Concert Review - Teeks - Auckland - 5th June 2025

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6 Jun

Written By Megan Moss

Presented By Live Nation

Review By: Co-Writers James Brown & Faith Hamblyn

Artist/Band: Teeks

Venue/City: Great Auckland Town Hall, Auckland, New Zealand

Date of Event: Friday 5th June 2025

Te Karehana Toi, Teeks, is a man who I had heard about, but never heard until tonight. I went in blind – well, I saw his blonde hair in the promo shot for the gig, but I've fanned my way through Terence Trent D’Arby going from dreadlocks to bombshell blonde, so while I’m looking and liking, I wouldn’t say I was learn-ed about Teeks. His merch looked cute, cool – and so did his fans waiting at the Town Hall; countless chic brown people, enough to sell out the place.

I spotted one that I recognised a couple of rows in front of our row that made me wonder more about this artist, new to me – Tame Iti. He’s a man of strong politics and righteous stands, but is he a man of music? Again, I stand under-educated.

The crowd were restless as the string sextet and pianist tuned up, but as Teeks took the stage, it sounded like Beatlemania. He’s got a great instrument, a fine vibrato, but am I being fooled by the Town Hall’s gospel-like pipes and lights or just the age-old pull of soul?

In that vein, he performed ‘Wash Over Me’, which isn’t a million miles from Hollie Smith’s ‘Bathe In The River’, but while that song smacks of our beloved Don McGlashan, Teeks was joined by a lot of the audience, so it was traditional in that sense, but with the water being here and not in a mythologised Southern United States of America. He was moved to tears by a song he sang for his lost friend, ‘Never Be Apart‘, and I think we all communed on that one. His new single ‘Red Light’ is gorgeous – the night with a love interest and stealing kisses; it’s a ripe, rich and recurring story, and it gives the genre more weight when you’re not completely sure of your own appeal.

When he covered D’Angelo’s ‘How Does It Feel?’ the playful arrangement with the string sextet made it less overtly sexual than the original, but it was nevertheless inescapably sultry. Of course, like D’Angelo, Teeks is known to go shirtless. He debuted a brand-new original song, ‘Poetic’, a slightly-tongue-in-cheek allusion to toxic relationships and situationships.

Bic Runga’s ‘Drive’ is so nicely written, but I got chills from the melancholy and folie a deux that came through in Teeks’ delivery. Bonnie Raitt’s ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me’ will always be hers, but felt like it had been brought into a more modern era; sadly, we still need it. He made Adele’s ‘Make You Feel My Love’ his own, and when he covered Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Landslide’, I thought his vibrato suited similarly to Stevie Nicks’.

But it was his cover of Ria Hall’s ‘Te Ahi Kai Po’ that took me in completely. It wasn’t his most vulnerable performance of the night – he came into the audience for that, and it was a work of art. ‘Te Ahi Kai Po’ was a song that I could understand partly with my novice Te Reo Maori knowledge, but his embodiment of each word, each line, was captivating and seemingly flawless.

After performing his new tracks (excellent) and his old hits (to rapturous fans), I felt like Billy Sparks nodding after seeing The Kid debut his thang in Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’. I did have a similar experience after hearing Howard Morrison’s ‘Whakaaria Mai’ in James Ashcroft’s spooky, intense ‘Coming Home In The Dark’; I really should give Teeks’ cover a spin – I think maybe he’s got what it takes. He got a standing ovation at the Town Hall tonight, and it felt historic.

SETLIST

Here Before
Waves
Red Light
Drive (Bic Runga)
Into You
Wash Over Me
Never Be Apart / E Kore Rawa E Wehe
Untitled (How Does It Feel?) (D’Angelo)
Poetic (a new, slightly tongue-in-cheek ‘love song’, inspired by reflections on toxic relationships, or situationships - ‘Are we pathetic? It’s kinda poetic.’)
Landslide (Steve Nicks)
Make You Feel My Love (Adele)
I Can’t Make You Love Me (Bonnie Raitt)
Kei Hea Taku Reo? (Whirimako Black) (‘I’m so proud to be Māori’)
Te Ahi Kai Pō (Ria Hall) (from her album inspired by the battle of Pukehinahina (Gate Pā))
Alone With You (another new song)

Encore
First Time