LAUV – The Powerstation March 19, 2018

LAUV brought his I Met You When I Was 18 World Tour To Auckland’s Powerstation last night. The 13th Floor’s Shelley Te Haara was there.

It’s a brisk Monday night as I arrive to The Powerstation. The queue isn’t too long at this point and the first thing I notice is, it’s a young crowd and predominantly female. As it hits 8pm the crowd is let in. The downstairs floor is R18 which at first seemed weird to me as this crowd seemed to be more under 18. However as the show got closer to starting, both areas began to fill up. Finally the house music stops and the first band makes their way on to the stage.

LA WOMEN is a 3-piece band from Auckland. The stage is a wash in multi-coloured lighting as they dive into their set. Though they had to stop to say hi after the first song which included acknowledging those upstairs as well. I wasn’t sure if the crowd knew who they were but they were definitely enjoying their set. Then suddenly during the set, I look up and see Nick Chrisp of SACHI has joined them on stage.

LA WOMEN have just recently released a new track Count it up which features SACHI. After a few tracks the 1 thing I couldn’t shake was the bass. It was so loud that it seemed to overpower the performance a bit. Even with earplugs in, there was no drowning it out. But the smooth vibe of LA WOMEN was still dominant as well. Their sound sort of reminded me of LANY and I wondered if they were quite a primary influence on the trio.

After playing more tracks, they only interrupted a couple more times to ask how the crowd was and introduce themselves. But sadly their set did not end well. They were playing a great set and as much as the crowd was enjoying it, the technical difficulties ended it. The laptop that had been playing some of the music clearly failed. But rather than talk with crowd or do a bit of an impromptu performance, the band just hung around the computer trying to sort it which threw the crowd off. Some left to get drinks while the majority just stood around chatting.

After about 5 minutes or so, the problem was sorted. But as they played the next track, they realised the guitar wasn’t working. They managed to sort it in a couple of minutes but after getting through that particular song, they said goodbye. Clearly they had to cut their set short due to the time wasted with those issues. It was rather sad to see it happen to a talented local band as it was a great set.

After a short break came the guy everyone had been waiting for, LAUV.

He started out on the keys to play a snippet of his hit single I Like Me Better before taking centre stage. He moved to the front of the stage with an umbrella in his hand. The stage was lit in a sea of blue as he opened the umbrella and kicked off the track Paris in the Rain. During the performance he ditched the umbrella though it clearly didn’t want to go as it popped back open when it hit the stage.

LAUV didn’t waste any time getting intimate as he crouched down at the front of the stage and held the hands of the girls in front of him. I found it nice that he would make sure each moment for the persons hand he held was special, by locking eyes and clearly singing directly to that person.

As the songs picked up in tempo, so did his energy. “Auckland, New Zealand! It’s going to be a great Monday night. Actually lets forget that it’s Monday, it’s going to be a great night!.”

LAUV is backed by 1 male drummer and a women on keys, both of which seemed to be enjoy being up there too. The next song, Paranoid, really got the crowd moving. It felt like a track you might hear in a club. LAUV was jumping all over the place and his energy combined with the colourful lighting made for a great combo, as well as the intimate interactions with fans. I don’t think he was prepared for the crowd as he mentioned that he “was not expecting this for a Monday” and told the crowd to “make some noise” for themselves.

It was his first time performing in New Zealand but the last date for this portion of the tour. So he told the crowd he wants to “get really really really really really weird”. He explained how he cant really dance but he’s going to tonight and will give it more if the crowd join in with him. Apparently there has been a few embarrassing gifs made from his dancing to this particular track – A Different Way Ft. DJ Snake. But LAUV managed to get everyone jumping as well as bust out some funny dance moves.

As the energy room seemed to be going up, he brought it back down and made the room feel more small and intimate by performing acoustically. A keyboard was set up on stage and LAUV took a seat to perform The Story Never Ends. He  kept it same for the next track Come Back Home except he was playing the guitar rather than the keys. It was clear he was picking the energy back up again as he dived into Question. W

hile performing he grabbed a couple of pairs of colourful glasses from the crowd. He even attempted to put a pair on his drummer but sadly they fell off instantly. At the end of the track he got the crowd to “make some noise for the sunglasses”. It was rather random.

LAUV told the crowd he tends to write sad songs, particularly about break-ups, but he is in a better space now. The next song wasn’t about a break-up it was about makeup sex. While performing Easy Love he donned the glasses again for a bout 5 more seconds and even dabbled on his sound board, as he did for quite a few tracks. There was a nice small instrumental break down and then he finished off the track with a crowd sing-a-long which was louder than I expected.

To kick off Adrenaline he got the crowd to clap along before the beats came in. The crowd was dancing a lot. LAUV clearly noticed both the crowd and himself had been putting a lot into it as he asked them to “make some noise if they were sweaty” and poured water over his head. Then  he spoke to the crowd about a project he has been doing while on tour where he gets the crowd to write down a sad thought and put it into the container. He reads through them and said some of them are beautiful and he hopes it’s a bit of a release for them. He posts some of them with a crowd photo on his blog, which led to him taking a photo with the crowd. LAUV then sat at the keys again to perform a beautiful track called Breathe. He asked the crowd to wave their phone lights side to side. It was a nice accompaniment.

Then it was time for the last song. Getting Over You was clearly a familiar track for the crowd to end on and it bought their energy back up. But as he thanked the crowd he nearly stumbled off the stage, stating he was “thinking about the kebab he was going to get after”.

After departing the stage for about 5 minutes he got the crowd snapping a long as he dived into his hit single I Like Me Better. The crowd went rather crazy as they danced and sang along. Even LAUV was impressed, telling them they have “good timing”. Then suddenly the stage and his logo in the middle of the stage lit up with rainbow lights. Once again he thanked the crowd. LAUV was feeling grateful as he explained how he went from writing songs for others to performing his own songs. After one more thank you he played The Other which he said was the first song he released. He thanked the crowd, the drummer chucked out his drum sticks and they were gone.

Shelley Te Haara

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