Dominic Blaazer at The PumpHouse

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Ronald and I were given the opportunity to listen to Dominic Blaazer in The PumpHouse Theater in Takapuna. Thank you "I Love Takapuna!" for our tickets :) It was our first time to come inside the theatre which provides a historical feel since it was one of the best known landmarks in the area. In addition, it was our first time to listen to New Zealand-based artists who are performing live on stage. (Warning: We are pretty much new in NZ so we are still learning the culture, traditions, etc in this country.)


The PumpHouse


The place is hidden in the main road. You have to turn from the main road to a side road then turn again in a semi-circular fashion to see the PumpHouse Theatre. 

Lake Pupuke at night




It is beside Lake Pupuke which makes it even more beautiful and regal. It has a cafe beside it where you can spend time to eat dinner or lunch while waiting for any program to start. There are car park spaces beside the theater that are free for 3 hours so you don't have to worry where to leave your car. 








The minibar at the left corner 


Inside the Pumphouse theater, there is a mini bar where you can order drinks such as  coffee or tea and wines. The alcoholic drink ranges from 7 to 12 dollars. The bar also provides some snack like pastries and ice cream (the trumpet). What good about this mini bar is that everything is affordable but it is not as fancy as the other bar so do not expect it to be as a five star hotel bar. I ordered coffee and a small almond cupcake which cost about six bucks. I did enjoy my cupcake. The coffee is alright though not really topnotch but it is decent.

 
Jan playing the piano :)

The program started with Jan Hellriegel. She is wonderful. She said that she never played the piano in front of an audience so we, the crowd, are honored to have the privilege to listen and see her performance for the first time. I can say that she is really good in playing the piano. Ronald and I are saying that her voice can reach really low notes (Listen to the song He's Gone) which is so hard for a female voice to hit and she also has a nice falsetto voice. I also notice that she can do good ad-libs.  I do associate some of her songs in a nice way to Colbie Caillat because this is the first time I hear her sing. She also gave some trivia about her songs. She interacts with her audience which I really like. She sang some songs that she will include in her forthcoming album and she also performed some songs from her previous one.


Dominic Blaazer :)

Dominic with the Maximum Philharmonic Orchestra

Dominic Blaazer singing his album, "The Lights of Te Atatu"

Dominic Blaazer is awesome. He is really good. I am amaze that he can play the piano and the guitar. His songs are collaboration of different instruments which include saxophone, piano, guitar, violin, etc. that when played together provides a harmonious perfection. His voice is cool and mellow. Most of his songs are modernise but if you scrutinise the lyrics it is deep, full of lessons, romantic and mature. I can actually hear some Phil Collins in there, a bit of Beatles and Elton John. I don't think there are still artists nowadays who have this kind of album.  When he played the piano to sing "Gang Brawl," I just thought he is really versatile. It kind of remind me songs sang in Disney Movies and Broadway Musicals.  I love the song Baby What Can I Say (the audience was asked to sing the "What Can I Say" part) and Simple Love (which is really good song writing). Sunday Morning makes me calm and nostalgic. Nothing Lasts Forever just made me wanna dance :) Baby Says She Cares really shows how he can hit high notes and his voice is just gorgeous. He performs well. After hearing him sing live, I went to bandcamp.com to hear his album. And lo and behold, his voice is the same. Not many singers can pull that off. There is usually a big difference from a recorded song to the one performed live. For Dominic Blaazer, his live singing is the same as the recording singing. His album, "The Lights of Te Atatu," is a masterpiece. My mom and sister would definitely love it too. 





Lyrics of "Simple Love" by Dominic Blaazer

Young love, sold love 
Taut love, bought love 
Old love, learned love 
Fraught love, burned love 
These are the things I know, this is the way I show 

Why love, where love 
Try love, care love 
High love, enough love 
Goodbye love, tough love 
These are the things I know, this is the place I go 

Bad love, ghostly love 
Son of a bitch love, I’m gonna kill ya love 
Dirty love, free love 
Over love, all over love 

Cool love, anxious love 
Bold love, fractured love 
Blame love, golden love 
Daily love, not beholden love 

These are the things I know, this is the time to go

How artistic! Dominic Blaazer is really amazing. The lyrics of using different kind of love put in one song is absolutely art! Congratulations Mr. Blaazer! You created something really beautiful and thank you for sharing it to us :) I am one of your fans now :)

I am not a Music Expert and this blog is just written as a hobby. You can agree or disagree with my opinions :)
Location: Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand

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