Arthur Hill lit up the crowd on a Monday night for the last show of the Stellar Artour, and continued to prove on his second night in a city across the globe that internet stardom can translate into electrifying live performances.
Starting the night off was also a fellow internet sensation: Auckland-raised Max Allais, sharing a similar style of soulful melodies and sharp lyrics in a catchy tune.
Max Allais
Max Allais did not step into an empty room. The crowd was already there, pressed in, attentive, mostly teens and women in their mid-twenties, ready to sing along to someone they clearly already loved.
There is something quietly disarming about him live. No grand gestures, no forced hype, just heart-forward songs delivered with conviction. An unreleased track, Close To You, stood out early, an emotional banger heavy with soul and sincerity, the kind of song that makes a room feel smaller than it is. Covers of Niall Horan’s This Town and Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself felt less like crowd-pleasing shortcuts and more like honest extensions of his own sound.
Allais closed with Lost in Love from his forthcoming EP, leaving behind the sense that this was an artist still warming up to something much bigger. Genuinely impressive and quietly compelling, he proved he is far more than an online success story. One to watch, especially for sombre pop that still knows how to lift itself up, Auckland spice included. It feels overdue that the city produces a true pop icon, and Allais looks like a strong contender.
Arthur Hill
The rain outside had turned strange by the time Arthur Hill’s set began, drifting between drizzle and something heavier, but no one inside The Tuning Fork seemed to care. This was Hill’s final night of the Stellar Artour, and the room felt primed for chaos.
He walked on stage to AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, the lights dropping as his glowing Stellar Artour sign flared to life behind him. The crowd immediately took over, chanting “Arthur!” in place of “Thunder!”, and just like that, the night snapped into focus. Whatever modest expectations lingered dissolved almost instantly.
Hill might not yet be the first name to ring in your mind for a Brit-pop artist who came to Auckland this week, but his digital reach is formidable: millions of followers, millions of streams, and the real test was whether that hype could survive the jump from screen to stage. It did not just survive, it thrived. Backed by two guitarists and a drummer, Hill proved his pop-rock instincts translate effortlessly live, opening with an explosive rendition that showcased both his energy and control.
There is a playful confidence to Hill, something reminiscent of a British Benson Boone, dark curls, moustache, charm to spare, minus the backflips. His humour landed just as reliably as his hooks. At one point he announced he wanted a “deep moment”, only to start talking in autotune, undercutting the sincerity just enough to keep things loose and self-aware.
Tracks like Hey Arthur! highlighted his wit, while Fuck You arrived exactly as expected: blunt and cathartic. Crowd favourites Lily, Miracle and Right Now turned the floor into a single jumping mass, the room moving as one despite the oddness of a rain-soaked Monday night.
After Bride & The Gloom, Hill declared, “I wanna marry you, Auckland!”, prompting shouted stories of anniversaries, engagements and even an invitation to return as a best man in two years’ time. He joked about rewriting the song’s cynical lyrics, but no one seemed particularly concerned, this was a crowd fully on his side.
Relentless chants of “one more song” dragged him back out for an encore that stretched to two tracks, the gloriously over-the-top Dead In The Disco followed by Appetite, sending the night out on a high. While Hill has already sold out London’s Brixton Academy, The Tuning Fork felt like a final moment of intimacy before larger Auckland venues inevitably come calling, Spark Arena does not seem out of the question.
What lingered most was how well the night worked as a whole. Hill and Allais, both twenty-something singer-songwriters with massive online followings, share a confessional, soulful approach that made the evening feel cohesive rather than disjointed. It was an all-ages show, and for many younger faces in the crowd, likely a first live gig, one that pulled them away from solitary scrolling and into something shared and physical.
By the time the lights came up, the room felt half-dazed, half-exhilarated, people talking too loudly as if volume might help the night last longer. Wherever Arthur Hill plays when he is back in Auckland, and he will be back, this crowd will be there. And judging by the reaction, so will a few older converts happily lining up alongside the Gen Z kids, rain or no rain.
ARTHUR HILL SETLIST
Thunderstruck (cover of AC/DC hit)
She’s So Handsome
Late For The Reservation
Iced Coffee
John Wayne
Man In The Middle
Back Here Again
Fuck You
The Forgotten Medley – Too Much Ain’t Enough / Tiny Room / How About Then / Try A Little Harder / Passing Thought
You’re Not A God
Right Now
Lily
Bride & The Gloom
Miracle
Hey Arthur!
Encore
Dead In The Disco
Appetite
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