Concert Review: Jhene Aiko

Jhene Aiko finally graced our presence in Auckland last night, as part of her T R I P tour.

Kicking off the night was local lady of soul, Ladi6. Due to scheduling conflicts I only caught the end of her set, but that was enough for me to grasp the experience I think.

There wasn’t anything fancy or complicated to Ladi’s performance. She was stood centre stage and had a 2-piece band playing behind her. With an array of colourful lights Ladi6 enamoured the crowd and I felt she was the perfect women to get the crowd ready for Jhene. She was clearly feeling it as well as during one of her last songs her voice pack fell off and broke.

Sometimes you just want an artist who can just give you their voice and that’s enough, Ladi6 is one of those artist. But Jhene is definitely one as well. An interlude played out and the lights slowly grew around the stage.

Jhene Aiko took the stage to a sea of phones and a lot of screaming. The first thing you noticed was her outfit: LF The Brand pants with blue LF stony tape & long sleeve buckle front top, paired with a Marc Jacobs spring 2018 coat and silver high-heeled boots. Her stage set up was very beautiful. It had a huge & beautiful floral arrangement across the whole stage which was a mixture of fake plants and real ones.

The multi-coloured lighting definitely added another element to the staging itself. That setup combined with her clear, strong and soulful vocals really made for somewhat of an ethereal experience. Backing Jhene was a 2-piece band made up of Gracie Sprout on the harp and Julian Le on keys. It was quite a calm and positive surrounding, a part from the loud parts of the crowd that were drinking and dancing along.

Jhene was vibing off the energy from the crowd, getting them to sing-a-long to parts of songs and also interacting with those in the front row. The floor was packed and there seemed to be no problems with everyone being so close. Jhene had interludes in between her songs. They were short snippets of love, nature and peace that Jhene’s voice radiated over. Jhene thanked the crowd multiple times throughout the night, even going as far to say she loves Hawaii but she loves us more. She gave a lovely speech about how she is grateful to do what she does and that doing that doesn't make her better than anyone. You could actually see she genuinely meant it and was not just saying that.

Towards the end of her set Jhene bought a group of fans on stage to dance with her. During the dance session she grabbed flowers from her set and gave them to the crowd. The group departed the stage and after thanking everyone, Jhene followed. Jhene’s crew gave away the pot plant trees to the crowd as well. It was nice to see people leaving with smiles, plants and flowers. A simple, colourful and beautiful show.

SETLIST

LSD Blue Dream While We’re Young New Balance Newer Balance (Freestyle) Never Call Me Hello Ego Comfort Inn Ending The Worst Oblivion Oblivion (Creation) Psilocybin (Love In Full Effect) Stay Ready (What A Life) Bed Space Post To Be It’s A Vibe Sativa From Time Frequency W.A.Y.S OLLA (Only Lovers Left Alive)

– Reviewed and Photographed by Shelley Te Haara www.instagram.com/art.by.shelley