Live at Homegrown, Claudelands Oval
14 March 2026
Live Review by Music Journalist: Paul Marshall
Supergroove Owns Homegrown: Funk, Fire, and Pure Festival Magic.
Some bands simply play festivals. Others own the moment. At this year’s Homegrown event at Claudelands Oval, Supergroove did exactly that, turning a packed field of fans into a dancing, shouting, euphoric mass of bodies.
I arrive midway through their set, the unavoidable hazard of covering a festival stacked wall-to-wall with acts, but the second I push through the crowd it’s obvious something special is happening on stage. At the centre of the chaos is frontman Karl Steven, whirling, writhing, contorting and exploding with the kind of unhinged charisma that makes it impossible to look anywhere else.
Steven doesn’t just sing, he performs with his entire body, a living conduit for the band’s funk-rock energy. It’s mesmerising. The kind of presence you could happily watch for hours.
Unfortunately festival schedules don’t allow that luxury.
Still, for the songs I do catch, it’s clear Steven and the band are absolutely on fire. You can see it in their eyes. This isn’t a nostalgia lap, it’s a band genuinely loving every second on stage.
When You Gotta Know drops, the field erupts. The groove is massive, the horns punch through the warm evening air, and the rhythm section locks in with machine-tight precision. Live, Supergroove feel even bigger than their records ever did, the vibe, the energy, the theatricality all dialled up to eleven.
And that’s always been their secret weapon.
Formed in the early ’90s, Supergroove helped redefine New Zealand’s rock landscape with their genre-smashing blend of funk, hip-hop, rock and soul, particularly on their iconic debut album Traction. At a time when Kiwi rock was still finding its global identity, the band burst out of Auckland with a swagger that felt both international and unmistakably local.
Three decades later, that same spark is still there.
I was lucky enough to catch them at Auckland Town Hall on their last tour and they were phenomenal then. Tonight only confirms what many fans already know: Supergroove are ageing like a very fine wine. If anything, the years have sharpened their edge rather than softened it.
By now the crowd is crammed tight near the stage, dancing, singing and moving in what can only be described as the collective Supergroove. Festivals can sometimes feel fleeting, audiences drifting between stages, but here nobody is leaving.
At one point master trumpeter Tim Stewart steps forward to take centre stage as vocalist and tambourine player, guiding the band into a smoky blues number that feels like a time machine back to their earliest incarnation. Before they became Supergroove, the band were known as The Low-Down Dirty Blues Band, and this moment is a cheeky nod to those roots.
For a few minutes the festival turns into a sweaty back-room blues club.
Then, just as quickly, the band slam the accelerator back down.
The horns blast, the groove returns, and we’re right back in the world of Supergroove: loud, funky, joyous and completely alive.
Watching them tonight, it’s impossible not to think that Supergroove remain one of New Zealand’s greatest live bands. Not just historically, but right now, in this moment.
And judging by the roar of the crowd at Claudelands Oval, the fans agree.
Reviewer: Paul Marshall
Photography by Paul Marshall
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