Ever since the release of her stunning debut LP Lamentations, the soul and jazz songstress Ngaiire has been breaking down barriers and making everyone take notice.
In her first show in Newcastle, Ngaiire showed her ridiculous potential. Playing in front of an intimate crowd at The Small Ballroom in Newcastle, Ngaiire exceeded expectations with a pristine performance.
It’s really invigorating for an intimate venue to attract talent like Ngaiire to Newcastle and hopefully it continues to grow. Simply put, The Small Ballroom is a diamond in the rough for the small city and all Novocastrians should venture there.
Kicking the show off was Galleri, a local eight-piece Newcastle band. They mesmerised with a multi-genre set branching into jazz, soul and rock. Whilst looking cluttered on the small stage and struggling with terrible feedback, they were a real surprise.
Galleri mixed hard rock guitar riffs, brazen and harmonised vocals and mixing it up with harmonica, flute and trumpet melodic phrases. Songs like ‘The Earth’, built into a rousing crescendo and featured jazz melodic phrases behind a powerful drum beat and reverberating guitar riffs.
Guitar-wielding Sydney vocalist Lester The Fierce (aka Anita Lester) continued on, moving with the flow of a stirring acoustic set.‘Howl’, her hit single, was soulful and took the air right out of the room.
Her terrific cover of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ captured everybody’s attention and this unique take on a classic hit made it a stunning performance. Despite her smooth solo performance, the issues with feedback and her vibe settled the energy riding off Galleri and their exciting set. Overall though, Lester’s acoustic set laid the foundation for Ngaiire to propel herself.
Ngaiire, equipped with her breaking bad, lab coat wearing band members exploded onto the main stage. With platform sneakers to boot, Ngaiire immediately let that exquisite voice shake the walls on top of pulsing synths and a destructive drum beat. The wizardry of multiple synths paints another layer in Ngaiire’s sound and luckily the issue with feedback was nonexistent in her set.
Playing under the illuminated stage, Ngaiire strutted and danced her way through a funky set of big beats, indie electronics and a stunning voice of an amazing songstress.
She belted out a powerful rendition of ‘Ordinary’, Tim Curnick let his bass roar in ‘Uranus’ and they finished the set with the sexy and funky ‘Dirty Hercules’ and a breathtaking crescendo in encore performance ‘Fireflies’. Despite playing a small crowd, Ngaiire’s scintillating performance was damn impressive and definitely memorable.
Amid a smoky cloud of hazy lights, big beats, astounding vocals and a relaxed atmosphere, Ngaiire produced a scintillating performance that will only leave fans wanting more. Ngaiire proved that she is a breathtaking live performer and her aura and profile will only continue to grow.
