Live Review: Ngaiire, Woodes, Wallace

Wallace was stoked to be singing to a modest crowd – and she deserved it. Sounding like a jazz singer from another era, Wallace drew us in with her deep vocals, though the addition of spacey keys and steel drums forges a genre of her own. The heartfelt and groovy Raffled Roses was a highlight.

Bringing us back to the 21st century with airy vocals and delicate beats and synths, Woodes took to the stage. Attention waned as her set moved into monotonous territory, but track Poison picked up the pace and got the dance floor moving. She has talent — she just needs the stage presence to match.

Meanwhile, Ngaiire knows how to make an entrance and own the stage. Enticing us with some empowering words before launching into a slow version of House On A Rock, she hooked us in.

Unanimously agreeing that 2016 has been a bit shit, Ngaiire encouraged us women to wear what we wanted and flaunt it, following the sentiment herself as she powered through her set.

Continuing the empowering vibes of tonight, she dedicated I Wear Black to a world where race, ethnicity and religion don't matter.

It has to be said that her vocals cannot be faulted and she gave it her all, but House On A Rock was an out of this world experience. She then topped this with an absolutely phenomenal rendition of Diggin, which saw the dancers enter the stage again and the back-up vocalists take centre stage, ending on a celebratory note.

Calling for an encore after that finale almost felt like blasphemy, but Ngaiire (wig-less) and band returned, enlisting the help of Woodes and Wallace to sing Fall Into My Arms in a vulnerable and hymn-like fashion to close the set.