Shapeshifter moves summer throng

ANDREW BOARD ANDREW BOARD ANDREW BOARD ANDREW BOARD ANDREW BOARD ANDREW BOARD ANDREW BOARD ANDREW BOARD ANDREW BOARD ANDREW BOARD ANDREW BOARD

Front row centre at the Shapeshifter gig at Riwaka Hotel on Monday December 28.

Shapeshifter saxophone player Devin Abrams playing at the Riwaka Hotel on Monday night.

A fan gets elevated for a better view.

Shapeshifter vocalist Paora 'P Digsss' Apera making some on-stage costume adjustments.

The 2000 strong crowd enjoying the show.

A fan screams as Shapeshifter takes to the stage at the Riwaka Hotel.

Crowd excitment builds just before headline act Shapeshifter takes the stage at the Riwaka Hotel on Monday night.

Guitarist Sam Trevethick performs during Shapeshifter's headline set.

P Digsss having some fun with the Riwaka crowd

Tiki Taane performs in front of a packed and passionate Riwaka crowd.

Support act Tiki Taane had the crowd singing along.

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ANDREW BOARD/The Nelson Mail

SHOW OF MASTERY: Shapeshifter vocalist Paora 'P Digsss' Apera having some fun with the crowd.

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Shapeshifter at Riwaka Hotel, Monday, December 28. Reviewed by Charlie Anderson.

They came in board shorts and jandals. In thin summer dresses and bikini tops. In droves.

"Things are going to get eclectic," was the comment murmured behind me as I wandered into the throng of summer party goers packed into the marquis behind the Riwaka Hotel.

The comment came after Tiki Tane and Sunshine Soundsystem had played. It came just before Shapeshifter took the stage for their third gig in as many days. But if there was any sign of exhaustion they did not show it launching into their first song, Ducchies. The crowd did not need much encouragement, warmed up by Tiki in an acoustic set that used a helpful back catalogue of Salmonella Dub songs, The Kings of Leon, The Violent Femmes and The White Stripes before settling on Bob Marley. "This is the best way to spend a Monday night," Tiki told the crowd before issuing the call for a crowd singalong to Always on My Mind. It seemed the droves all agreed.

However, the crowd was always there to see Shapeshifter. Sporting pink summer tans and bleary eyes they let themselves be worked by the mastery that has come to define Shapeshifter gigs. The slow build to a climax that always seems just one step away and then the drop beat as the strobe lights behind the stage burst into life along with a hefty dose of sub woofer. The crowd was always going to be a sea of hands during Electric Dream. The hands were always going to be bopping with the rhythm of The Warning and they were always going to be punching the air during Bring Change.

The Riwaka Hotel in full voice is something to behold and that same summer crowd will no doubt get that same experience on New Year's Eve when Fat Freddy's Drop comes to town.

They left as they came, but some a little slower as they found their cars towed off the side verge and into the parking lot behind the hotel.

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sallymanda   #1   02:38 pm Dec 30 2009

What a gig! Amazing tunes, great atmosphere - Thanks Nelson Mail for some awesome pictures!

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