Presented by Live Nation

One Republic at Spark Arena - Image Credit Ginny Cocks

Review By: James Brown

Photos/Image Credits to: Ginny Cocks

Artist/Band: OneRepublic with special guest Freya Ridings

Venue/City: Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand

Date of Event: Wednesday 4th February 2026

The opener for this leg of OneRepublic’s Sweet Escape tour is English singer-songwriter Freya Ridings. She swept imperiously on to the Spark Arena stage in a black dress suggestive of Victorian mourning fashion. Her accompaniment was minimal: an acoustic guitarist (her husband, Ewan Phillips) and two backup singers (Elize Kellman and James Bradshaw). There is no shame in using a recorded backing track instead of a full band, particularly for a support act, where part of the brief is not to outshine the headliner. But it might be wise to keep the arrangement somewhat understated, to better avoid drawing attention to the lack of onstage musicians. However, millennial pop can’t resist the drama of a big booming bass drum, particularly as a bombastic counterpoint to a reedy mezzo soprano vocal. When she sat down to play the piano, there were times when it seemed academic, as the sound of the instrument was largely lost in the muddy bass-heavy soundscape. But no matter. Truthfully, it was all about the close-hamomy vocals, which were variously ethereal and powerful, with a bluegrass folkiness. She certainly does have a good voice, not lacking power in the lower range, as well as an engaging stage presence. She played a few new songs off her upcoming album, starting with Undefeated. The audience were ready to be thrilled – when she brought out a ukulele for Dancing in the Kitchen, inspired by her mother, the mere appearance of the instrument drew cheers.

This was Freya Ridings’ first show in New Zealand. I don’t believe in making predictions about an artist’s career trajectory, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the next time she returns to our shores it will be headlining in her own right. If she doesn't hit it big, it won't be because of any shortage of talent – perhaps merely the lack of an obvious enough point of difference.

After a fairly lengthy break to reset the stage, it was on to the main event. A little unspoken secret about Spark Arena is that it is not necessarily as large a venue as its arena status implies. By squeezing the stage progressively closer to the entrance, the scale of the space can concertina down, depending on how many tickets have been sold, so that it still feels full with a comparatively modest crowd. Not so tonight – the stage was right back, making use of the entire length of the arena. I don’t know the numbers, but certainly a large crowd had turned out. OneRepublic can unquestionably boast a healthy Kiwi fanbase. I can say for certain that they have at least one more fan today – I went in expecting to be only mildly impressed, but came away converted.

Straight out of the gate, we were barraged by a thick wall of sound and drama. It instantly made sense to me that they had toured with U2. You instantly know without question that you are listening to a band for whom ‘party’ is a verb. With or without your say-so, you are going to enjoy yourself. Before we were more than two songs in, the stage was already richly bathed in the colours of the trans pride flag (not as any kind of statement, but just because it looked incredible) and streamers were cascading from the ceiling.

I admire when an artist can get away with shamelessly sucking up to the locals. I mean that sincerely. Bare-faced pandering is embarrassing when it’s too obvious, but endearing when it’s expertly pulled off with humour and charisma – which multitalented frontman Ryan Tedder possesses in spades. ‘Goddamn we love New Zealand! All my life, I dreamed of coming here. If shit gets weirder in the US, I am on a one-way ticket to New Zealand,’ etc. During Good Life he substituted the lyric ‘my friends in Auckland’, replacing ‘my friends in New York’ – for an instant huge cheer. He showed off his silver fern tattoo, which allegedly gets him upgrades on Air New Zealand flights (as if he ever flies any class other than first these days!) The more blatant it got, the more likeable the whole thing was. While Ryan Tedder looks effortlessly stylish wearing his trademark black baseball cap and a simple white T-shirt, he was admittedly rather less so after donning an All Blacks scarf and bucket hat. But his drop-kicking form, blasting signed rugby balls deep into the crowd, made you wonder if there is anything he isn’t good at.

Every member of the band is a genuine mutli-instrumentalist talent. Many bands, yearning for the emotional resonance of a lilting string section, have suffered the indignity of a ‘why don’t we collaborate with a symphony orchestra’ phase. For OneRepublic there is no need, as they are happy enough to simply play cello and violin themselves.

A peppy intro whistled by keyboardist Brian Willett was greeted by a hearty cheer. Not so fast! This was merely a (deliberate?) tease. It wasn’t time for the mega-hit I Ain't Worried just yet. But the simple, rolling beat of Run had the crowd eagerly clapping along, with the feeling of an old-timey tent revival.

