Seamless Vol.4
Feat. Theia, Raiza Biza, Merk, Daffodils, Lexxa, Hans
18th August 2017
The Tuning Fork, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Jordan M Vickers.
Auckland has always been rather blessed by the fact that on any given Friday night there is a plethora of live music at numerous venues around the city from which to choose from. However – the majority of those venues also happen to be restricted to ages eighteen years and over, which means that most teens are unable to check out some of their favourite artists live. Seamless aims to change that by holding All Ages music events featuring some of New Zealand’s hottest upcoming talent. And tonight’s show (Volume 04) certainly delivers that.
First up on the bill are the twin sister duo of LEXXA featuring Maude and Julia Morris. Their sound is described as ‘melancholic dream pop’ and from their first track of the night that certainly rings true with undertones of early The Cure shining through. Second song of their set is their new track ‘I Got Better Friends Now’ a nice little tune, however the vocals are just a little out, a small issue that could be chalked up to nerves. Julia and Maude are both proficient on the guitar and keyboards and halfway through the set swap over. A cover of Paramore’s ‘Hard Times’ certainly goes down well with the crowd, but becomes just a tad shouty towards the end. Last track of their set is ‘Making Out’ at which point Maude with a cheeky smile advises the audience that “if there is someone here tonight you want to make out with just stare at them during this song”. LEXXA certainly have strong compositional structure and the tunes are catchy, a duo to watch as they develop.
With the crowd suitably warmed up a change of direction was brought to the stage by Korean Hip Hop artist Hans who first appeared on the scene in 2013 under the original moniker of Hans K. Taking the stage in a simple red hoodie, Hans immediately begins to spit out some impressive rhymes. Through the middle of his short set however he loses traction ever so slightly with his mumble rap style tracks, the crowd looking for more of a high energy performance this early into the evening. Nonetheless Hans quickly brings the crowd back in by introducing his hit ‘Better’ (also known as 1995). He crouches down low and tells the crowd that when he says “ninety” they say “five” – the chant low at first but Hans raising the volume until the crowd are chanting it back with gusto. The track is damn fine featuring a sample of the classic Ciara track ‘1, 2, Step’ which adds a suitable old school feel to the song. With the release of both his 1995 mixtape EP in January of this year and an official music video Hans has certainly made his mark on the local Hip-Hop scene.
From the moment that lead guitarist Theo Spike Salmon steps onto stage, dressed in a white shirt with a large silver cross hanging from his ear the audience are transfixed. Daffodils commands the stage and they haven’t yet even begun to play. ‘First Time Party Nightmare’ is such a brilliantly composed song that you find yourself singing the chorus regardless if it is the first time you have heard the song; the 80’s pop/new wave influences obvious in their performance. Jade Bryham on Keys/Synths is stunning, her backing vocals wonderfully melodic and the look on her face suitably disinterested in that super cool way. The band took out second place in last year’s Smokefree Rockquest and it is easy to see why with such a developed and polished performance.
Second track ‘Two Angels’ is quickly followed by the wonderfully melancholy ‘Staring at the Sun’ which tastes deliciously like Depeche Mode. Isaac Keating on drums is well oiled machine, face completely passive arms almost working independently of his body as he sits low on the kit; Louis Graham adding the infectious bass lines to each of the songs. Theo announces that this will be his last all ages gig as an underage person; the crowd whooping in celebration for him. It was therefore most appropriate that their last song of the night was ‘Seventeen (Mess)’. Daffodils are astoundingly talented and are destined to go far based on the calibre of their performance tonight.
There is a slight change in the demographic of the room as Merk begins to set up the stage; the younger attendees drifting towards the back while those who are old enough to be toting a beer in hand move towards the front. There is much anticipation for Merk’s set and it is no wonder when he has already received a Taite Music Award for Best Independent Debut (for his album entitled ‘SwordFish’) and has travelled to Montreal for the Red Bull Music Academy. Merk is the musical project of Mark Perkins who writes, produces, records, mixes and performs all of his own work in “a dark basement below the city”. Merk steps out with his bowl cut hairstyle and jumper tucked into the front of his jeans, instantly endearing in a brit-pop kinda way. But when he begins to sing, kicking off his set with the wonderfully catchy song ‘No Better Reason’ all bets are off – Merk is an act you instantaneously fall in love with.
