Olivia Dean at Western Springs Bowl review: Soul star defies the odds in Auckland
A nearly 40-minute technical glitch threatened to spoil the party, but Auckland’s adoring crowd gave Olivia Dean all the love she deserved - and she gave it right back.
It’s an artist and fans’ worst nightmare to hear the words uttered by Olivia Dean on the Western Springs Bowl stage on Saturday.
“We’re having a bit of a technical issue; we have to reset something,” the British soul songstress said with her glowing sense of endlessly positive optimism before leaving the stage.
She’d just done three songs, including pitch-perfect opener Nice To Each Other, without what seemed like any semblance of a hiccup, and the crowd was enraptured.
A nervous 40 minutes followed, with techs coming and telling us it would be “five minutes,” which turned into a lot longer.
No one was angry with Dean and her amazing full-swing band, but naturally, questions about what the heck was going on remained as people sat on their phones and went to grab a drink or use the loo.
When she did return, apologising (“this has never happened before”) and promising to defy the 11pm curfew and finish her full set, the “new” Western Springs Bowl was christened in an extraordinary fashion.
Ever the professional, Dean warmed up the cold Auckland night and any frosty feelings for the glitch with the grace, humour, and star power of a woman decades of experience her senior.
“Infectious joy,” were the words I wrote halfway into the set. I don’t think anyone there would disagree.
She smiles, and the whole audience smiles with her. She winks, and even the middle-aged dad next to me with his young daughter couldn’t help but blush.
I don’t like doing comparisons, but I’d be amiss not to say I saw a bit of Donna Summer, maybe even Whitney, or Aretha, seep through in Dean’s classy showmanship and powerhouse vocal abilities.
She never looked nervous, even though she probably had every reason to be. I sure would be.
“Allow mistakes to happen… just like this evening,” she laughed, ironically introducing Messy upon her return.
At 27, to be able to command an audience of 45,000 halfway across the globe at her “biggest headline show ever”, takes something special.
The girl from East London oozes authenticity. She even shouts out the “900 people” who saw her last year at the Powerstation in Mt Eden, and those who saw her criminally early daytime set at Laneway Festival.
A year later, she’s outsold Spark Arena, and judging by how packed it was, was probably on track to set some sort of modern record here at the bowl.
The theme of tonight, made very clear at the beginning, was love -this was the final stop of The Art of Loving tour after all. Dean tells us we shouldn’t only love others, but we should love ourselves as well, just as she does.
That’s reflected in the barrage of ballads and bops like UFO, Touching Toes, and I’ve Seen It. Carmen, an ode to her grandmother, Carmen, who was part of the UK’s Windrush generation, was also particularly poignant.
“I think it’s so important to think about the people who came before us,” she said.
“I also think we can have so much more love in our hearts. I don’t know how we’ve become so scared of each other.”
Maybe, just maybe, some of our world leaders could take a leaf out of Dean’s book.
An acoustic set down the runway stage slowed the pace again, allowing Dean to shine once again vocally with Loud and A Couple of Minutes. The sound was on-point, and she and the band were devoid of bung notes the whole night, which left many wondering what the technical palaver was all about.
There were three outfit changes, each one reflecting a different side of Dean’s persona and musical style. She certainly made the most of their features, letting the sequins sparkle and tassles flow as she danced in front of the massive blow-up flower and suspended disco ball.
A sense of freedom, fun, and endless joy was being concocted up there, as well as here in the audience.
The much-feared 11pm “curfew” came and went, as Dean powered through Baby Steps and Ladies Room. at breakneck speed. “We’re not going home yet, Auckland,” she said, possibly having been given the green light by the council (maybe Mayor Wayne Brown is an Olivia Dean fan?).
But sadly, all good parties have to come to an end. After a banging Curtis Mayfield cover of Move On Up, Dean finished with her biggest hits Dive and Man I Need.
Massive pink balloons spilled onto the field area, lovers embraced, friends got on shoulders, and my brother and I sang our little hearts out like we were doing karaoke at an East London pub.
It’s hard not to love Olivia Dean. Her music is catchy, her aura is sublime, and she never comes across as inauthentic.
In a world full of AI slop and lip syncing, it’s refreshing to see a star at the top of their game put on a theatrical love bomb (of the best kind) that anyone from grandparents to grandkids and anyone in between can enjoy.
“Thank you so much for being patient and making this night so special. I’ll certainly never forget it,” Dean says, skipping off stage still beaming.
Neither will we, and not because we had an unscheduled 40-minute intermission
As we left through the swell of people in a rush to beat the crowds, a young lady sitting next to us shouted to me.
“You forgot your picnic blanket!” she smiled, handing it back to me.
It was Olivia Dean’s Art of Loving personified. Love your friends, love strangers, love your family, love your neighbours. The world needs more love, and Olivia Dean has it in spades.
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.