The Black Seeds – Powerstation August 6, 2022

The Black Seeds triumphed at Auckland’s Powerstation with a show that very nearly didn’t happen.

4:20 PM on Saturday and a notice arrives on my phone. “Power outage in Newmarket”.  That explains why my lights went out, but what about The Powerstation?

Yep, all is dark all along Eden Terrace and so we wait…as the wintery sun sets, with a choice bottle of red to help ease the situation.

About an hour later, there’s a flicker of light, then more darkness.

Well, they’re working on it. But will the power return in time for tonight’s Black Seeds show?

Finally, around about 6:30 the lights come on and stay on and all is right with the world again.

I wander down to the Powerstation to see and hear the crew frantically setting up after losing a valuable two hours.

Fortunately, my local, The Corner Store is now operating and myself and a growing group of music fans congregate, waiting for the doors to open.

At 8pm, it’s all good as the doors open and DJ Downtown Brown is behind the wheels of steel helping to get the party started.

As the crowd migrated from Corner Store to Powerstation, opening act Sojourn hit the stage. They are a 6-piece, self-described “surf pop/rock reggae band” from Mangawhai and they get the job done.

The 8 musicians who make up The Black Seeds finally, and triumphantly, take the stage and Barnaby Weir and co kick off with Game Over, the latest single from the latest album, Love & Fire.

Now we’re cooking!

A quick “welcome, welcome “ and they slide into the title track.

The Black Seeds have been making their unique brand of reggae-infused r&b for over 25 years now and the current line-up is as strong as ever.

Along with founding members Barnaby Weir and Daniel Weetman we have Ned Ngatae, Jarney Murphy, Francis Harawira, Nigel Patterson and the horns section of Barrett Hocking (trumpet) and Matthew Benton (sax).

And don’t worry folks, along with a healthy dose of tunes from the new album, there is plenty of time for Seeds classics like Sometimes Enough, Coming Back Home and set closer Come To Me.

The horns had their way with Cool Me Down and Rotten Apple.

After an hour and 20 minutes, they weren’t done yet. A four-song encore included Dust & Dirt, Turn It Around and One By One with a shout out to former Seed Bret McKenzie.

As they sing in Everybody Knows…”I like the music playing all night long” and that’s exactly what happened once the power came back.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Leonie Moreland

The Black Seeds:

Sojourn:

 

The Black Seeds Setlist:

1. Game Over
2. Love & Fire
3. Better Days
4. Sometimes Enough
5. Everybody Knows
6. Take Your Chances
7. The Answer
8. It’s So Real
9. Fire
10. Bring The Sun
11. So True
12. Coming Back Home
13. Cool Me Down
14. Rotten Apple
15. Make A Move
16. Come To Me
17. Dust & Dirt
18. Turn It Around
19. The Prince
20. One By One