“Hey everybody, I’m Merk and this is my band” his jaunty smile lighting up the room. Merk’s band consisting of two Matt’s; one on bass and one on drums who not only share the same name but the same birthday as well – Josh on keys making up the team. Merk’s set consists of several tracks off his Swordfish album as well as a couple of new ones that go down an absolute treat with his fans. Merk has an understated self-assurance as he sings, often stepping out to the edge of the stage to flourish his guitar and impress all with the level of his playing. At one point during the set he lays his guitar down, grabs the mic and jumps into the audience, getting down low with his admirers and encouraging all to bounce. Each and every track is a gem, glittering away, inviting you to get lost within its crystal walls. ‘I’m Easy’ is reminiscent of another talented New Zealand musician by the name of Connan Mockasin, while closing track of the set ‘Treehouse Club’ is wonderfully sweet – the fans singing the catch line back to Merk as they sway to the rhythm.
Once again Seamless switches gear with the stage being stripped back before Volt appears and takes up position behind the 1’s and 2’s. The crowd begins to cheer in anticipation for the next act, the wildly popular Rwandan rapper Raiza Biza. Currently based in Hamilton (and proud of it) Raiza already has four street albums under his belt and several tours; his relentless schedule seeing him racking up performances across NZ, Aus and Europe. Having never performed an all-ages show before, many of the younger audience members have once again moved forward to catch a glimpse of this wonderful storyteller who stalks the stage.
‘Get By’ off his Day & Night EP has wicked flow, the (recorded) vocals of Bianca Paulus punctuating the track perfectly. Raiza expertly holds the crowd in the palm of his hand as he nods to them encouraging them to join in with the line ‘we get by’. Raiza also brings a little bit of summer vibes to the room as he speaks of how he is completely over winter – a sentiment that the majority of Aucklanders would wholeheartedly agree with; the track (aptly titled ‘Summer’) warming everyone up nicely and reminding us of what is just around the corner. Raiza leaves the crowd on a mellower track entitled ‘What’s Up’, a nice comedown from the more gangsta style beats of the previous song. While his set may be short (much to the disappointment of the audience) it is of the standard of any top name international Hip Hop act; both impressing and solidifying his fan base while picking up more than a few new ones along the way.
Final act of the night almost needs no introduction; coming straight off the back of both her EP release and national tour, Theia is basically a household name. The crowd suddenly doubles in numbers, fans jostling for a position in front of the singer. Resplendent in a pale green Fenty top over one of her favourite Korean dresses, Theia dives straight into her track ‘Silver Second’, adding a slight touch of venom to her performance which suits the lyrics to a T. Following rapturous applause, Theia breaks out in a relieved smile “You guys are so sweet – I haven’t performed live in over a month since my tour; I’m so nervous!” her honesty refreshing especially in front of such a young audience. The nerves quickly faded as she moved into the sumptuous track ‘Champagne Supernova’ with its poignant lyrics and melodic chorus, the fans lapping it up. Theia goes on to introduce her next song ‘Treat You’ stating that for this particular show tonight she has given it a new treatment which she hopes we all enjoy. At first it sounds like the EP version of the track, however towards the end of the song it morphs into a cover of Drake’s ‘One Dance’ which Theia performs rather impressively with only a slight touch of breathlessness on the faster sections of the song. However the song then moves back into a breakdown of the ‘Treat You’ chorus, causing a few looks of confusion around the room. This was possibly caused by the fact that both ‘Treat You’ and ‘One Dance’ had almost been full length songs and therefore the audience had expected the next track to be something different; a small niggle and one that the crowd quickly moved on from.
‘Mr.’ Josh who has been dutifully accompanying Theia tonight, moves behind a beautiful red ‘Wurly’ (Wurlitzer electric piano) as Theia goes onto explain that it is one of her favourite instruments in the world and that she found it “completely sexy”. As Josh played, Theia performed a sweet cover of the song ‘We Might be Dead by Tomorrow’ by SoKo. A vastly different song to her usual material it showed a dramatically different side to Theia and fed rather nicely into the theatrical new track that Theia debuted for the first time live tonight. Currently untitled the song was developed during Theia’s time in LA; sounding as if it could easily be used as a James Bond theme song, the track has much potential – however the register maybe a tad high for Theia as she is unable to properly project live on the notes that would really bring this song to life. The wickedly delicious drops in the track give it that up to date edge and put it well in line to be a club banger.
Finishing with the sweet harmonies of ‘Everything’ (still one of Theia’s best live tracks) and ‘Roam’ which really saw Theia come alive with an inner light of confidence; every single member of the crowd singing the words to the track that originally put her on the map.
Were you there at The Tuning Fork for these awesome showcase performances? Or have you seen one of the acts perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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