Lauv
20th November 2019
Shed 10, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Chris Zwaagdyk.
Lauv is many things. He is an existentialist with a sunshiny yellow positive side. He is a hopeless romantic, and often spicy. Sometimes goofy, Lauv can even be a self-confessed fuckboy.
But what he isn’t, is the same Lauv that treaded the boards of Auckland’s Powerstation back in March last year. Gone are the boyish brown curls, and simple sombre colours. Before last night’s attendees of just over two thousand adoring fans, stood the “one-man boy band” Lauv, an artist who refuses to be defined by a singular character trait, or category. Instead he boldly accepts each of his characteristics for essentially, they are all part of who he is.
His debut album How I’m Feeling due for release in March of next year, explores this not only throughout his music but rather obviously through the artwork of the cover itself. Embrace it all, he tells his devotees, the good and the bad. It’s a message that Lauv’s predominantly teenage to early twenties fan base both hear and understand completely.
Supported by newcomer, American singer-songwriter Carlie Hanson whose stage presence during tracks such as ‘WYA’ is as powerful as her voice, Lauv made his dramatic entrance under a lightning storm of magenta strobe lights and thunderous applause.
Dressed in a sky blue oversized sweater cardigan, his hair shaved close and the colour of red wine, Lauv paused for a moment to take it all in, the smile on his face communicating everything his audience needed to know in that one precise moment; he was there for them and them alone.
‘Drugs & The Internet’ one of the first of many singles already released from his forthcoming album had the crowd singing so loudly that they threatened to engulf Lauv whole; the huge screen behind him springing to life with technicolour images, both his drummer and keyboardist/guitarist outlined against the rapidly changing scenes. Morphing to that of a shimmering curtain of water droplets, everyone began to ecstatically cheer and once again warble in unison as ‘Paris in the Rain’ floated across the room.
Lauv has achieved what many others hope to but can never quite attain; a tangible connection with his fans. His willingness to disgorge his everyday thoughts and feelings about depression, anxiety, medication, coping mechanisms and so on, speaking directly to a generation that lives with the very same notions on a day to day basis.
Given the space to move in a venue such as Shed 10, Lauv used it to his full advantage, tossing himself carelessly across the stage, as if in a cathartic exorcism of all the unwanted emotions that wear him down; a form of stillness only passing over his body when he grabbed a guitar to add another layer to the music.
Moving from blissful pop anthems to the more melancholic ballads, the show was a rollercoaster of emotions, and while possibly jarring for the first time or more casual listener it illustrated succinctly what Lauv was conveying throughout his lyrics; the vivid geometric shapes, rainbows and simulated human forms that accompanied yet another new single ‘Sims’ breathing life into it all. In fact, Lauv’s entire show was a multi-media presentation of sorts, complete with a photo opportunity and comedy routine, the words ‘Laugh Now’ in bright white flashing across the screen in a tongue in cheek kinda way.
‘Fuck, I’m Lonely’ (his duet with Anne-Marie) was hollered from the rafters, while the Troye Sivan duet of ‘I’m So Tired…’ could no doubt be heard entire blocks away as the audience sang with complete and utter abandonment. Here they felt safe. Here they could express themselves wholeheartedly.
‘Mean It’, yet another duet, this time with Lany who also recently visited our shores was just as popular, everybody soon having the chance to catch their breath as Lauv stepped back into the shadows and let the pre-recorded narration kick in simultaneously with the writing that scrolled across the screen. It was a moment of pure honesty, Lauv speaking of his depression and anxiety and how he pulled himself from the darkness and back into the light through therapy and medication. Openly examining mental health, how it can be treated and their own experiences with it, one of the healthiest and most commendable things an artist can do.
Sadly, an acoustic version of an unreleased track was the only low point of the evening, the overwhelming size of the crowd swallowing the sound beyond the first few rows; ‘The Other’ soon getting it all back on track before an encore – which quite rightly included the eternally catchy ‘I Like Me Better’ – brought the show to a close.
Yes, Lauv has many different sides to himself, and his fans love every single one of them.
Were you there at Shed 10 for this excellent electro-pop gig? Or have you seen Lauv perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Drugs & The Internet
- Paris In The Rain
- Paranoid
- Reforget
- Sims
- Enemies
- Easy Love
- Fuck, I’m Lonely
- I’m So Tired
- Feelings
- Mean It
- Superhero
- Chasing Fire
- Bracelet
- Sad Forever
- For Now
- Getting Over You
- Breathe
- The Other
- Never Not [encore]
- I Like Me Better [encore]
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