Tedder announced that the next song would be one that was a big success in New Zealand and Australia, but wasn’t very popular in the States – another sly opportunity to make us feel a bit special. He joked, ‘What if I sang Lorde’s Royals?’ It was just a brief aside, but he actually did sing a bar of the chorus, and it sounded hair-raisingly good. He was referring to Something I Need. (Believe me, you know it quite well – ‘If we only die once, I wanna die with you.’) I realised for the first time that the catchy chorus is such an earworm, I had previously missed how well-crafted the verses are. Weird thought, but listening live, it suddenly reminded me of the sort of song that would have sounded natural being sung by Elvis.

Such are Ryan Tedder’s songwriting credentials, it is natural for there to be a segment of each performance where they play a selection of songs he has written for other artists. Look at his songwriting credits, and you’ll see this could easily go on for a while, but they carefully kept it brief. Tedder explained that certain songs just don't work as well when he sings them (‘I sound like shit in Spanish.’) I thoroughly enjoyed his anecdote about writing Halo, describing how he and Evan Bogart tried to get into the headspace of being desperately in love with Jay-Z. The intro was a chance to dispel any doubts that he is a virtuoso pianist, in addition to his many other talents. I now know that I have Ryan Tedder to thank (or blame?) for the closest I have ever come to actually liking Beyoncé.

A montage of Auckland street scenes. Realistically, I suppose they just send someone out to put together a reel like this for every stop on the tour. I don’t care. It managed to make you feel as though they genuinely do love visiting Aotearoa – the surest way of making us like you. Maybe it shows how parochial we are, but really we just want to be liked. And I think the same is true of OneRepublic. More than the money and fame (although I assume Ryan Tedder has a lot of money – seriously, check out how many massive artists he has written or produced for, which is where the real money is) you sense that they genuinely just want people to like them. And why the hell should they feel the need ta-pologize for that? OK, yes, I admit that it has always annoyed me that the titular lyric of their first hit doesn't scan.

Next was the soon-to-be-released single I Need Your Love. We were told they have made a conscious decision to first bring it to audiences live, as opposed to the more usual approach these days of using social media to push a new single. The band is justifiably proud of this new song. It felt instantly familiar, which I now suspect might be the mark of a bona fide pop hit – although it’s your first time hearing it, you could swear you have heard it hundreds of times before. A true cynic might call that a sign of genericness rather than quality. I didn’t say that, though.

Now the whistling returned. Only this time it actually was time for the certified crowd pleaser. And the crowd obliged by being very pleased indeed. Even in a dark concert venue, I Ain’t Worried feels like being at the beach. I really like the fact that the band decided to share writing credit with Peter Bjorn and John when they realised retrospectively how similar it sounds to Young Folks – they didn’t have to, but they felt it was the right thing to do.

Now, I’ve said I was a new fan; I didn’t say they were perfect. A black-and-white video montage began, of OneRepublic fans talking about how inspiring, talented, and just… nice the band is. Call me cynical, but it wasn’t long before it took on the awkward feeling of a hostage video. It served to introduce I Lived – chances are you have heard this inspirational anthem as the backing music for some worthy charity, possibly for children who have overcome a dreadful disease. I have to admit, this part of the set started to lose me. I can only stomach so much relentless positivity. I think you need a bit of emotional range. 100% happiness all the time is inevitably just as monotonous as no happiness at all. Even Counting Stars, their song about the anxiety of financial hardship, has the energy of a bouncy party anthem. If there is one theme that predominates throughout pop music of the millennial era, it is an obsession with describing what a good time we are either having or are about to be having. But you know what? The audience were having a good time, so fair play.

It was a very welcome change of tone when Zach Filkins played a moody Spanish guitar solo, looming solidly (he reminds me oddly of Patrick Warburton) under a solitary spotlight. He used that ingenious record/playback loop technique which is so utterly impressive when done well.

As if to make sure they touched all the necessary bases without outstaying their welcome, they played their final three songs as a medley: I Don't Wanna Wait, Calling (Lose My Mind) and If I Lose Myself. A blast of confetti cannons and a well-earned bow announced the end of a unforgettable show. Their intro music had been Don’t Look Back in Anger, so it was a fitting bookend that they left the stage to Wonderwall. If you left too quickly, you might have missed Ryan coming back on stage to sing along with Oasis – possibly the best and most enthusiastically received rendition in karaoke history.

Freya Ridings setlist

Wicker Woman
Wild Horse
Undefeated
I Have Always Loved You
Face in the Crowd
Dancing in the Kitchen
R U O K
Lost Without You
Castles

OneRepublic setlist

RUNAWAY
Feel Again
Good Life (incorporating M83’s Midnight City)
Stop and Stare
Secrets
Rescue Me
Run
Something I Need
Life In Color
Halo (written for Beyoncé)
Bleeding Love (written for Leona Lewis)
Lose Somebody
Apologize
Wherever I Go
I Need Your Love
I Ain't Worried
Love Runs Out
I Lived
Sunshine
Counting Stars
I Don't Wanna Wait
Calling (Lose My Mind)
If I Lose Myself