Synthony Auckland 2026: Orchestra, Nostalgia & a School Disco Vibe
Auckland’s biggest one-day music festival, Synthony, drew a crowd of approximately 40,000 people to the Auckland Domain on Saturday, slightly surpassing the 36,000 attendees at the Laneway festival held in Western Springs. The event, described as a “collision of the biggest electronic dance anthems with a live orchestra,” featured performances by international headliners Faithless and Peking Duk, alongside New Zealand acts like Shapeshifter.
The festival’s early sets included a performance by Kaylee Bell, who delivered a rendition of her 2024 hit “Cowboy Up” during the day’s second set. The performance, described as “rousing, fun and enthusiastically delivered” by one observer, saw Bell clad in fluro-pink, though the song’s line-dancing origins felt somewhat out of place for an audience primarily expecting EDM. It was also noted as being one of the few songs performed throughout the six-hour event that was written within the last decade.
The Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra played a central role in the festival, acting as the backing band for a set of EDM classics. Conductor Sarah-Grace Williams led the orchestra through a technically demanding, pyrotechnic-infused performance, demonstrating an ability to adapt traditional art forms to a modern festival setting. The orchestra’s contributions included adding heft to Calvin Harris’ ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ with its brass section and elevating Darude’s ‘Sandstorm’ and Robert Miles’ ‘Children’ with sweeping strings. A particularly striking moment involved sparks emanating from the bell of a saxophone during a high-note solo.
Vocal performances included Devilskin’s Jenny Skulander, who performed Avicci’s ‘Levels’, and Cassie Henderson, a former New Zealand Idol contestant, whose rendition of Gala’s 1996 hit ‘Freed From Desire’ was a highlight. The reliance on older tracks reflected a broader trend in the music industry, driven by economic realities and the disposable income of older audiences.
Although the orchestra’s performance was lauded, other acts leaned more heavily on nostalgia. Shapeshifter, The Exponents, and The Black Seeds largely performed past hits, and Peking Duk’s set included numerous remixes of songs from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. An impromptu acoustic singalong of Oasis’ ‘Wonderwall’ and a medley of pop hits performed by Hot Dub Time Machine were described as particularly jarring moments, evoking the atmosphere of a family gathering rather than a large-scale music festival.
The festival concluded with a performance by Faithless, who delivered a dark, pulsating set that was largely uninterrupted by requests for audience participation. As attendees left the venue, a dance remix of ABBA’s ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)’ was heard playing on the Pepsi DJ Stage, a song that had also been included in Hot Dub Time Machine’s earlier set, highlighting the limited pool of material available for nostalgic performances.