Mitch James
28th September 2018
Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Alexis Brook. Analog Photography by Léa Taillefer.
Friday night, and the Powerstation is positively buzzing for this sold out show from New Zealand’s own Mitch James. Pockets of fans in shadowed corners had already begun to sing snippets of the songs they had come to hear James himself sing; the predominantly under twenty-five crowd obviously excited, and ready for what would undoubtedly be an excellent night out.
A solid crowd was ready and waiting as support act Alayna appeared just after eight-thirty. Spotlighted at centre stage, Alayna Powley is a graduate of Auckland’s MAINZ college and with 10 years of song writing experience under her belt, she performs a great set of soulful tunes, supported by her “boys”, Damian Graham on drums, Noema Te Hau III on guitar, Aaron Strickland on bass and Jay Taala on keys. I particularly enjoyed ‘Between Dusk and Dawn’ and ‘Bliss’ however, it was sadly a little hard to clearly hear her performance over the excited chatter of the crowd.
Alayna’s music would be well suited to a Rhythm & Vines setting, perfect for people chilling on the lawn; perhaps some opportunities for Music in the Parks this coming summer. Either way keep an eye on this artist as her performance confidence continues to develop.
Soon enough a thrumming bass echoes around the room. As excited screams intensify, Mitch James exuberantly opens the show with ‘It’s Not Helping’ from his self-titled debut album. Dressed in the standard muso attire of black jeans, casual shoes and comfy t-shirt, James interjects his opening number with “Holy shit! How we feeling, Auckland?!”
Less than two years ago this young man was homeless, busking the streets of Europe and living hand to mouth while trying to figure out where he was going in life. Who would’ve thought that it would end eighteen months later with a debut album on a major record label, sold out concerts, opening for Ed Sheeran and collaborating with artists such as Six 60 and Emily Warren who has written songs for international artists such as The Chainsmokers, Sean Paul and Shawn Mendes.
James has a fantastically captivating stage presence, his connection with the audience effervescent yet still holding an element of humbleness mixed with genuine excitement as if he still doesn’t believe where he currently his. Performing in your hometown, after a rather successful Australasian tour must be the icing on the cake.
Scanning the room of faces this audience clearly knows and loves this talented New Zealand musician, parents and children alike singing along to every song; ‘Can’t Help Myself’ one that deserves to soar on radio stations nationwide.
Paring down to his roots of just vocals and a guitar, James states that he’d like to perform an Ed Sheeran cover. However, getting a venue full of people to be quiet long enough to set up the various layers of looping he admits is kind of hard, commenting that one person always spoils it; so, if possible he would like everyone to be silent for a mere ten seconds. As predicted as soon as the first notes of Ed Sheeran’s’ ‘Happier’ leave the guitar, an audience member cries out “Oh my God, I’m gonna cry!” James chuckles and points in their direction exclaiming “See!!”. It takes a few minutes of shushing between loops but finally the tracks are laid and it’s a really smooth cover. A brilliant homage, to someone James refers to as a mentor.
The next track ‘No Fixed Abode’ is introduced as one he wrote in Amsterdam following being arrested for busking; due to the fact he was living in hostels and couch surfing during this time the police had no permanent address to charge him to. We are also treated to a guest appearance by the fantastic Thomas Oliver fresh from his tour of Berlin and it is clear to see that James is thrilled to have Oliver join him on stage.
New Single, ‘Old News’, is another crowd-pleaser, James showcasing the fact that he is just as comfortable performing without a guitar as he is with one; while ‘Bright Blue Skies’, is a song to hum along to when you don’t care what others think of you anymore, and you’re over their drama, it’s definitely one to turn up loud on the stereo…
Of course, the song that everyone was waiting for was ‘21’, a track that speaks of feeling lost at twenty-three and wishing to turn back time by a couple of years. Clearly a song that resonated deeply with the audience it will likely be one of those anthems for a few years to come.
Returning to stage for a fabulous encore mashup which included Blackstreet’s ‘No Diggity’ and Ed Sheeran’s ‘Don’t’ along with a little Snoop Dogg & Outkast; James was still visibly buzzing with energy and probably could have kept singing for at least another hour.
However, it was indeed time for the final song of the evening; ‘Move On’ seeing the crowd on the dance floor groove to the beat. In today’s world of digital streaming it is pleasing to see artists supported so wholeheartedly live; although not surprisingly when you have songs with well over two million streams on Spotify!
Mitch James, I believe is a generation-defining artist for NZ and I am very excited to watch how his career develops internationally.
Were you there at Powerstation for this beautiful pop show? Or have you seen Mitch James perform live some other time? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Mitch James Setlist:
- It Ain’t Helping
- All The Ways To Say Goodbye
- Can’t Help Myself
- Happier [Ed Sheeran cover]
- No Fixed Abode
- One More
- Old News
- Bright Blue Skies
- No Getting Older
- Got Today
- Lay It On The Line
- 1950 [King Princess cover]
- Apologise
- 21
- (Mashup) [encore]
- Move On [encore]
Alayna Setlist:
- High Off You
- Sweet Soul
- Between Dusk And Dawn
- Bliss
- Falling Autumn
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