The Rubens – Galatos February 16, 2018

It’s Friday night in Auckland city and bars and venues are all pumping full of people. Just off the hustle and bustle of K’Road is Galatos. People are trickling in to see The Rubens who are playing here tonight. The night kicks off with local act Unchained XL, who gets the intimate crowd ready for the night ahead.
Unchained XL (Hugh Ozumba) is a Nigerian Kiwi Hip Hop Artist & Producer. His music is also described as ‘afrofunk’ but it  also felt like a mix of reggae and blues. The crowd seemed to really enjoy his music as he built the crowd up slowly and didn’t give the crowd too much too soon. Unchained XL has smooth raps which flow into the music effortlessly, providing a good vibe to all. He performed with a live band who he called “The Chaka Boys” however there is 1 female on guitar. As the crowd got more into it, the set was coming to an end and he managed to get the crowd to sing-a-long and also put their hands together. After the set finished the crowd was more energetic and after grabbing a drink, the crowd all squashed up to the front of the stage for The Rubens.

The five-piece from Australia set up their gear and then departed the stage to make their official entrance. As the band graced the stage they are all wearing smiles, clearly reciprocated off the excited crowd. But there’s no small talk as the band dives into the first song and continues to pump them out 1 after the other.

During the first song, lead vocalist Sam Margin jumped into the crowd and stood near the front, surrounded by fans, singing to them all. However after playing a few more songs the show seemed to just blur into one but that didn’t bother the crowd.

The band kept it simple at Galatos. There was no fancy lighting or theatrics, just them, their instruments, solid lighting and the crowd. Stopping about midway through the set, Sam checked to see if the crowd was “having fun” and to “keep it going”, as they played a new & unreleased track. Elliot Margin on the keys provided backing vocals and he harmonized very well with Sam. The sound was very well done, with the instruments, Sam’s vocals and Elliot’s vocals all being heard very clearly.

The one thing that seemed rather strange was how guitarist Izaac Margin has his back to the crowd for the majority of the show. He repeatedly faced drummer Scott Baldwin, only turning around to tune and play briefly. Bass player William Zeglis also seemed to urge him on a bit.

Galatos isn’t very well air conditioned but the band didn’t seem to mind as they mentioned they were hot but it’s nice and nowhere near as bad as Australia is currently. Sam went on to tell the crowd how they still can’t believe they can travel and play music. Following on from that speech, Sam said his goodbyes and they ended their set with Million Man.

However, that was clearly not the end, with a loud and drawn out “encore!” chant started, particularly from the males in the crowd. The band came back with Sam telling the crowd that they were “legends” and that they would do 2 more. During the second-to-last song Sam jumped into the crowd, with his guitar, one more time to be intimate with the fans. But then came that time of the night. The ACTUAL final song. The Rubens bid Auckland farewell and mentioned they will be hanging around after before finishing off the night with popular single Hoops.

Some of the crowd hung around to meet the band. However most of the crowd dispersed to take in more of Auckland’s pumping Friday nightlife.

Shelley Te Haara

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