Concert Review: Ella Mai Live In Auckland

On Sunday night Ella Mai performed her first solo show in Aotearoa. A few days before that she performed for the first time in New Zealand at the Bay Dreams festival in Mount Maunganui so Auckland was fortunate enough to get their very own show. Ella Mai popped off late 2018 with her certified platinum debut self-titled album which took the world by storm with radio hits like “Boo’d Up” and “Trip”. Ella Mai helped revitalize old school R&B music and broke records while doing so like being the first woman to top three R&B and hip hop charts since Beyonce in 2012. That is truly no easy feat. Little over a year later she has collaborated with some of the best names in the music industry like Chris Brown, Ty Dolla $ign and Meek Mill. The UK artist was also on her debut tour so it is amazing New Zealand gets to be apart of this historic and memorable time in her life.

Her Auckland show was held at the Logan Campbell Centre which I haven’t heard or seen a hip hop/rap/R&B show being held there in a long while. So I was interested to see if there were any changes made or any much-needed improvements made to that venue to which I can confirm it was pretty much the same except for some minor differences. The set times were disrupted on the day as the opening act Niko Walters was too unwell to perform so it was set to be just Ella Mai. I think it disappointed a lot of concert go-ers because well, people like having opening acts so they can drink at their own pace and since the main act comes on later it allows them more time to do that, it prolongs the fun night and it’s just less stress. There was no backup opening act so Ella Mai was set to perform like a half-hour earlier than expected which I feel like is always a good thing, you get to see your fav earlier.

I arrived at the concert just as Ella Mai came on the stage. It was honestly packed when I walked in so whether people knew she was gonna be on earlier - it seemed they did ‘cause that b*tch was practically full. Did people go early to the concert not knowing about the change in the set times, I have no idea but if that did happen I hope next time an email will be sent out to everyone who bought tickets if there are any changes so it makes concert go-ers more aware of what’s happening. Even set times being sent via email I think would keep people more informed and help them plan their night accordingly.

When Ella Mai graced the stage the venue erupted into screaming and cheering. She has a lot of loyal Kiwi fans ‘cause I’m telling you, a lot of people there were star struck and 100% immersed into her concert experience. Whenever she’d speak or hit a dance move on beat people would go absolutely nuts. Everyone in that venue loved her, it was really refreshing to see people there who were genuinely there because they wanted to see her. Ella Mai had back up dancers who were also her back up singers, with two mic stands in front of them. I loved the way her show was choreographed because she and her dancers always hit the beat with their moves and it was consistent throughout the whole show. A lot of the time the dancers would come out from behind the mic and start dancing with her, interacting with Ella. Whenever they did, the crowd would roar. The funny thing is that whenever the crowd would go crazy screaming for Ella, she would always respond by smiling and that woman’s smile is so contagious. She was practically smiling her whole set and god, is she stunning.

Ella had a very cute outfit on and as someone in the crowd, you could feel her energy. She has great stage presence. I reckon that’s because well, she’s fairly new to this life. She’s bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on her debut tour so it makes sense as to why she was so happy and so enthusiastic compared to most artists I’ve seen live. Either way, she was such a pleasure to see live and you could tell she was bouncing off the energy of the crowd and the crowd was doing the same so Logan Campbell was full of this buzzing, positive energy. Ella Mai had a live band in the background. They were very good and you could see they were into it as well. The sound system in Logan still isn’t very good. I know it’s better than what it was before but still, I was right near the front and I had trouble trying to hear what Ella was singing, the clarity wasn’t that great and the band was too loud but I know it wasn’t their fault.

Ella Mai beautifully interacted with the crowd and switched it up so things weren’t always stagnant. She would constantly make eye contact with fans in the crowd and hold it there, instead of looking for one second and moving on. I know that would’ve made their experience so much more memorable and just ended their night on a great note. At one point, she sat on a chair in the middle of the stage, singing a slow song and all of a sudden the beat drops or it quickly transitioned to another fast-paced song and as soon as that happened, she jumps up from the chair and starts singing. The strobe lights also started moving in accordance to the fast-paced song and everyone started going wild because it was unexpected but at the same time, bloody awesome. At this point, I’m just standing in the crowd thinking god damn, these people really seriously love her. She took a bit of time out from performing to talk about her Grammy-nominated debut album to which everyone cheered. I mean, so many of her songs are played on New Zealand radio stations so of course we are so aware of the success of that album and she deserves all the recognition. Ella started singing Boo’d Up without any music or her band playing so it was just her singing and wow, her voice is stunning and just as great as her song recordings. Everyone in the crowd started singing with her, people had one arm over their mate and the other waving in the air. It was euphoric drunk singing at its finest. On the ceiling on top of the crowd, there were buzzy, paisley-like graphics moving around in accordance to the beat of her songs and it just made the experience of hearing your favourite Ella Mai songs live that more awesome.

Halfway during her show, she all of a sudden said she’ll be back in 2 minutes and left the stage. It was pretty random but some of the crowd left to go get some drinks or went to the toilet in this little intermission. I really thought she was gonna change her outfit or something but when she came back in 2 minutes - yes she literally meant 2 minutes, she was in the same outfit. It was good to see she took a little break out for herself. The same portion of the crowd that had left during the intermission were still not back yet and were probably kicking themselves when they heard the band start playing again while they were halfway in the drinks line. Either way, it was a whole vibe in there. She has so many hit songs that are so well known, even if you went there thinking you only knew one of her songs, 9/10 you were probably dead wrong. Ella Mai, such a beautiful presence and a talented singer. I know she felt everyone in the crowd’s energy and adoration for her so I know she will be back, and when she does return, I’m gonna be there.

Reviewed: Breanna Tugaga-Rogers
Photos: 10Daniel16

About The Writer:

Breanna is a 21 year old uni student who was born in Australia and raised in South Auckland. Half New Zealand European and half Samoan, Breanna is undergoing a Bachelor of Arts, double-majoring in Communications and Sociology. Currently residing in Auckland, Breanna loves hip hop, rap, RnB music and enjoys watching TV shows, movies, travelling, going to concerts and keeping in touch with the latest of pop culture. Breanna especially enjoys writing and using it as an outlet to talk her sh*t. Breanna loves to always integrate her worldview, her background and her experiences into her writing and values your feedback.

About The Photographer:

10Daniel16 is a man of many talents. A photographer, videographer, editor and director, Daniel is a pillar in the local creative scene working with names like SWIDT, Melodownz and has shot some of the best gigs in Auckland city. 10Daniel16 has shot concerts of iconic musicians like 50 Cent, Jhene Aiko, Bas, Denzel Curry, Lil Pump and so much more. Popularly known for his music videos, 10Daniel16 is continuously expanding his skill set and since breaking through the international scene, he is excited for what 2020 has in store for him.