Palmerston North 17 June 2011

The chilly, cold night is a constant companion as I head into Palmerston North to see Auckland based band Kidz in Space, on their third stop of their nation wide tour. Not only is this an all ages gig but it’s being held at the Palmerston North Convention Centre, a very unusual venue for a band to be playing. Upon arrival we were treated to a mix of club hits from local DJ Jaycee whom you normally find at Malbar supplying mashed up beats to the masses.

It was kind of odd that he seemed to fit into his set the Kidz in Space hit On the Road as this would have normally been a no-go-zone but the crowd didn’t mind and it didn’t affect the main act at all.

Once Kidz on Stage hit the stage the room filled with energy and the band ate it up. Having a stage presence of a group that’s being touring around for years, Kidz in Space let loose with a track after track of hits from the new album Ghost as well as the 2009 EP Chasing Hayley.

Starting off with tracks What You Do and Alive to get the crowd pumping and then moving into the crowd favourite of the night, Downtime (The crowd even chanted this to be encored) and Psychedelic Girl which features Alisa from The Naked and Famous; had the crowd eating out of their hands.

Once they started with their new albums title track Ghost the group displayed genuine surprise that the crowd was singing along word for word with them, stating this was the first time this has happened.

Following next they pulled out the current radio hit On The Road but decided to run with the Bulletproof remix version. The crowd lapped up every moment.

There were moments when I felt they weren’t prepared for the tour with vocalist Ethical aka Ashley Hughes, needing to catch his breath a few times during the night prompting a Freestyle from Matt Neshat aka NeEsh and even a drum solo being performed ¾’s through the night. But don’t get me wrong. Kidz in Space gave 110% throughout the night.

The night inspired me to go out and purchase the album the next day and I have not regretted adding it to my every growing collection of CD’s. (Yes, I buy CD’s)

I do recommend the album and if you get a chance, Catch them live now.