Mara TK
16th July 2021
Titirangi War Memorial Hall, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sam Smith. Feature Photograph kindly provided by Leonie Moreland / The 13th Floor.
Fresh off the release of his excellent debut solo album Bad Meditation, former Electric Wire Hustle frontman Mara TK took to the stage in Titirangi as part of the now annual Elemental Festival in Auckland.
Playing at a sold-out Titirangi War Memorial Hall, a venue not known for its gigs as such, an eager crowd made the trip out west to get a glimpse of TK’s neo-psychedelic soul live, a style that had critics raving following the release of Bad Meditation.
Having played live with Troy Kingi and Avantdale Bowling Club in the last few years, this show would see TK move from out of the shadows into the front and centre of the stage, a role he is used to given the success of his previous band but that he has not been partial to for a while now.
That moment would have to wait, though, as opening the night was soul singer Aja Wairere-Ropata. Her short but sweet set drew on neo-soul influences; think Jill Scott and Erykah Badu but with a Maori twist.
It began with just her and an acoustic guitar before she was eventually joined by Mara TK’s band, with Mara himself guesting on bass guitar.
Aja’s set was the warm, calming recipe that was needed to start the night and really put the crowd in a good mood for what was to come.
If the entree was good, the main was next level. Kicking off with the gorgeous “Colours”, Mara TK and his five-piece band, a band that included Aja on backing vocals and Corey Champion on drums were in the mood right from the start, taking the crowd through a set that drew mostly on songs from Bad Meditation.
The early part of the set included the title track, which saw Mara on electric sitar and Aja even guesting on lead vocals for one verse, while “Met At The River” was almost hypnotic in its delivery, transitioning from a soul ballad into a freestyle improv jam that showed off the individual talents of the band.
It was the free-flowing nature of the instrumentation that was a feature throughout the set, including on songs such as Grew Up In A Chaos which saw Mara freestyling with his guitar licks while a strong piano cadence drove the song in a completely new direction from the recorded version.
Mara was in a storytelling mood as well throughout the set. This was notable when he shared the story of how his dad Billy TK wrote “Moon Song” while living as a sannyasin, and a new Donny Hathaway-esque piano ballad he premiered called “Siri Take The Wheel”, which Mara said he wrote after hearing of someone who drove into the sea thanks to Google maps.
The set finished with the perfect one-two in the form of psych soul jam “Highly Medicated”, which had the crowd up and dancing, and the Maori waiata “Te Kete Aronui” minus the harp, which Mara deemed too expensive to bring on the road, but promised to have next time.
This was a triumphant return to live performance for Mara TK and a true celebration of his excellent new album. The crowd were very receptive to the new material and seemed happy to just take it all in quietly without the hoopla of a loud show.
The songs translated well to a live setting and Mara, and his band got the arrangements spot on, with Mara himself vocally proving why he is one of the best soul singers of his generation with an at times mesmerising display of singing.
Hopefully, this is just the start of Mara TK’s rebirth as a musician as clearly the beginning of his solo career has been met in such a positive light that even the man himself seemed quite overwhelmed by the response, something that was evident last night.
Were you there at the Titirangi War Memorial Hall for this brilliant neo-psychedelic soul gig? Or have you seen Mara TK perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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