By Lisa Diedricks

Artist: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Date / Venue: Thursday July 28th, 2016 - Vector Arena, Auckland

What a night. I cannot stress this enough, but WOW, was the Macklemore & Ryan Lewis show tonight on flipping fire! From lights, to music, to stage presence, Macklemore and his troops left nothing out.

Playing to a sold out, one night only show at Auckland’s Vector Arena, Macklemore otherwise known by his birth name Ben Haggerty, put on such an energetic and powerful performance that I’m still buzzing from the hype of the night.

The night was wall to wall with fans taking in every part of the show, in my opinion the better the show and the more powerful the message the less phones are up recording. As I looked around I barely saw anyones phone recording the show or even recording when Macklemore was talking to the crowd, everyone was so engrossed in his message and his undoubtedly beautiful energy that he put into every song. Even if it was a dance number, like new single 'Dance Off' or old classic, 'Can’t Hold Us Down' he put absolutely everything into every word and the crowd felt it. With more stripped down songs like 'Growing Up' and 'Same Love', the arena was definitely feeling the exact same as he profoundly expressed every line. He connected with his fans, by talking about equality, race and the peace we need in this world. He also went on to explain that he felt that New Zealand had gotten it right and that the rest of the world needed to catch up to our way of living. He found the time to express his thoughts on all that is happening in the world with all the colour hate, and finished with 'Black Lives Matter'.  

It was truly such an incredible feeling to be in an atmosphere where everyone felt in harmony and peace. Even with all the jumping and hype in the arena. The band was definitely one of the top acts for tonight, as they played all their instruments live it was amazing to see how in sync they were with their improvising. And with Lewis throwing down some sick and deep beats that you felt in your chest, you can see what Macklemore means when he says he is nothing without his band!

He knew how to create some fun within the show, with handing out chocolate chip cookies to the people in the crowd and then going on to beat the world record of throwing a cookie all the way from the stage to the back of the Vector Arena, WHICH HE DID!! Such a fun and all round inspiring concert, the man really knows how to get the crowd going!!

This was Macklemore and crews second time to the country, in which the first time was when he came to shoot his number one single, 'Can’t Hold Us Down'. Signing off with a thank you too all, and a bigger thank you for supporting independent hip hop music, the show was concluded by NZ’s number one song 'Downtown' with an explosion of confetti and fireworks on stage, special guest Eric Nally casually walking out and dropping his infamous chorus and silky dance moves, it was truly an awesome surprise for all to see and to end the night!

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis now head to the South Island to play Christchurch's Horncastle Arena this Saturday, July 30th - Tickets via Ticketek