Rag’n’Bone Man
6th April 2018
Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Chris Zwaagdyk.
In what was to be one of the most intimate settings that Spark Arena has seen this year, an evening of truly uplifting soul music was delivered with style on a Friday night.
As the rather eclectic audience of a broad range of ages settled in for the evening they were greeted with a stage awash in a sea of blue, a fitting colour for local artist Teeks who has spent much of his life by the water’s edge. Having broken onto the local music scene last year with his stunning EP The Grapefruit Skies, Teeks was indeed an inspired choice for the New Zealand leg of Rag n Bone Man’s tour; his velvety vocals and reserved yet genuine demeanour like a cool breeze on a hot summers day. Taking to the stage dressed simply in a white tshirt and grey dress pants, Teeks was this evening accompanied by the stunning Liv and Magic on back-up vocals and Mick on keys, the latter beginning the set by filling the room with gentle notes as Teeks began with ‘Wash Over Me’.
While obviously not his first live show, this was for Teeks his first tour as he would later inform the audience, his nerves obvious each time he addressed the crowd; yet this detracted nothing from his performance, instead it only made him more endearing to all who were present, his humbleness adding to the genuine emotion portrayed throughout his songs.
Teeks (born Te Karehana Gardiner-Toi) is one of those rare gems that only come around once in a blue moon; spending much of his life between Hokianga and Tauranga his affiliation with the water is evident in his music, many of his songs as calming as the rhythm of the ocean itself. But do not be fooled, there is an underlying current of passion in his music that is guaranteed to sweep you off your feet. With songs such as ‘Change’, the heartbreaking ‘Never Be Apart’ and of course his debut single ‘If Only’ fans both old and new were left with a smile across their face and a heart that felt lighter. Throwing in a cover of the Prince track ‘How Come You Don’t Call Me (although some of the younger members of the audience may have recognised it from the 2001 Alicia Keys version) Teeks proved that he can take a classic track and craft it into something uniquely his. With beautiful harmonization from both Liv and Magic, Teeks finished his set with two new tracks; ‘Waves’ and ‘Without You’ providing the audience with a tantalizing taste of what is to come from this stunning young artist.
Accompanied by a full seven piece band, Rag’n’Bone Man made his entrance tonight buoyed by the raucous applause of all in attendance, flashing them a smile that lit up the room.
“Holy Shit”.
While probably not the first sentence fans expected from the English artist, it made both him and many in attendance burst out laughing, setting the tone for what would be a simultaneously inspiring and yet humorous evening. As a low rumbling bass line struck up, Rag’n’Bone began with a slow burner verse of ‘Reuben’s Train’ by The Dillards, flexing his mighty vocal chords as he morphed it seamlessly into his first track of the evening ‘Wolves’. Jaws on the floor upon its conclusion, the exhilaration coming from the crowd was palpable; if this was just the beginning, this was obviously going to be an awe inspiring night. After thanking the fans for turning up for the last night of his three date NZ tour, Rag’n’Bone Man (aka Rory Charles Graham) moved through the first half of his set with ease, regaling the crowd with anecdotes of backgrounds to many of his songs; “This song is about my ex-girlfriend always being late” he chuckled as he introduced ‘Your Way Or The Rope’, proving that not every track has to come from a place that is deep and meaningful. Dressed in a mottled black and white tshirt, his black and red Nike’s adorning his feet, Rag’n’Bone Man moved across the half-circle stage connecting with many in the first few rows, a striking piece of greenstone hanging around his throat.
While it would be easy for his bass-baritone voice to become lost when accompanied by a live band, the sound mix was absolutely on point tonight, and was later commented on by many as being some of the best that they had heard at the arena. Much of this of course was also down to the band itself, both the trombone and bass player tonight of outstanding quality; perceptively complimenting Rag’n’Bones vocals without ever overpowering them. Moving through into his more emotionally charged songs, ‘The Fire’ saw many in the first few rows close their eyes, absorbing not only the music but the emotion deep within themselves, the ache in his words something that many would have felt in their own lives.
“How you guys doin?” Rag’n’Bone checked in with the audience, their cheers letting him know that they were with him all the way. Speaking briefly of his musical career, he spoke of how this was “not his first rodeo”. Indeed his musical career began at the very tender age of just five, his involvement with both a drum and bass crew and later the rap group Rum Committee giving him a chance to hone his skills over the years before storming the music scene with his debut album Human last year. Proving that family is indeed one of the most important things to him, Rag’n’Bone Man delivered several songs to the audience that were written about those close to him such as the sweet ‘Life In Her Yet’ which was penned for his grandmother – “She deserved a song” – and the lovely ‘Odetta’ written for his best friends daughter, even though according to Rag’n’Bone, his best friend “is a twat”.
‘Grace’ was even given a unique twist tonight; speaking of how the song is about hope, Rag’n’Bone Man was suddenly heckled by an audience member who declared loudly “fuck hope”. Rather than insulting him, Rag’n’Bone erupted in laughter declaring that it was one of the best heckles he had ever heard; the statement obviously tickling his funny bone as he inserted a serious “fuck hope” in both the middle and end of the track, the audience joining him in his mirth. While both ‘Skin’ and ‘Human’ were wildly popular with the fans tonight, the latter being finished with Rag’n’Bone deftly spitting some impressively grimy rhymes, both tracks sounding even larger than life, it was the acapella version of ‘Die Easy’ that truly saw him carve his name as one of the best voices in the industry to date. Full bodied and rich with earthy tones, there was no pretence here, just pure, unadulterated and completely refreshing talent.
Finishing the night with an encore of both ‘Bitter End’ and ‘Hell Yeah’ it was almost with a note of sadness that we had to bid farewell to this massive voice. His return to our shores in the very imminent future is something we all should be hoping for.
Were you there at Spark Arena for this beautiful blues, pop and soul gig? Or have you seen Rag’n’Bone Man perform live somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Rag’n’Bone Man Setlist:
- Reuben’s Train (Intro) [The Dillards cover]
- Wolves
- Ego
- Your Way Or The Rope
- The Fire
- No Mother
- Hard Came The Rain
- Lay My Body Down
- Life In Her Yet
- Odetta
- Grace
- George Has A Friend
- Skin
- As You Are
- Human
- Die Easy
- Bitter End [encore]
- Hell Yeah [encore]
Teeks Setlist
- Wash Over Me
- Change
- How Does It Feel
- Never Be Apart
- How Come You Don’t Call Me [Prince cover]
- If Only
- Waves
- Without You
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