A rainy night at The Powerstation is not unusual lately but it can still be a deterrent for some people. Last night felt like a storm hit but as I arrived to the venue, a third of the crowd was already in.
By the time local opener Abby Wolfe took the stage, half the crowd had packed in. I was happy that she had a decent crowd because both them and I were about to witness a wahine with an incredible voice. Abby took the stage with 2 band members: Regal on drums and Adam Fuhr on keys. I found the bass and sound in general too loud (but that’s what earplugs are for kids!). Abby’s vocals flowed throughout the venue. You could clearly here they were live vocals and she really gave it her all. He voice touched at your emotions or lifted you up when the tempo picked up. She acknowledged those in the crowd as she packed the stage, 1 group having the best time! She really was the perfect opening act for Tom.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1Yo-SkHwd9/?igshid=tntj7ctydv1a
The Powerstation was super packed at this point that people were moshing wherever they went. I’d definitely say it was sold out. But after a refreshment top-up and quite a bit of a long intermission, the crowd finally got what they came for.
The lights went down more and his band took the stage. His band consisted of Pete Lee on keys, Huw Foster on bass and keys, Ali Thynne on drums and Laura Oaks on backing vocals. Then finally Tom Walker took the stage to a roar of cheers from the crowd “Auckland! How we feeling?!”. The first track to kick off the night was one of my favourites, ‘Angels’. I felt like this set the bar for the night. Tom’s vocals came through strong and clear and his band seemed ready to go. The lighting was also perfectly matched and remained that way throughout the night. He was all smiles as the first track came to an end and the crowd couldn’t help but reflect that. “It’s mad to be playing to this many people when we’ve never been here before. Thanks for coming down”.
Tom spoke quite a bit throughout his set which I found quite nice because not only did we get to hear where the ideas for a lot of his songs came from (listed below) but also he touched on other issues such as Brexit “which is fucked”. If you enjoy how raw Tom’s voice is on the album, like I do, you need to see him live because it is something else. Emotional, just as raw and very very powerful. Laura joined him on vocal duties for ‘Now You’re Gone’ and her vocals beautifully I’d the part of Zara Larsson. Oh and if you feel a bit bad for the weather like I did, Tom was very grateful for it as apparently the had just experienced temperatures over 30 degrees in Japan so the cold, rainy weather made them all feel “right at home”. Just before Tom performed ‘Blessings’ he touched on what the song was about, but I wanted to mention this particularly as he spoke on NZ band Fat Freddy’s Drop who he is a big fan of. He will also be opening for them soon as well. So this was clearly quite the experience for him.
Tom couldn’t stop thanking the crowd throughout his set. Obviously Tom took on the guitar role but he had a couple of solos throughout the night which were amazing and he clearly enjoyed, but he also jumped on a small drum kit during ‘Dominoes’ and did a solo with Ali and it was crazy!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1YpjWFnUjt/?igshid=1119yfjamtvgt
The show really was incredible but giving you a detailed run-down just really wouldn’t do it justice. I hope you can see it with my words above and my photos & videos below.
Walk Alone – A song with 1 of his favourite bands who are heroes to him and his mates. This doesn’t happen everyday.
Karma – He brought a wonderful guitar as he thought he deserved it after working so hard. In Italy his van got broken into and stole his new guitar. He believes in Karma and likes to think that “people who steal guitars out of the back of vans are probably going to get hit by a bus”.
Fade Away – Wrote when he was 19 years old. A 5 year relationship that ended but him getting dumped. It’s 1 of his favourite songs because at that time in his life he was upset and it was written during a bad part of his life. It was real.
Dominoes – About how shit the media is. It’s all bad news and media twist things.
Just you and I – About his fiancé. He wrote it for her.
