Unless you’re a die-hard fan, One Republic isn’t a band you associate with fan fever yet as nearly 7000 people packed themselves into Auckland’s Spark Arena on Thursday night, it was clear the fever had struck, and hard.
Kicking off their first of two New Zealand shows, the atmosphere was electric. The mood was as energetic as their music and as the seven-person band took to the stage, it felt like sunshine after months of rain.
Between the shockingly bright lights, impressive tunes and the performers who you could already tell were there for a good time and not a long time, the two-time Grammy-nominated band kicked off their show with their hit song, Secrets.
Made up of Ryan Tedder, 43, Eddie Fisher, 49, Brent Kutzle, 37, Zach Filkins, 44, Drew Brown 38, Tim Myers, 38 and Brian Willett, 33, the group, who have been together for over 15 years continued on with Good Life and within five minutes of them taking the stage it was clear the beloved entertainers might be low key celebrities but they are nothing short of utterly captivating.
One Republic perform at Auckland's Spark Arena. Photo / Supplied
Tedder - the group’s lead singer and underrated star - wasn’t there to prove anything to the crowd, in fact all he wanted was for concertgoers to listen to “all the songs you already know” and have a great time while doing it.
Addressing concertgoers for the first time, he said “Auckland, this is without question - has been since I was a kid - kind of my dream country to visit and to play,” he went on to say, “Every single interview for 15-16 years when they ask ‘what’s the best country?’, ‘what’s the most amazing country you’ve ever been to?’ I say New Zealand.”
The star went on to explain to the crowd full of young kids, teens, parents and all the ages in between that their world tour is wrapping up in New Zealand with their final show in Wellington on Saturday night, “We wanted to end it here because we wanted to end on a high note. We love Australia, we love Asia but going out with this memory is going to be incredible.”
Much like the band’s discography, Tedder acknowledged that Kiwis have been able to pick from an impressive selection lately making him all the more grateful for every single person who showed up on Thursday night.
“Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran,” he said listing off only two of the many artists that have visited Aotearoa in recent weeks, “I saw the line up when I was coming here and I was like ‘I almost texted both of those guys, did you literally try to f*** me? Is this a joke?’ But here you are,” he laughed to an enthusiastic crowd.
One Republic perform at Auckland's Spark Arena. Photo / Supplied
Tedder moved around the stage performing Rescue Me, Wherever I Go and Love Runs Out, with nothing but comfort as though he was born to be there. With a mic in one hand, and a tambourine in the other he often engaged with the crowd and shouted ‘I love you too’ to anyone who expressed their love, even if he thought they could be “age-inappropriate”.
Halfway through the show, he addressed the crowd once more with a revelation that came as a shock to so many you could almost hear the gasps.
Revealing himself as the mastermind songwriter behind some of music’s biggest songs including Beyonce’s Halo, Leona Lewis’ Bleeding Love, Ellie Golding’s Burn and even Ed Sheeran’s Happier he said, “For the next 15 minutes, I’m going to play, we’re going to play hits I’ve wroten,” he said before jokingly adding, “is that what you Kiwis say?” resulting in laughs from the crowd.
“I’ve been lucky enough to work with everyone in my career,” he said listing off big names such as Sir Paul McCartney, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Carrie Underwood and many more, “so we’re going to play some songs you know, the next 15 minutes is Kiwi karaoke”.
As promised the next 15 minutes were in fact Kiwi karaoke but it continued well past covers of songs he wrote for or with other huge artists.
Continuing on with Lose Somebody, Sunshine, I Aint Worried and Counting Stars, the band proved they could have played all night and honestly, the crowd may have even wanted them to because with five albums full of massive hits to choose from, an 80 minute set just didn’t seem long enough.
Ultimately the night had to come to an end and it did so with a truly fantastic performance of If I Lose Myself.
“Thank you New Zealand, we love you.” Tedder said on behalf of the band who blew kisses to the crowd and took not one, but two well-deserved bows.
