However, when the band took the music into its own hands in songs like Luna Steppa or the lilting Predetermined Machine, the musicians had their own striking colours to dispense, brilliantly in the case of Leo Coghini’s swirling organ and R2-D2 Moog play.
Singing Turūkanīnī in te reo gave this powerful salute to the land a greater resonance, and Kingi’s “beacon of hope” benefited from powerful vocals, with Mara TK at his soulful best in its second verse.
The night’s musical journey was a showcase for Kingi as one of our finest songwriters, creating waiata that take the free wordsmithery of rap and harness it, beguilingly, into hook-laden tunes, often laced with bewitchingly silken harmonies.
Yet an encore of Kingi’s Silver Scroll-winning All Your Ships Have Sailed became a red-hot jam session that climaxed in some visceral musical sparring between Kingi’s guitar and Treye Liu’s drums.
Once again, the APO proves itself a consummate builder of bridges, connecting the many cultural strands of our city. After some particularly warm applause for Salina Fisher’s orchestral piece Galaxy, conductor David Kay urged the audience to look out for Fisher’s new concerto for taonga pūoro, which will have its world premiere next month.
The Details
What: Matariki with Troy Kingi
Where: Auckland Town Hall
When: Thursday, July 13
Reviewer: William Dart
