Shapeshifter show a sell out at Club Raro

You might want to tie down your roofs come Thursday night when Shapeshifter cranks the amps up to 11 for a sold-out show at Club Raro.
“We are renowned for very heavy bass,” explained lead singer Paora Apera. “We’ll rattle windows and rivets and everything, really.”
Apera’s family is based in Rarotonga and he lived here for a couple years back in the early ’80s.
“I come back here nearly every year for a relaxing mid-winter break,” said Apera. “For years I’ve been trying to get the band over and I’m sure they’re pretty tired of me going on and on about how beautiful my homeland is.”
The five-man group brought a contingent of New Zealand fans with them, thanks to the efforts of Pacific Blue. That contribution of seats is all part of an effort to raise funds to benefit the National Voyaging Society as well as the victims of Aitutaki’s Cyclone Pat.
Others may describe Shapeshifter’s music as ‘drum-and-bass’, but Apera prefers the term ‘heavy soul’.
“It’s an amalgamation of everything we’ve grown up with,” he said. “It’s not just club music, it’s so much more. It has jazz elements – all the boys met each other at jazz school in Christchurch – and it has a rock influence. As we’ve grown older, we’ve become better musicians. We’ve learned how to let our influences that we grew up with become part of our music.”
One of the brightest stars in the New Zealand music galaxy, thanks to the album The System is a Vampire debuting at No. 1, Shapeshifter will spend all of October touring the United Kingdom.
The band formed in 1999 and Apera noted that they’ve come a long way in 11 years.
“We’ve gone through a lot of sleeping in the same room and sleeping in our tour vans, to finally playing at Club Raro,” he said. “It’s been leaps and bounds, really. It’s still breathtaking that people are coming to watch us. It’s amazing that we’ve sold out in Raro.”
Tiki Taane, another Kiwi star in his own right, will open the concert with a 45-minute acoustic set. He, too, is thrilled to be part of a sold-out event.
“It’s always a buzz to play, but when you know you have a packed house, it’s extra fun for me because you know it’s going to a good vibe and everyone’s there to have a good time,” he said.
Taane is quick to point out that, just because he labels his set ‘acoustic’, don’t expect mellow.
“I rock ’em out,” he said. “The new school acoustic thing is more energy: jump around crazy stuff.”
Apera said Shapeshifter has altered its set slightly for a tropical venue, but that doesn’t mean ukuleles and grass skirts.
“We’re just going to keep really soulful and jam it out,” he said. “We are on island time so we’re going to groove out. But we will be delivering in a heavy way as well.”

By John Ireland

Herald Issue 463 10 June
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