Concert Review - Marlon Williams - Napier - 12th May 2025

Presented By Frontier Touring

Marlon Williams Live in Auckland - Photo Credit -Megan Moss (stock Image)

Review By: Rob Harbers

Artist/Band: Marlon Williams

Venue/City: Napier Municipal Theatre, Napier, New Zealand

Date of Event: Monday 12th May 2025

It’s a reflection, perhaps, of the times we are in and a marker of how little progress has been made in some ways, that performance in Té Reō is for some, innately a political act. In a country more at ease with its own history, this would not be so but would be an unremarkable commonplace-but instead we are beset by those who seek to invalidate this history, or at best relegate it to little more than a tourist attraction. In this climate, crooner Marlon Williams has produced an album entirely in Té Reō Māori, a powerful rejoinder against such forces-and he’s currently touring it around the country, touching down this evening in Ahuriri’s Municipal Theatre for a show that had them dancing in the aisles!

Opening act Kommi, who collaborated with Marlon on the album, introduced the theme with his unapologetic layering of Te Reō over 808s and samples. Fittingly dedicating a song to Rawiri Seymour, the shameless kupapa of these times, and featuring a guest MC, Mr MW himself, these were songs that made their points loudly and passionately. It’s to my shame that I confess to neither speak nor understand Tē Rēo Māori, but in any case, I didn’t need to get the vibe. I could be generalising unfairly but given the number of grey heads in the audience, I suspect that this may have been some of the longest streams of the language some of them had heard outside of maybe a dedicated cultural presentation-and they hadn’t seen anything yet!

With an acapella rendition of ‘E Mawehe Ana Au’, Marlon showed off the voice that was to keep the audience spellbound for the rest of the evening, being joined by Dave Khan on acoustic guitar for ‘He Wawata’, and the rest of the Yarra Benders (drummer Gus Agars and bassist Ben Woolley) for ‘Ko Tena Ua’. ‘Easy Does It’, from the ‘Make Way For Love’ album, was introduced as the song that started the journey that ended in ‘Te Whare Tiwekaweka’, the album this tour supports.

After a few more in this vein, Marlon announced that “that part of the set’s over, time to bring it down a bit”, which saw him ascend the stairs to the riser on which the piano sat. After an around-the-stage comparison of each player’s tipple of choice, which also served as band introduction time, he performed the “70s love ballad” that is ‘Ngā Ara Aroha’, followed by ‘Kāhore he Manu’, dedicated to his Nana. This dedication carried through to the “song she loved”, a cover of the well-known ‘First time ever I saw your face’, the delivery making it clear why she loved it!

Carrying on the covers, next up was ‘Rongomai’, by Ngati Kahungunu song master Hirini Melbourne, who Marlon described as a songwriter he deeply admired. A few songs along, those with the desire were offered a chance to dance, the response being instigated by local legends David and Denise but soon joined by many others. Not this writer though, it’s not my thing! But those who did enjoyed it and seemed grateful for the opportunity. But soon it was time for the home stretch, introduced as “less funky, more roots” and featuring some major violin contributions from Dave in ‘Aua atu rā’. The penultimate number of the main set was ‘Pōkaia Rā te Mārama’, its lyrics provided by the venerable Julian Wilcox (“God he's a motherfucker” says Marlon), leading in to ‘Te Hokinga Mai’, a rousing finale.

But there was no way that was going to be the end of this show, a crowd on its feet demanding a return to the stage. Duly obliging this wish, the quartet returned for a fully acoustic ‘Whakameatia Mai’, which saw Gus take up the mandolin, before a full-throated ‘Ngoi ngoi’ brought the show to a close, a deeply satisfied audience filing out of this Te Rēo immersion session with smiles on their faces and tapping feet, looking forward to a return engagement. We won’t be so lucky for a while yet, but many more of you around the motu will have the opportunity, this being only the third date on this tour, a good few more to follow. And I say you should take this up, if you want a smile on your dial and a waiata in your heart!

SETLIST
E Mawehe Ana Au
He Wawata
Ko Tēnā Ua
Easy Does It
Kei te Mārama
Me Uaua Kē
Korero Maori
Kāhore he Manu
First Time ever I saw your face
Rongomai
Arahura
Pānaki
Huri te Whenua
Rere Mai Ngā Ray
Don’t Go Back
Kuru pounamu
Aua atu rā
Pōkaia Rā te Mārama
Te Hokinga Mai
Whakameatia Mai
Ngoi ngoi

Marlon Williams Tour 2025 Tour Poster

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