Monnery\u2019s set consisted of several covers, including a Chaka Khan song and I Love the Nightlife by Alicia Bridges, which helped draw the audience in early.<\/p>\n
Overall, Monnery did a solid job of setting the tone for the night and hyping up the crowd for Ellis-Bextor.<\/p>\n
By the time Ellis-Bextor took the stage at 9pm, the dance floor was full, glow sticks and sequins sparkled throughout the crowd and it quickly became clear the audience had come for a bit more than nostalgia and old hits – they came for a big Tuesday night in the Tron.<\/p>\n
Ellis-Bextor made an effort to connect with the local crowd early, talking about a visit to Hobbiton earlier that day.<\/p>\n
She also shared a few fun facts she had picked up about Hamilton \u2013 like the slogan \u201cHamilton Where It\u2019s Happening\u201d, used as the city\u2019s catchphrase several years ago.<\/p>\n
And Ellis-Bextor was definitely on a mission to make Hamilton \u201chappen\u201d again!<\/p>\n
Her voice was incredible all night \u2013 flawless and powerful. She was more than a performer; she was an entertainer.<\/p>\n
Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Hamilton set was crafted from her eight studio albums, including her latest release,\u00a0Perimenopop. Photo \/ Levi Santana<\/p>\n
Her engagement with the crowd, her genuine warmth, and her stage presence made the audience feel at ease and connected.<\/p>\n
Her set was crafted from her eight studio albums, including her latest release, Perimenopop.<\/p>\n
Original tracks like Hypnotized, Music Gets the Best of Me, Get Over You, Take Me Home and Groovejet (If This Ain\u2019t Love), the latter she famously made with DJ Spiller, sat comfortably alongside covers like Lady (Hear Me Tonight) and Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight).<\/p>\n
The cool thing about her set was that, even when Ellis-Bextor performed songs the audience might not have known, her signature sound tied everything together, making both the hits and the deeper cuts feel equally compelling.<\/p>\n
It was like hearing different shades her: familiar, polished, and impossible to be disappointed in.<\/p>\n
Sophie Ellis-Bextor was BNZ Theatre’s first show with a dancefloor. Photo \/ Levi Santana<\/p>\n
Ellis-Bextor was backed by a talented band featuring drums, bass, guitar, keys, and a multi-instrumentalist handling keys, violin, vocals and percussion.<\/p>\n
She mentioned that several band members had only just arrived from the UK and the US and were dealing with jetlag, but this wasn\u2019t noticeable to the audience, as they played with consistency and energy throughout the show.<\/p>\n
Lighting and visuals were bright and playful.<\/p>\n
The screen backdrop displayed music-video-style visuals and a Jeopardy game-style song generator that involved the crowd.<\/p>\n
Ellis-Bextor performed in two dazzling sequined costumes that reflected her energy and showmanship.<\/p>\n
The first outfit was a sparkling surprise two-piece ensemble, including a purple coat that she later removed to reveal a short, glittering black dress.<\/p>\n
The second outfit was a sequin leotard with big, flowing tassels and a laser-like headpiece that added a fun, futuristic touch.<\/p>\n
She saved her famous Murder on the Dancefloor for the final song, releasing the crowd into the night on a high note.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve always respected Ellis-Bextor as a musician and had heard Murder on the Dancefloor many times on the radio, but she wasn\u2019t an artist I actively followed.<\/p>\n
Having seen her live for the first time, getting to know her personality and seeing the way she cares about her craft and her audience, I couldn\u2019t help but admire her talent and charisma.<\/p>\n
More so, it converted me to a fan and I\u2019d see her again in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n
Blair Dowling is the Hits Waikato 10-3 day show host. He is also a long-time musician and the drummer of local band Jesse and the O\u2019Briens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Monnery\u2019s set consisted of several covers, including a Chaka Khan song and I Love the Nightlife by Alicia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280271,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1443,3017,28500,157060,157061,23999,25759,157062,35142,157059,156,9517,6288,685,4275,157,111,139,69,146853,9831,34592,1305,412,26655,7069,37168,3131,14578,14905,102],"class_list":["post-280270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-about","tag-ahead","tag-bnz","tag-charms","tag-christened","tag-commit","tag-concert","tag-dancefloor","tag-debut","tag-ellisbextor","tag-entertainment","tag-fans","tag-hamilton","tag-last","tag-murder","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-polished","tag-question","tag-ready","tag-show","tag-sophie","tag-sparkling","tag-theatre","tag-theatres","tag-tron","tag-tuesday","tag-whether","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}