{"id":272898,"date":"2026-03-03T15:23:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T02:23:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/?post_type=reviews&p=272898"},"modified":"2026-03-03T15:23:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T02:23:03","slug":"gig-review-ma-tawhiri-warehouse-wellington-28-02-2026","status":"publish","type":"reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/reviews\/gig-review-ma-tawhiri-warehouse-wellington-28-02-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Gig Review: M\u0101 @ T\u0101whiri Warehouse, Wellington – 28\/02\/2026"},"author":40,"featured_media":273165,"template":"","review-type":[12],"class_list":["post-272898","reviews","type-reviews","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","review-type-gig"],"meta_box":{"review":"

A fierce advocate of whenua and wh\u0101nau, the Te Whanganui-a-Tara based rapper\/songwriter, producer and sound artist Maarire Brunning-Kouka wears her heart and soul on her sleeve. Well, in her rhymes actually. Her latest aptly titled album, Blame It On The Weather<\/em> dropped late last year, takes on colonial damage, inter-generational hurt, land conservation and relationship development, the lyrics intertwine and blend English and te reo M\u0101ori with hardcore hip hop and even be-bop free jazz.<\/p>\n

The album bursts with the energy of exceptional local jazz talent - from Louisa Williamson\u2019s expressive saxophone lines to Hikurangi Schaverian Kaa\u2019s deft drumming and Leonardo Coghini\u2019s impressive keyboard work, all brought together by his sharp and slick studio production. Since Hikurangi is predominantly a session player, I wasn\u2019t surprised to find he wasn\u2019t part of tonight\u2019s live ensemble. But the real loss was Williamson. Her absence left a noticeable gap; those subtle, jazz-steeped inflections she brings are what give the album its richness and vitality. Without them, some of the colour nuances simply weren't there.<\/p>\n

Tonight\u2019s one-hour mini\u2011gig leaned into heavier bass grooves and a nu\u2011soul vibe led by M\u0101's trio (was this the Fly Hunnies?) delivered a stripped\u2011back but satisfying soundscape with Maiaho Hotere\u2011Wharehoka on bass, Coghini\u2019s smooth keyboard work, and Keanu\u2019s solid drumming anchoring the performance. It would have worked well if the venue was a little bit softer. But the foyer of T\u0101whiri warehouse is a cold, hard metal box. Sound bounces off the corrugated iron walls with a piercing edge, which even starts to hurt a little after prolonged playing. I appreciate the sound techs did their best but with a room that bright it was a challenge to hear and understand their rhymes and lyrics clearly. The best place to hear clearly was actually perpendicular to the stage, which seems a bit counterproductive. But even the huge 4 metre curtains couldn\u2019t dampen the sounds.<\/p>\n

Still, I was in to have a good time. Drink in hand I was ready to groove it up with the small but dedicated crowd, which I noticed also included M\u0101\u2019s dad Hone Kouka (who played Waiora Te \u016akai\u014d \u2013 The Homeland<\/em>, which\u00a0I caught at the Opera House the next day. It was so powerful, it brought me to tears).<\/p>\n

Most of M\u0101\u2019s set came from Blame It On The Weather<\/em>. And despite the muddy sound I caught some pretty cool and funky renditions of Colonised Bro <\/em>and\u00a0Miss U<\/em> (Romi Wrights). They started with the funky banger, Decay <\/em>(which I've just learned is in the top 10 finalists for this year's Taite Music Prize). With Mahi<\/em> the beats get harder and deeper. The bass is starting its own groove- quake.\u00a0Leo finally gets a chance to let loose with a bit of noodling across the ivories on Traps Jam<\/em>, and that draws a cheer. Papa's Song<\/em> gets into slower soul drive, with a dash of rap and song and d'Angelo-nu-soul.<\/p>\n

M\u0101 announces the next track as a \"love letter to the Gay community.\" The sting is in the chorus, and it dawns on me what it\u2019s about: \"F*ck New Destiny, F*ck You Destiny (church)!\" She\u2019s never gonna hold back against bigots and homophobes, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n

Also part of the new project is a swaggering Latin groove called Monogamous. <\/em>Down the front during this one, couples are feeling it with a bit of a dance between each other, throwing shapes and moves encouraged by squeals of delight from friends on the sidelines.<\/p>\n

I quite enjoyed the retro beats of Happy<\/em>. \"This one\u2019s for the Aunties,\" M\u0101 says, \"talks about tupuna and wh\u0101nau love.\" I can see why. It\u2019s got a cool 80\u2019s M\u0101ori reggae beat and synth-sax (courtesy of Leo\u2019s keyboards) which reminded me of all those great tunes from Herbs back in the day. To add a bit more nostalgia she adds a few choice lines from the chorus of the Black Seeds\u2019 classic So True<\/em>. There\u2019s one unnamed funky groove featuring a super nifty recurring keyboard line that deserves a slow sway. Homai e <\/em>has a nice swagger to it, and we\u2019re all really getting into it. But then the clock runs out. Too soon for me. I have to make do with the closer, with the line \"Right Now!\" ringing in our ears as we head out into a rare humid late summer evening.<\/p>\n","review_type":{"term_id":12,"name":"Gig","slug":"gig","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":12,"taxonomy":"review-type","description":"","parent":0,"count":553,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0"},"linked_artist":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reviews\/272898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reviews"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/reviews"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reviews\/272898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":272899,"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reviews\/272898\/revisions\/272899"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"review-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review-type?post=272898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}