Taipō...
Ki ki ki ki ki ki ki...
Ngaoki, ngaoki, ngaoki, ngaoki, ngaoki, ngaoki, ngaoki
Ki ki ki ki ki ki ki
Ngaoki, ngaoki, ngaoki, ngaoki, ngaoki, ngaoki, ngaoki
Ki ki ki ki ki ki ki... Opening lines from Taipō, in TAUWHENUA | KOMMI, Infectiouss | KOMMI (bandcamp.com)
In the expansive theatre venue of The Piano in Christchurch, a near-invisible figure, Infectiouss, glides onto the stage, the low lighting casting a ghostly blue pallor. As the first strains of a keyboard synth pad began, the crowd quietened in anticipation. Then came Kommi and their Other Worldly tipua aka taipō spirits, their forms crouched low and slow. The electronic witch-hop waiata that followed was a symphony in te reo Māori vocals backed by mellow jazz guitar, electric bass and electronic synth percussion.
The Kāi Tahu dialect with its beautifully spoken cadence, lent itself to Kommi and their co-vocalist Tay Renee's complementary singing styles in an exceptionally lyrical, poetic way. Their duets on love and death, joy and grief, songs of protest and of praise, danced through the entire performance, binding the ensemble together in a fluid sonic experience. At one point a flag unfurled, the symbol of #Falisteen, in a statement of protest, solidarity and love for the other in the face of the UN declared genocide in Gaza.
The audience, participants in this shared auditory/spiritual event, responded with energetic appreciation. In contrast to the cacophonic energy of the Port Noise festival in Ōhinehou Lyttelton earlier this year where I first experienced Kommi, this performance was a study in controlled refinement, with The Piano theatre's excellent acoustics rendering the music in fine detail. When the performance ended and the artists left the stage, I was left with the pleasantly optimistic feeling that this nation may one day fully embrace its identity as a truly bicultural South Pacific community.
Malcolm
Tūranga
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