Marlon Williams might’ve been the main act, but it was te ao Māori that truly took over stage at Melbourne's Town Hall last night.
From heartfelt waiata and haka to unexpected tears, the night played out beautifully at Rising festival - a show of new art, music, and performance.
The atmosphere was electric - humming with a mix of pride and familiarity from the Kiwis and diehard fans alongside the curiosity and wonder emanating from people just discovering Marlon’s talent and love for te ao Māori.
Ngā Mātai Pūrua accompanied and supported Marlon flawlessly, and as a Kiwi visiting Melbourne for the first time I was moved to tears more than once by their passion and their obvious pride in representing their culture and honouring their ancestors on an Australian stage.
The highlight of the night came when the kapa haka group returned to the stage with one of their members announcing “this isn’t part of the show, he doesn’t know we’re doing this” before Marlon and his band, The Yarra Benders, were each gifted a beautiful korowai.
"Thank you for this entire experience," one of the wahine said. "Not only to be able to perform beside you, but I'm really grateful for the gifts you keep giving."
"Keep doing what you're doing and showing us it's cool to be Māori. It's so cool to be Māori."
"This is beautiful thank you so much," Marlon replied. "Every night you've made us 10 times what we normally are. It's been incredible!"
Marlon was very obviously floored by the gesture, and immediately burst into tears. His Australian bandmates, who tirelessly practiced their Te Reo to sing on Marlon’s latest album ‘Te Whare Tīwekaweka’, were similarly moved.
But for Marlon, whose journey making his first record entirely in Māori recently hit the big screen in a film called ‘Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds’, it was clear to see this meant more to him than he could put into words.
It was an incredibly special end to a night that felt at once trailblazing and steeped in history and tradition, not to mention damn entertaining.
