Nia Archives
Powerstation, Auckland, NZ
Sunday, January 26th, 2025
Nia Archives is an artist who can do it all. She’s a producer, DJ, vocalist but, first and foremost, she’s a junglist.
After a long year of performing across the UK, Europe, North America, and Australia, the English-born artist made her final tour stop in Auckland, New Zealand, selling out the Powerstation on Sunday night (January 26th).
“What’s up Auckland? How are we fucking feeling?!” Nia hollered into the mic, plunging straight into her thundery drum patterns and rapid RPMs. “Off Wiv Ya Headz” got the ball rolling, offering a smorgasbord of multi-layered genres.
“C’mon, I wanna see everyone moving!” she called out as she jumped from left to right on the stage, arms flying, her wide grin showing her grill sparkling in the light. Her contagious energy throughout made it feel like you were just partying with a friend.
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Credit: Jamie Lees
Captivated by her addictive beats and colourful visuals, she had the crowd under her spell. Between frequent yells and enthusiastic screams, they remained active and attentive with each change in tempo – a marker of a performer and audience truly in sync.
“Bad Gyalz” catapulted the energy in the room to an astounding level. “Bad Gyal come to ram up the dance / She come to skank, she nah want romance,” Nia sang as deep siren sounds reverberated through the room.
Wherever you looked, from the mezzanine to the heart of the dancefloor, people were making all sorts of shapes. The crowd was a sea of moving bodies Nia had at her mercy.
Skittering, frenetic breakbeats underlined her neo-soul vocals as she performed tracks off her 2024 debut album, Silence Is Loud. Juxtaposed with heartfelt ballads and heavy basslines, “So Tell Me…” and “Unfinished Business” opened the dancefloor up as a space of deep connection for the collected ravers.
Her self-proclaimed title of “emotional junglist” felt true – somewhere within the filthy drum and bass was a dose of sincere delicacy. The atmosphere was chaotic and intense yet comforting and poetic.
“For me, I have always made super emotional music disguised by the upbeat chaos that is jungle music. The lyrics and production combined create a really interesting mix of vibes and feeling,” Nia recently told Rolling Stone AU/NZ.
Credit: Jamie Lees
“Crowded Roomz” had the crowd singing along and waving their hands in unison. Despite possessing the lyric, “I feel so lonely in crowded rooms,” the packed-out space felt far from lonely.
In prime lead-up to Laneway 2025, her jungle twist on Charli XCX’s “360” got the Gen Zers blowing up. It was almost impossible to choose a peak moment in her performance but, as measured by the crowd’s vibration, the night’s highlights had to be her remix of “Burn Dem Bridges” by Skin on Skin and “Waited All Night” by Jamie XX featuring Romy and Oliver Sim.
Loud and righteous, “Baianá” was the closing spectacle, officially completing her debut album campaign tour with a bang. “Thank you so much for the energy and vibes,” she said, proudly waving the Jamaican flag high.
Read our recent Nia Archives interview here.
