Synthony 2018
14th September 2018
The Town Hall, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Lauren Sanderson. Photography by Max Lemesh.
Following the outrageous popularity of last year’s inaugural Synthony at Auckland’s Town Hall it was no surprise that 2018’s show sold out in minutes, a second show on the Friday night having to be announced to sate the demand for tickets. This year saw Synthony teaming up with George FM DJ’s, a partnership which promised for a exciting extravaganza of musical tracks.
Upon arriving at the venue, it was great to see that a lot more thought had been put into how to get two and a half thousand people into a venue, separate entrances for each level allowing for much faster entry, once inside additional bars sated those who required it.
To warm up the crowd DJ Greg Churchill took to the decks and while better than silence his set could have done with a little more variation throughout it to keep it interesting.
By the time the impressive ninety-piece Auckland Symphony Orchestra took to the stage the audience were more than ready to get their dancing shoes on, huge applause greeting them as they took their seats. DJ General Lee, Synthony’s host for the evening introduced conductor extraordinaire Peter Thomas to lead the evening’s performance; magically mixing a sense of charm and exhilaration together, Thomas waves his baton to begin the proceedings, the Robin S track ‘Show me Love’ flooding the venue with feel good vibes, a few minor technical hiccups interrupting the start of the proceedings ever so briefly.
Synthony had certainly stepped up their game this year, along with the usual impressive stage lighting and lasers, three large projection screens above the stage displaying a range of high quality graphics from multi-coloured images of towns rushing by for Chemical Brothers ‘Star Guitar’ to tantalizing scenes of summer for a heart-felt dedication to the one and only Avicii and his track ‘Levels’.
Once again Synthony also had a stellar line-up of singers to really bring some of the tracks to life; the beautiful Ria Hall delivering a stunning version of Delirium’s ‘Silence’ while Omega Levine had the crowd singing both the song and his praises as he pulled off the unbelievably high falsetto vocals of Sam Smith for the Disclosure track ‘Latch’ And of course, what would Synthony now be without the sassy Helen Corry; dressed head to foot in white she stole the show as she sang ‘Sing It Back’ by Moloko.
The award for the loudest audience sing-a-long however had to be ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’ by the Eurythmics, the song proving so popular that they brought it back a second time as an encore. But as much as everyone loves a little impromptu karaoke, Synthony is a celebration of EDM, classics such as The Chemical Brothers ‘Galvanize’ and Faithless ‘I Can’t Get No Sleep (Insomnia)’ witnessing the venue turn into a high-energy dance party; award for biggest track of the night going to Underworld’s iconic ‘Born Slippy’.
As the night was drawing to a close it seemed that Synthony had indeed pulled out all the stops, but there was still one more surprise up their sleeve; General Lee introducing to the stage the incomparable P Digsss (Paora Apera) of Shapeshifter to perform their track ‘Electric Dream’, his spirited routine seeing the crowd go crazy.
For those who wanted to keep on dancing after the orchestra left the stage, DJ Dick Johnson was on hand with a set that included a few bangers of it’s own, tracks such as ‘Bonkers’ by Dizzee Rascal and ‘Right Here, Right Now’ by the soon to be performing in New Zealand Fatboy Slim keeping those who remained happy until it was time to finally leave the venue once and for all.
Bringing together a diverse range of ages to celebrate thirty years of the greatest dance tracks as one, Synthony once again pulled off a night like no other. See you all next year!
Were you there at the Town Hall for this triumphant orchestral dance music mashup? Or have you seen the Synthony performed at a different time? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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