Review:
It’s the return of the Mack; not merely the opening lyrics of Macklemore’s smash hit Can’t Hold Us, but also the return of American rapper and Grammy Award winner Macklemore to New Zealand.
While a sold-out crowd at Auckland’s Spark Arena on a cold Thursday night seemed delighted to see him, none were happier than Macklemore himself: “It’s so good to be back here man. I love this place. You guys are nice as f**k. Why are you so nice? Everyone is so kind and sweet and funny,” the singer gushed.
The rapper’s only gripe? New Zealand’s current weather: “It’s colder than I’d like, to be honest. So fix that shit and this is like perfect,” he laughed.
Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, kicked off the Australasian leg of his BEN World Tour in Wellington on Wednesday night before heading north to Auckland’s Spark Arena on Thursday.
With my name matching the rapper’s real name and also his BEN tour, it felt only fitting for me to ditch the Thrift Shop and head to Downtown Auckland to review his Glorious second night in New Zealand. It also seemed fitting for me to shamelessly insert as many Macklemore song titles as possible into that paragraph.
Macklemore is no stranger to New Zealand, having performed many times on our shores and his music video for the 2011 hit Can’t Hold Us was filmed on the shores of Cathedral Cove in the Coromandel.
Last year he told New Zealand television show The Project the spot is “Utopia on earth”, and fittingly his concert began with a big screen showing beautiful Kiwi beaches, sheep, Wellington’s Cable Car and Auckland’s Sky Tower.
While these iconic images drew enthusiastic cheers, the biggest was saved for Macklemore himself, as the spotlight lit him up centre stage to perform CHANT from his latest BEN album.
Crowd-pleasing bangers Thrift Shop, White Walls and Downtown followed not long after, which the Kiwi crowd ate up like a pavlova on Christmas Day. The singer marvelled at how songs he made in a tiny room in Seattle, “have come all the way to New Zealand. I’ll never get over that!”
Fast forward 20 years, now aged 40, Macklemore shows no signs of slowing down and his energetic stage presence made me exhausted just watching him. His dynamic energy was complemented by an ensemble of fabulous performers who danced, sang, rapped, DJ’d, and played live music alongside him for the 90-minute show. And the Kiwi crowd responded, jumping around and matching their energy.
Macklemore’s setlist was full of his old favourites, songs that have helped bring him numerous platinum singles, millions of streams and four Grammy Awards. The performance of Downtown was made all the more noteworthy by the vocals of singer Eric Nally who joined him on stage just for this song. (Please no one tell them that we parodied Downtown on our Jono and Ben TV show with a version about Countdown supermarkets).
His prowess as a rapper was impressive to witness live as his husky smooth raps flowed freely, mirroring the venue’s easygoing atmosphere.
Frequent costume changes added to the spectacle, with Macklemore donning everything from a fur coat, a sparkly royal cape and even a fresh All Blacks rugby jersey - that was met with roaring applause - for the second half of his show. However, no clarification was provided regarding his availability for coach Scott Robertson’s 2024 squad.
I last caught Macklemore live at his 2018 Auckland show, where he confessed at the time, “I love Fruit Bursts and I love New Zealand”. There were no mentions of candy tonight - perhaps there were more serious things on his mind.
While Macklemore first became famous for his fun infectious tunes, he has delved into more deeper songs over the years. His 2012 song Same Love champions same-sex marriage, with the singer sharing “my objective is to spread love”.
Just this week, he wrote and released Hind’s Hall, a track that critiques US President Joe Biden’s handling of the Gaza conflict and voices his solidarity with Palestine. He performed the song for the first time live in Wellington, then again in Auckland. He delivered the song with passion and visible raw emotion and paused to reflect as he thanked those with Palestinian flags who were outside the venue.
And there are not many concerts or artists that can seamlessly segue between the serious and the silly like Macklemore can. Because shortly after, his track Dance Off called for two audience members to do just that, and get on stage to showcase their best moves.
This moment became one of the highlights of the night as both cast aside their inhibitions to revel in the spotlight. As a self-confessed awkward white guy on the dancefloor, I couldn’t help but admire their efforts.
After the battle Macklemore took time to playfully chat with the crowd and his natural banter was hilarious to witness - like when he playfully called out someone in the crowd for wearing a glow-in-the-dark space suit and also humorously confessed, “I only have 4 dance moves”. He also shared that performing was his favourite thing in the world and “all he wanted to do since he was 6 years old. I don’t take it for granted”.
Reflecting on that signature brand of humility reminded me of when in 2016 Macklemore stopped by our Jono and Ben TV show studio and his only backstage request was a bowl of cereal, which he enjoyed pre-performance. My theory is that his high-fibre breakfast-based diet helps with his live energy which sees him bouncing around the stage for 90 minutes of non-stop cardio.
And that vibe was contagious, making it nearly impossible not to smile and enjoy the moments with him where he was having the most fun. “I knew tonight was going to be special,” he declared as he ended the night with Can’t Hold Us.
Fortunately, the New Zealand crowd proved they could indeed hold Macklemore, if only briefly during a quick crowd surf. “I can’t wait to come back and party with you again,” he said, exiting the stage to much applause. There was no denying that he gave his all to the crowd, leaving Kiwi fans eager for more of Macklemore.
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