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Tiki Live

By Bony Tarnao | 10 Mar, 2008

A little bit of this, a little bit of that! I believe these words sum up Tiki Live to a T. Tiki Live is the product of Tiki Tane’s sweet song writing skills and a powerful live performance of multi genre tendencies. Tiki has definitely shaken off the dub image that most people would identify him by, and has put on a more modern day hat, showing that he is up with the times and definitely has something awesome still to give.

Kicking off Orientation week on Monday night, the Student Union Hall was buzzing full of eager Tiki fans, which surprised me. Tiki’s new album had obviously made an impression on a lot of people. And when Tiki asked the crowd who had bought a copy of his album, there was a triumphant cheer from everywhere. And I must admit, I had also bought a copy and was a little excited to hear his material live! And what’s more, with shapeshifter as his backing band it was garanteed to definitely be worth my 10 bucks.

To start the show off, Tiki’s father came on stage to say a prayer and bless the audience. This was accompanied by Tiki playing his soul soothing conch which made me feel as though I was in an enchanted world. I then remember looking around at all the drunk first years and they seemed to only want to dance to some phat beats. Which we didn’t have to wait long for. The band seemed to be building up the noise and finally kicked into it. Tiki is a mean rhymer. If you have ever heard him, you cannot deny this. And his lyrics, well he is just saying it how it is. Tiki and P Digs (singer from Shapeshifter) definitely have good chemistry on stage; they seem to compliment each other’s style very well. P Digs has a very uplifting vibe to his voice and Tiki has the whole “Fuck you I fucking rock so lets keep this party going all night long” vibes. It’s definitely the collaboration of the whole band that makes Tiki Live so rad, the live drummer and guitarist really made the experience authentic with that real raw live music feel.

Overall, I think it’s amazing to hear such beautiful, culture driven music being played though new age equipment and
with a new spin on it all. It’s quite refreshing. I think it’s good because it gives a chance for the European people of this country to understand more about the ancient beliefs and culture of Aotearoa in such an accessible medium: through MUSIC. So go buy the album or go to the next Tiki Live gig, and you will be suprised at what you get out of it.

www.tikidub.com