Evening
On Tuesday the 7th of December 2022, I saw Khruangbin perform at Spark Arena located in Auckland Central, NZ.
I’m a big fan of Khruangbin, and thoroughly enjoy every album released to date. The blend of world, surf-rock with a sprinkle of hip-hop is what attracts me to their music.
Band
Khruangbin are a trio originating from Texas, USA. The word “khruangbin” means airplane in the Thai language, indicating the group’s quest to combine as many different worldly reputations into their sound as possible. I hear influence in their music from Thai, Spanish, Middle Eastern and African (William Onyeabor) sounds as well as heavy dominion from classic instrumental rock group The Shadows, giving the band their instantly recognisable and hauntingly psychedelic sound.
The band consists of:
Mark Speer – Guitar
Donald Johnson (DJ) – Drums
Laura (make me blush) Lee – Bass
Spark Arena
Spark Arena is one of the biggest music venues in New Zealand with a capacity of around 12,000 people.
Echo from the supporting act’s bass drum was a little dominant. However, I think this was because Kamasi Washington (support) have two drummers which is not a conventional band configuration for sound engineers to master.
Conversely, Khruangbin’s sound reverberated vastly throughout Spark. Tone was clear, and discernible and seemed to travel endlessly, un-abrupted by any physical barriers. Perhaps this is a characteristic of Spark? – It suited Khruangbin’s music, so if the sound team mixed like this intentionally…ka pai!
Beer was $10 - $12 per plastic cup.
Performance
Verbal interaction with the crowd was minimal although Khruangbin communicated with the audience through their music. Songs seemed to sway/drift into one another, it was a continual music experience.
DJ, on drums, is a human metronome. His beat keeping is undeterrable and he plays with such delicacy barely touching the snare, it’s almost as if he prefers all attention to be focused on Mark and Laura. Despite his unselfish musicianship and style of playing I noticed/admired his key contribution to Khruangbin. Plus, I dig his cowboy hat and poncho combination…makes me want to hug him.
Mark’s guitar tone is so sharp it could slice cheese. His solos and licks pierce through the bouncy and contrasting environment that Laura establishes on bass. He uses reverb exceptionally well, complimenting Laura’s floaty playing style. I feel Mark’s guitar is used as an alternative to providing vocals on songs.
Laura is so cool! She adds such flare and colour to the group. Her bass tone is blunt, punchy and bops along in a funky way that gives Khruangbin their fun sound. She accentuates her mid-low tone, perhaps assisted by flatwound as opposed to regular groundwound bass strings (am I right Laura? Call me…. please)
Thoughts
I’m lost for words…Khruangbin were incredible!
Halfway through the set Khruangbin remixed numerous well-known rap songs, syncing them with their songs, which took everyone by surprise. As surprising as it was, it didn’t feel out of place in that moment because Khruangbin played with such ambuscade.
After completing the initial set Khruangbin performed for two more encores! – Very few bands feel compelled to bless the audience for two post-set performances. This was the last show of Khruangbin’s world tour, so maybe Khruangbin celebrated this fact by going out with a bang and playing one final hurrah?
A sense of fun, playfulness and pure enjoyment could be felt amongst the dancing audience, it was a beautiful feeling. Overall the performance made for a fantastic evening, slight shame it was Tuesday and not a Saturday.
Final Rating
Band: 5/5 (amazing)
Venue: 5/5 (amazing)
Evening: 5/5 (amazing)
Rating System
1 (bad); 2 (not bad); 3 (good); 4 (really good); 5 (amazing)