Gig Review: Katy Perry @ Spark Arena, Auckland – 20/08/2018

This is the story of how a heavy metal journalist ended up surprisingly enjoying themselves at a POP show – the amazing extravaganza that is Katy Perry’s ‘Witness’ tour. I knew that as a pop show it would be an amazing show – that’s an understatement! From fireworks, a shark doing splits, high energy dancers, soulful backing singers, incredible live band. Add to this giant props from lips, to giant roses, basketball hoop and a lion’s head it had everything a musical concert should – and at times the show had this metal-head, head banging and throwing the horns, not caring about people’s reactions around me. 

The show started late which normally really bugs me, especially on a week day, but I felt the show was high energy enough to keep everyone awake and dancing or moving in their seats. Although looking online at the expected set list of the show quite a few songs seemed to be missing. I hadn’t expected to connect on a personal level to many (or any) of Katy’s songs and had only listened to Witness for the first time today while doing other admin work on my business.  Katy was welcomed on to the stage with loud cheering and it definitely felt like 15,000 people were there to have the time of their lives. On the eye shaped screen (which took centre place for most of the show) flashing in red words on a black screen was the slogan ‘Existence is an act of rebellion’ which really struck a chord with me and echoed an earlier conversation I’d had with a friend. The introduction show was the single Witness from the album with the same name – also the name of the tour. The eye opened up and Katy came through the gap in a giant star and HER VOICE which has made her so famous was unleashed with all its power. While being visually stunning, I feel like the first few songs had sound or technical issues and there was issues with feedback and distortion which threw Katy and the singers – but by the third song this had been mostly ironed out, although was reoccurring during the show. 

I’ve reviewed 100’s of Metal and Rock bands by now and reviewing Katy Perry as my first ever giant pop show was an eye-opening experience. I’m used to bands taking the focus of the crowd’s attention with some sometimes having a light show (think Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Black Sabbath) but not many have such a visual show – the only bands I can think of that’s anything close to being similar would be Iron Maiden and Rammstein. With a career as long as Katy’s – spanning over 10 years there was something for everyone, including a few songs I knew which was pleasantly surprising. Chained to the Rhythm, Teenage Dream and Power were the songs I personally identified with the most and going through my notes these two songs also heavily featured individual contributions from the fabulous backing band. Through their powerful performance, including some solo moments, they were INCREDIBLE! Their solos and POWER! I didn’t get the sense that any of them were going through the motion, it wasn’t just a well-oiled machine, everyone on stage seemed to be loving every moment of it. Last week I watched an interview with Katy on one of the NZ TV shows and she mentioned that the people on the tour were family and also how they transport the props – 5 whole planes just for the gear!!!! Imagine packing it all down at the end of the night! Although after almost a year on the road, I’m sure it’s now done a lot faster. 

There were a lot of special moments during the show where Katy really connected with her fans – she talked of the cities she loves here and the mountains she’s climbed and the adrenaline junky that she is she LOVES all the bungie jumping we have here. She also accepted gifts from the crowd (including hand-made earrings) and sang a slow love song while kneeling in front of the mosh pit crowd. Later on, in the show before Swish Swish she got talking to a boy fan in the crowd and encouraged him to dance for her and she gave him a signed fan. There were a lot of special moments in this show that definitely do not happen at Rock and Metal shows. I think we have a lot to learn from the Pop world, but it was amazing to see that the sense of belonging and family that I love in the Metal Community also exists among the Pop world. Every rock and metal fan should get out of their comfort zones and go to at least one giant pop show in their life – I’m sure you will enjoy it and learn a lot about another side of the industry. I have and now I’m contemplating going to Pink too! Thanks Katy and team for an amazing show! Loved it!

_{Review written by Sarah Sampson}