Concert Review: Church & AP Live In Auckland

When I arrived at The Tuning Fork I was quite surprised to see most people outside as I knew I was running late. I had missed Race Banyon and Trey Bond should have been on. However, I found out due to some technical difficulties Trey was late. His set caught people off a bit when it finally started. I think it’s due to the fact he has a loud backing track so people probably assumed music was playing. You could occasionally hear his voice through the backing track but not a lot. The set was very short as he started late but finished before his original finish time.

Due to this, I didn’t even get any photos as by the time I sorted myself and went to get some snaps, he was walking off. I noticed a lot of rappers do this, perform with a backing track. I’d say it would be stronger with that “SoundCloud rapper” genre but a lot of artists do it. I get why they do it but it would be nice to not feel like we’re just listening to Spotify or something.

Leaping Tiger was next. The crowd clearly knew who he was as they all came in to see him. They were hyped and jumping as they shouted along. He is clearly the man with the beats but he also brought up Pati Apa to perform with him. I loved that she has a sassy and positive vibe. She also has an incredible voice! It was a good vibe and chill set. Giving the crowd a bit of downtime for what was coming.

Jinzo & humbleboy, I expected, would be quite popular, and they were. More of the crowd seemed to pack in. I have to admit this crowd was becoming a lot better than I actually expected at this gig. They had quite the crew on stage and even brought out some guests to perform such as dharmarat, 3rdTier, highlace etc and Dera Meelan on decks. They really got the crowd hyped. Jinzo even jumped down into the barrier a couple of times to get closer to the crowd and reach the back a bit more. It was crazy, you actually didn’t know what was coming next. But it was definitely the best act to have before Church & AP as they really got the crowd hyped.

Finally Church & AP took the stage. The Tuning Fork was looking really full. I was surprised but also stoked for the guys. It was awesome to see people getting behind local music. Now, these guys put on a great performance. They were confident in their delivery, the vocals were strong and clear and the crowd loved it. There was even one point as I made my way to the back a big circle opened up in the crowd. I thought it was a fight. Turns out people just wanted to start a mosh pit.

Church moved about the stage quite a bit. I really enjoyed the fact he would just bust out some random little dance moves. There were even a couple of points he sat on the edge of the stage and jumped down to the barrier to get the hype with everybody. Church & AP brought some guests from earlier in the night to the stage to perform with them as well.

There is a reason Church & AP are popping up everywhere all of a sudden and I honestly hope they continue to do well. I think those who were at that show witnessed the start of something great.