History of House is the evolution of Dance and Club culture from roots to widespread recognition. Meaning a non-stop groove party in the Great Hall.
DJ Groove Terminator conducts the show and presides over the deep bass drops. Auckland Town Hall is perhaps the best venue in town to capture the echo and reverb.
Simon Lewicki, regarded as one of the top Australian DJ’s, started producing mixtapes in his early teens. Originally a Punk Rock fan before becoming enamoured with Electronica and the wide-ranging Dance scene.
Soweto Gospel Choir were formed in the early 2000’s and are a large ensemble of males and females drawn from the many churches in and around Soweto.
Grammy winners for World Music, they draw from the hard Gospel to the traditional Spiritual, and broadening out to encompass Soul, R’n’B, New Orleans to Reggae, Disco to Pop. Their debut public performance was a Nelson Mandela tribute in 2002.
They performed a tribute to the Black Civil Rights movement, and the iconic songs of the Sixties a few days ago, on the Auckland Arts Festival 2025 programme.
In many ways the show tonight is the further evolution of American diaspora music.
Before it got the moniker House, you could say it existed as Northern Soul. British dance clubs with DJ’s and compilers who collected vinyl 45s of predominantly Motown singles. Then branching out to Stax, Atlantic and the specialised deep soul of Goldwax and similar boutique labels.
The starting point tonight in the evolution of House is Le Freak from Chic.
Have you heard the new dance craze/ I’m sure you’ll be amazed.
Signature Bernard Edward’s bass line is unleased.
Double up on the Disco with Dan Hartmann’s Relight My Fire. Gets good and funky with an African drum introduced.
A short insert of R.E.S.P.E.C.T (a nod to Aretha and female empowerment) before the trance dance frenzy of Donna Summer’s I Feel Love. Gospel voices can do sensual and sexy.
DJ Groove makes mention of the scandalous Disco Sucks fiasco, where Punk deliberately baited and snarled at the likes of Saturday Night Fever. Mercifully brief as Hip-Hop and Rap had been emerging in parallel to the Ramones and Sex Pistols.
We hear tasters from New Order’s Blue Monday, and Afrika Bambaataa before a stunning version of Madonna’s Like a Prayer.
When you call my name/ It’s like a little prayer/ I’m down on my knees/ I want to take you there.
Perfect amalgamation of hard Gospel style, Staple Singers, and Pop music which can genuinely testify.
The show started with dance Pop ravers like You Got the Love and Show Me Love. High, piercing helium-high vocals from the women, who sing in pure tones with no vibrato.
As the concert progresses, we hear more polyrhythms from the solo African drummer.
Whitney Houston gets the dance gospel treatment on her finest, I Wanna Dance with Somebody.
Which leads straight into the foundation of House, and some of the signature tunes and mixes of DJ Frankie Knuckles of Chicago.
All welcome in this church, DJ Groove quotes Frankie’s manifesto.
The Eighties and the incorporation of signature samples of Hip-Hop and Rap. Electronica and Techno Dance. From Planet Patrol to Newcleus to the Jonzun Crew.
The temperature rises and the packed crowd are starting to boil. The ground floor is as packed as I can remember (viewing from the circle) and it’s a seething mass of bees.
A song which starts, I’ll take you down/ Deep down becomes a trance drone with deep bass drops and transforms into Seventies Soul. A hallelujah climax and it rests on the peak. That’s the honey.
Everybody’s Free. Circle back to the Sixties crucible and a montage of Martin Luther King plays out.
DJ Groove Terminator and the Soweto Gospel Choir recorded a great album last year, History of House.
We get to hear a couple of tracks to close out the night. World music to the fore. The African talking drums and… you gotta dance to keep from crying (a little bit’o’soul now). The massed voices amplify the Womack and Womack sound. A strong push to buy the album.
Rev. Orange Peel