Roni Size, Auckland NZ, 2017

Roni Size 

28th October 2017
Studio, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Connor Crawford.

Auckland was treated to a set by the mastermind of Drum and Bass himself last night as the one and only Roni Size rolled into town for a Friday night show at The Studio.

Following a set by Cyrus, Roni Sizes’ prodigy MC Tali (aka Taranaki born Natalia Sheppard who was last seen performing at Synthony) took to the stage supported by former London based DJ Chiccoreli. Chiccoreli (aka DJ Benn Rolls-Sheppard) now resides in Auckland after marrying the lovely Tali. Describing her music as “Electronic soul meets gangsta Jazz” Tali easily impressed the crowd with her outstanding vocals and boundless energy. First moving to the UK twelve years ago and successfully being signed to Roni Sizes Full Cycle Label, Tali now has six studio albums to her name including the brilliant 2015 Wolves and her latest EP entitled Keta released just last year. Pointing to an electronic countdown clock on the giant LED wall at the back of the stage Tali hyped the crowd up, telling them that Size was less than a minute away. “I want you to give him a warm Aotearoa welcome Auckland, don’t fuck this up!” Tali half joked while looking deadly serious at the same time.

As smoke slowly covered the stage, the clock reached the end of its countdown and there he was standing behind a substantial set up consisting of two keyboards with matching laptops, Size himself looking inconspicuous in a black hoodie and cap. Wasting no time he broke straight into the music, his fingers working their magic as the crowd surged forward. Here in New Zealand for the New Forms 20th Anniversary tour, fans were promised a state of the art aural and visual show which would see Size perform within a frame that would use 3D effect projection mapping to effectively contain him within a ‘light box’. Unfortunately Auckland was treated to a more basic version with the images being instead projected onto the LED back screen. While still visually stunning with imagery that coordinated perfectly with the often intense drum and bass overtones it was a little disappointing that we were unable to see the full version of the show. The audience however seemed completely unfazed by this fact as they surrendered themselves to the music and danced frenetically; a few stopping dead in their tracks to watch the screen with wide eyes as the images dissolved into themselves.

Twenty years ago in 1997 Roni Size founded and led the drum and bass collective by the name of Reprazent; that same year they released the groundbreaking album New Forms taking home the coveted Mercury Music Prize for their efforts. Being the 20th Anniversary it was of no surprise that Size would be playing the album or at least parts of it; however what was delivered was a captivating remix of old and new as Size moved about his equipment combining live instruments (keyboards) with hardware.

‘Brown Paper Bag’ was given a new treatment early on in the set, the familiar riff bringing back memories for many of the slightly older members of the audience. Size would occasionally break from the music to speak to the fans, joking with the audience and introducing himself several times and telling them how this was the 20th Anniversary of the New Forms album; “this shit was made before some of you were born!” a massive smile spreading across his face. Black and white visuals of animated buildings, fell away to reveal shattered crystals pulsating under the heavy bass beats. While satellites zoomed across the screen only to disperse and reform into a 3D version of Size himself working away like a shadow.

Ninety minutes quickly flew by, many lost within the hypnotic beats that Size was delivering; at one point he asked the audience if they wanted to go heavy and then promptly dropped a segment that made your very bones reverberate. Towards the end of the set Size was down to just a tshirt and pants, grooving away to his own concoctions he looked to be having as much fun as the audience themselves. Removing the microphone from its stand, Size came out from behind his set up to speak with the audience more directly giving all rows, front, middle and back a shout out and asking them if they recognised the track he was currently playing (‘Unfinished Sympathy’ by Massive Attack) before finishing both his set and the evening off with a bottle of what looked to be Cognac which he opened there and then and generously shared with the front rows, pouring it into any cup that was proffered to him. Joined onstage by MC Tali, who threw her arms around his neck and gave him a huge kiss on the cheek it was a moment for the musical history books as together all who were present celebrated the anniversary of an album that will no doubt influence a whole new generation of drum and bass fans to come.

Were you there at Studio, The Venue for this epic drum n bass set? Or have you seen  Roni Size perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below! 

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