A good indication of how well a concert is going is how much the folk on the stage are enjoying themselves. By that benchmark, Carly Rae Jepsen’s show at Auckland’s Town Hall last night was one of the best of the year.
It was a fairly pared-back show, just Jepsen, a heap of energy bundled into a tight yellow one-piece, with her four band members behind her, tripping through a couple of dozen of her very appreciative audience’s favourites. And it was an indication of her confidence in her show that Call Me Maybe, the 2011 hit from her second album, Kiss, which established her as a major player, showed up a quarter of the way into the show.
But the audience didn’t care; they were happy, regardless, to sing along. Not that Jepsen needed help. While it would be easy to dismiss her as simply a disposable pop star, there’s definite talent at play her. The songs are perhaps, to an unfamiliar ear, a little interchangeable, but there’s no denying the joy that goes into Jepsen’s delivery of them. She’s possessed of a quite fine voice, one which can find, in songs like show-opener No Drug Like Me, more range and emotion that most singers would.
I’ll allow that I’m perhaps not the ideal reviewer; I’m perhaps not entirely the target demographic. So I’ll hand over to Sacha, lucky winner of a Crave! giveaway of two tickets to last night’s show:
Of course. Carly Rae Jepsen is underrated royalty. A stellar performance from start to finish, complemented by a perfectly polished band who gave her that extra spark. The town hall floorboards felt like they almost couldnt take the weight of how many devoted kiwi fans she actually has, something which surprised myself and others. Effortlessly breezing through the part of her collection that she thought would most connect, most notably 2015’s ‘Emotion’ and it’s follow up ‘B Sides’, while also keeping to the theme of the tour from her latest offering ‘Dedicated’. She never lost the interest of the crowd throughout the night. If there is a next time, she is going to need a bigger venue.
Sacha
And she’s right. Jepsen played her first New Zealand show on a very small stage, but she filled it like a pro. I have little doubt that next time she comes to Auckland, she’ll be playing an arena show, and I am sure it will be an even more rewarding performance.
