GREAT TIME: Sol3 Mio - Pene Pati (left) Moses Mackay (front) and Amitai Pati (far right) - take a selfie with Otene Hopa and the crowd at their Wednesday night concert at Whangarei's ASB Stadium.PHOTO/SUPPLIED
GREAT TIME: Sol3 Mio - Pene Pati (left) Moses Mackay (front) and Amitai Pati (far right) - take a selfie with Otene Hopa and the crowd at their Wednesday night concert at Whangarei's ASB Stadium.PHOTO/SUPPLIED
Sol3 Mio will make you laugh, cry and dance within minutes of taking the stage.
The Samoan opera trio, comprising tenor brothers, Pene and Amitai Pati and their baritone cousin, Moses Mackay, sold out the first of their Whangarei concerts on Wednesday and attracted thousands to their second show onThursday, which was added to their schedule due to the popularity of the first concert.
If you had told me a few years ago I would go to an opera concert and enjoy it, I would have said you were lying. But on Thursday night I went to Sol3 Mio's concert at ASB Stadium with my mother and swallowed my words. I loved it.
Sol3 Mio make opera accessible. The first half of the show was dedicated to classical songs like O Sole Mio, Nella Fantasia and Bring Him Home from the film Les Miserables, which the group dedicated to loved ones who were away from home and had people in the crowd reaching for the tissues.
The second half of the show encompassed a theatrical version of Tom Jones' Delilah "by Quentin Tarantino" as Pene joked, Inia Te Wiata's version of Yellow Bird, which excited some ladies at the back who Pene said "must be related" to the late baritone singer, and the best rendition of Ten Guitars I've ever heard.
The trio do not take themselves too seriously, but they take their art quite seriously.
From beginning to end they exchange banter and the tightness of Pene's pants became the butt of many jokes made throughout the night.
The show is not opera as you know it. Sol3 Mio's strong vocals and the emotion-filled delivery of songs will make you cry, their banter and theatrical performances will make you laugh and they encourage people to get up and dance.
