Festival Review: CubaDupa Part 1 @ Wellington – 29/03/2025

As I sit in the tiny Hamodava Cafe waiting to see a string of young female artists over the next few hours it starts to fill with family and friends of the first artist. It’s a small venue but it’s cosy, has coffee and sweet treats, and the sound is good. 

Starting the afternoon is Jayme Morpeth, who’s CubaDupa profile says, “her catchy upbeat songs intertwine with her more raw and emotional songs to showcase the different phases of her life, and the ups and downs you endure as you grow older.” Her original songs scattered throughout her set proved this to be true, showing vulnerability but also a fun side.

Armed with her electric guitar and an army of supporters in the audience Jayme starts with her song Just Feel It, showcasing her beautiful soft vocals as she sings about wishing ‘she could feel alive, even just for a minute’. Closer To The Bone showcases her vocal range and leaves you wanting more, before a cover of Clairo’s song Bags and, not knowing the original, I like Jayme’s version.

My favourite original song is Fast Car which has some smooth runs and is super catchy.

I cannot fault Jayme’s voice in her cover of Teenage Dirtbag, her vocals perfect for the verses and adding emotion to the song, perfection, I could listen to this version over and over again.

We learn that the latest single on Spotify (but with a band) Meet You Again is about losing touch or and not liking who someone close to you turns into and wishing that you could have the old version of them back. It is emotional and relatable whilst still being upbeat and definitely fits her profile description. I added this to my playlist straight away! Daringly, Jayme’s last cover is Valerie by powerhouse Amy Winehouse, which is no easy feat, but putting her own spin on it means that Jayme nails it!

The set ends with an original Gone For Good which has sharper guitars and is a nice way to finish off. I highly recommend checking Jayme Morpeth out because she left me wanting more, performed amazingly, and is destined for big things! Watch this space!

Lucy Summerfield is a singer-songwriter and Waiata artist from Motueka who is now Te Whanganui-a-Tara based. She crafts songs with stories at the heart of them, weaving together English and Te Reo Māori in her performances. 

There is barely room to move as Lucy starts with Te Reo hit Hurihia, a song about being in a tiny town and everyone disappearing. It’s all in Te Reo because Lucy couldn’t find the words to describe it in English and it is a beautiful song.

Fire is an extremely catchy song but sadly people are distracted and heading outside to see one of the parades going past, this doesn’t stop Lucy from continuing to perform though as she moves on to hit Mixed Signals followed by a song about a canary in a coal mine. People return back in and are captivated by her Bic Runga Drive cover, Lucy declaring “what would she be without Bic Runga?”

We are in for a treat now as Cellist Joanna Dann joins Lucy on stage for the rest of the set adding that extra flair to songs, including beautiful song Constellations.

Lucy has an outstanding voice with great range in both in English and Te Reo and it is always a delight to hear her live. Her final song is her hit Fruit Tea, which is about platonic love, people who want to spend time with you without being in love with you. It has the gorgeous line ‘looking for the sun but they found it in you’ and myself and the people in front of me are singing and bopping along to this funky, catchy song. 

Dani Josie started late so jumped right into her first song which was upbeat, rocky, and had some great drums. Getting the crowd moving she went straight into another song which was also upbeat and a bit more pop than the first one. Covering Natasha Bedingfield’s Unwritten she struggled a bit but for the most part was nailing it and the audience were singing along, dancing away, and loving it, the perks of covers I guess. Finally getting a moment between songs Dani introduces herself and lets us know the next song Bye Bye Now was one of her first ever releases. Bye Bye Now showcases her vocals and is another rocky and fun song. Unfortunately, I have to say bye bye now and head to another stage but I enjoyed Dani’s voice and hope to be able to see a full set by her soon.

Out of my tiny cafe bubble and off to the vibrant Glover Park I go, it takes a bit to get in and so I hear Jade Merematira’s first song while waiting in line but luckily I get to a spot by the stage for the rest of her set.

Jade’s second song is an amazing cover of Stan Walker’s Te Reo cover of Don’t Dream It’s Over and features one of her backup vocalists Raureti Ormand.
Another cover, The Hardest Part by Olivia Dean features another backup vocalist Ella de Blois on lead vocals. Jade is really showing how much talent her BV’s have and I’m loving it.
Now it’s time for an original song and Jade tells us that The Siren is about feeling like your future and ideals are too far ahead of you and you won’t get there. Her vocals are soulful and smooth and so more-ish.

My favourite part of my time at CubaDupa is this moment/song where Jade tells us about her 91 year old Nan who is in the audience and how much she loves her. She then continues to tell us that this next song Everyday was written for her nan’s 90th birthday which they didn’t know if she would make it to, and that this is the first time her Nan will be hearing it. Fighting back tears (along with a lot of the audience) Jade sings a beautiful song to her Nan and it feels like nothing else matters but her Nan in those moments. It is an emotional experience for all involved and showcases how vulnerable Jade is as a songwriter.

Coming Home is the title track of her EP and is about how for Jade her family is home, but you can find home wherever your feet find themselves, and also in regards to trusting that everything you need is within yourself. Yet another emotional song that is relatable and showcases some breathtaking vocals from Jade.

Everything Is Gonna Be Alright by Infinity Song features her BV’s in lead, this time adding Maya Gatling to Ella and Raureti. It features some great crowd participation with everyone singing along to the ‘Everything is gonna be alright, everything is gonna be’. 

Jade announces this next song is a cult favourite between mates and her mates in the audience scream loudly! River Run is about forming beautiful connections that don’t have to be romantic to be meaningful. It’s about the people who ignite your spark when you meet them. As Jade sings I can see her friends singing along in the audience which is lovely to see. 

The last song is a cover of Can’t Hold Me by Emily King and I don’t want it to finish as I have been happily lost in Jades performance and could listen for so much longer. Jade has a beautiful soul and it shows through her singing, her acknowledgment of her band, friends, love for family, and her lyrics. She has an amazing vocal range, knows how to command an audience, and is definitely an outstanding artist!

Next stop is the Te Aro Eats Stage to hear some funky brass pop from Crash Bandihoot.

Crash Bandihoot are described as ‘bringing a raucous show of colourful New Orleans street style brass band music, soaring horns and driving dancing rhythms with a Kiwi twist’ and that is exactly what we get.

Featuring band members in wonderful colourful outfits donning a sousaphone, trumpet, trombones, drums, saxophones and probably more I’ve missed, they manage to gather a huge crowd of all ages and have us all dancing along to their funky beats.

There is a freestyle singer rapping in some songs, different band members singing, and a huge chill vibe as their set progresses.

It is hard to tell what some songs are due to the jazzy remixes that come with all the brass instruments but I hear a chorus to Champagne supernova at one point, and there is definitely Lizzo’s Good As Hell being freestyled too. The crowd sing along to a couple of songs and there is a song where they say ‘repeat after us’ and we all sing to that too.

Despite not really knowing what songs are what it doesn’t affect the performance for me and it is such a fun way to end my day at CubaDupa, surrounded by people having fun, dancing like nobody is watching and enjoying some good jazz on a nice Wellington night.

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