Concert Review Kygo - Auckland - 17th August 2018

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By Lisa Diedricks

Artist: Kygo

Date / Venue: Wednesday October 17th, 2018 - Spark Arena, Auckland

One of the world’s BIGGEST and best DJ’s, cruised through Auckland City last night for a special one show only performance. Norwegian DJ Kygo, who lit up Spark Arena last night, brought his Kids in Love tour to our front step and he did not disappoint.

I’ve been a Kygo fan for years now and usually find myself blasting his music with mum and dad, yes they're massive fans too, and to be honest I didn’t really know what I was in for. I hadn't seen or heard much about how his shows were in other cities. But let me tell you, silence speaks.

For his NZ and Australian length of the tour, he had local Oz guy Conrad Sewell open up for him, Sewell has featured on a number of the DJ’s songs, mostly known for his belting notes in “Firestone.” Sewell held his own up against the DJ’s crowd, as he performed a number of his old and new hits, as well as new track from his album.

I’ve been a fan of his since I heard “Start Again” and decided to dig deeper into this mysterious Oz lad who had a voice like no other. I didn't know he was opening, but as I walked in, I heard him before I saw him and yup, I was giddy as ever. His cover of Michael Jackson’s “Man In The Mirror” sent chills down everyone’s spine and soon enough we were all thinking the same thing… “He sounds EXACTLY like the king” Phones were out, cheering was heard, as Sewall and his two man band closed off their set with banger after banger.

I was preparing myself for a long wait till the main act showed face, as that’s just what we’ve dealt with in the past with concerts. But to be honest, I think I drank one drink and all of a sudden the lights were on.

He brought a fairly large stage set up for a one-man show, but it worked well for him and the image he tries to portray in his albums, which is visual stories with every song. He had his boards and electric piano on a rectangular platform, no laptop, so that’s already a good sign. This was raised 20 feet above the stage, on top of an LED screen on either side of the stage, shaped in a triangle that projected video footage of the arena and the DJ himself.

From there he let loose his popular tropical house, deep trance, and electric remixes that had everyone jumping. Let’s not forget the flames, smoke, streamers and fireworks that dropped every time the beat did.

Personally, I was holding out for the OG Kygo sound, that tropical, down tempo magic, and yes I got it. Visually, throughout the performance, the creative lighting and flashing lasers were what you would expect, nothing special and nothing we haven't all seen before, but luckily for most we weren’t paying attention to that.

For Kygo’s most popular songs that featured singers, he brought out a few of those artists to sing their verses live. Bonnie McKee, Justin Jesso and Conrad Sewell were all part of the night, with their performances adding great character to the show, as it gave us something more to watch.

Kygo has been one of those DJ’s that everyone knows but few have been to a live performance. He’s got commercial success running through his blood and his hard work and grounded personality draw so much curiosity from the industry. After receiving over 80 million views on YouTube and SoundCloud, Kygo was contacted by Avicii and by Chris Martin of Coldplay to create a remix of the song "Midnight". He has also supported Avicii at Findings Festival in Oslo, Norway, in 2014. On 19 September 2014, it was confirmed that Kygo was to replace Avicii on the main stage in Tomorrow World, due to Avicii's health concerns. Last night, Kygo dedicated “Without You” to his dead friend Avicii and the entire arena lit up their phones and sang their hearts out. It pulled on my heart strings that’s for damn sure.

The night ended with the must hear anticipated tune, “Firestone.” Sewell appeared back on stage for an acoustic rendition of the hit. You ever have those artists that sing a song so flipping good, you actually feel emotional, your chest gets tight and all of sudden there’s a tear in your eye? Okay, I’m not saying that’s EXACTLY what happened, but I was damn near close to wiping my eyes. Kygo’s piano playing, Conrad’s voice, the four piece orchestra... come. ON. It was incredible and a perfect way to end the night, until of course the two decided to play the original version back at the decks and sent the night flying into a roar of applause.

All in all, solid cheeky Wednesday night, and SO happy I got to see one of my favourite DJ’s perform live for the first time, just to see such a friggin humble guy like himself enjoy playing to his New Zealand fans for the first time too was awesome. We’re not a big country, but we seem to make a big impact when shows like these come around.