We got to The Studio in Auckland on Sunday 13th September and joined a queue that was already snaking down the street and wrapping around the venue: a proper mix of ages, groups of friends, couples, everyone excited for the same reason. It was long enough that we missed almost all of opener Flynn Adamson, catching only the tail end of his set as we finally made it inside. A shame, but also a pretty good sign of just how big this night already felt before MKTO had even walked out.
Still buzzing from the little we’d caught, we settled in for Verity, and she made the most of the moment. ‘Get Out of My Head’ was the standout, an absolute powerhouse of a song that showed off just how strong her vocals really are, the kind of performance that makes you sit up and pay proper attention even if you walked in not knowing her name. She closed things out with real warmth: “I see someone looking for me to play casual, and baby I’m going to play it for you. This is my last song, you have been amazing!”
Then came MKTO. For anyone who needs the recap, that’s Malcolm Kelley and Tony Oller, the LA duo who broke through back in 2012 with ‘Thank You’ and properly arrived the following year with ‘Classic’. It’s been a genuinely bumpy road since: a split in 2017, a reunion in 2018, Oller briefly leaving again in 2021 before finding his way back, and a real return to form since a comeback show in January 2025. None of that history showed on stage. From the moment they hit it to the moment they left, the energy simply never let up. “This is the best fucking show on this tour, we are coming back here next year, thank you!” one of them told the crowd early on, and they meant it. They said thank you constantly, and every time it landed like they actually meant it rather than saying it out of habit.
The setlist swung between euphoric and heartfelt in a way that kept the whole room on its toes. ‘Heartbreak Holiday’ turned The Studio into a sea of phone lights, everyone’s arms up at once, while ‘Shoulda Known Better’ brought things down a notch, introduced with a proper check-in first: “How y’all feeling, you feeling good? Holy shit guys, we are going to play a couple mellow ones if you don’t mind.” Later came the one that hit hardest: “Here’s a little song about saying goodbye to a relationship, we have all said goodbye before, yeah. This is called Goodbye Song.” For a moment the whole room properly settled, everyone actually listening.
Halfway through the set, they lost something off the stage and asked the crowd to help look for it in the pit. One of the security guards at the front found it and handed it back mid-song, to a genuinely grateful “Thank you so much!!” from the stage, a small, chaotic moment that summed up the whole night: warm, unpolished, completely present with the crowd rather than performing at them. By the end, there was no doubt about the verdict from the stage itself: “Best fucking run of this tour, I’ll say it!”
We’d say the same. Four stars, and every one of them for energy, even with a queue that cost us most of Flynn Adamson’s set.
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