Milky Chance – Powerstation April 26, 2017

German duo Milky Chance returned to Auckland’s Powerstation to a sold out crowd.

The night began with a crowd of enthusiastic fans chatting and drinking over the Rockabilly background music, with 3 drum kits, a small midi keyboard and a few vocals mics on the blue-lit stage. What was to come?

The crowd cheered as local favourites Polyester took the stage with their trademark chill sound. Through unexpected falsetto gang vocals and the sound of leaf singer Sylvia’s warm smooth vocal, it was a great start to the night.

But the crowd was there to see Milky Chance and as they took the stage the crowd went insane – jumping up and down, flailing their hands along to the duo’s first song Clouds.

Clemens Rehbein (lead singer) had a strong, twangy but coarse voice that cut through the heavy kick drum and simple melodies of the guitars. Each song had a straight Alternative-Pop feel to it but there were also a lot of different genres intertwined. We heard influences of country, rock, reggae, pop and folk through all of their songs including Flashed Mind Junk, Cold Blue Rain, Fairytale and Alive.

Throughout the set, each song was super catchy and the crowd sang along to every word. Beer rained from the balcony above, but the audience below didn’t seem to mind. Somehow they got more and more energetic and enthusiastic through each song. Nearing the end of their set, the crowd was singing the hooks of each song at the top of their lungs which clearly made the band happy.

My highlight of the night was the sudden unexpected harmonica solo from  guitarist Antonio Gregor during song Peripeteia. Hyping up the crowd even more with such a strong melody before throwing it towards the ground for a stage hand to catch as he returned to his guitar. As the night went on, the harmonica kept popping up and eventually it became a game as to when it would next show up.

Loveland was the most stripped-back performance of the night. An acoustic guitar played in harmony with the harmonica as the crowd sang the “So in Love” hook, cheering Clemens on as he alternated notes, not taking a single breath for a good 15 seconds.

Although the room full of hardcore fans was enthralled, I found myself a little bored after the first half as musically the show became predictable and there wasn’t much to look at. However, the crowd was having the time of their lives so maybe with a few drinks it would have been a completely different story. By the end of the night it was impressive how much energy they could put into their dancing. Jumping and clapping out of time, shouting at the top of their lungs – right through the epileptic lights of the last encore Sweet Sun. 

After which both the audience and myself were happily sent home, satisfied with a great night.

Indigo Harding
Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Chris Zwaagdyk:

Milky Chance set list:

1. Clouds
2. Ego
3. Blossom
4. Doing Good
5. Firebird
6. Flashed Junk Mind
7. Peripeteia
8. Cold Blue Rain
9. Fairytale
10. Down By The River
11. Sadnecessary
12. Alive
13. Bad Things
14. Loveland
15. Cocoon
16. Stolen Dance
17. Sweet Sun