were. Leaving the crowd dancing in copious amounts of rainbow confetti that once again rained down from the ceiling and Kygo quietly slipped away, no doubt on route to his next headlining show … because frankly there is no stopping the trajectory of this star.
Were you there at Spark Arena for this exciting tropical house gig? Or have you seen Kygo perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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