Concert Review: Che Fu and the Kratez – Auckland Town Hall March 13, 2021

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We sent our old friend Dedee out to see and hear Che Fu this past weekend. Here’s her report with photos by Rachel Webb. 

Over the weekend I got to see something truly special. Now the challenge is describing how great it was in just a few words on a page, without gushing or using cliches. Can’t promise that’ll happen, but here we go…

Che FuThis was a much anticipated show for so many reasons. One – cos it was the 20th anniversary of Che Fu’s much-loved album Navigator, and two – because we had to wait til the day before to see if we’d be in Level 1 for the show to go ahead.

Needless to say we were even more happy and grateful to be there. Nothing like a bit of uncertainty to make you really lean in and soak up every minute of these special occasions.

After two great support acts, Rubidoux, and Team Dynamite, who warmed up the already hyped crowd beautifully, Che Fu and the Kratez came on to massive applause. The atmosphere was electric.

There were many highlights so I’ll list just a few;

We slide into the first song ‘The Mish‘ and it sounds as fresh as ever. 20 years on and these songs are still undeniably strong. I daresay there were many people there who’d count this album in their top ‘best albums of all time’ lists, so we definitely knew all the words.

There were stunning vocal intros from Che for ‘Top Floor of the World’, and ‘Misty Frequencies’, which had everyone up on their feet for the biggest singalong of the night. The band were super tight, and Che’s voice was on form, a soulful gift that just keeps on giving. ‘Hold Tight’, another crowd favourite, sounded beautiful and immense.

The show had all the extras, flags flying proudly at the back (the Tino Rangatiratanga and Niuean flags to represent Che’s cultural roots) , B-Girl dancers up the front, footage of Polynesian Panther protest marches on the big screen for ‘Catch One’ – which Che introduced as his take on how his parents got together, having met through that protest movement.

There were special guests of course, including P-Money who did a few solos on the turntables, some of the original band members Chip Matthews and Godfrey de Grut, and Che’s son who you might remember was in the photo on the album cover, though he’s a bit bigger now.

They ended the set with ‘Fade Away‘, with an extra chorus and verse in te reo. I don’t think I’d heard this performed live before, but I’ll call it and say it’s the new version. Sounds like a natural progression to me.

They came back for a supremely strong encore. ‘Chains’ – with a powerful Pasifika haka that was a surprise showstopper, and completely blew our minds.

The show ended in the best possible way, with an all time classic track ‘Waka’, which Che dedicated to his Mum watching from home via his wife’s Facetime.
He looked up to the circle to address her, “Tonight was for you Mum”, he said.

Then the whole room was floating away on the magical vibes of that song,… it made me wanna cry. It was beautiful, it was serene, it was emotional. If you were there, I’m sure you felt it too.

Dedee

 

Click any icon to view an entire gallery of each band by photographer Rachel Webb:

Che Fu: 

Team Dynamite

Rubidoux

 

 

Marty Duda
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