Last night the 11 piece band performed in front of more than 250 people at the Fisherman’s Wharf.
The male members of the band, dressed in black sleeveless shirts, sarong-like Lava Lavas coloured with traditional prints, and women with short skirts, midriff tops or coconut bikinis, cut a contrasting figure surrounded by the archways and spray painted plaster of the tourists attraction's Roman Amphitheatre, built as a copy of the Colosseum.
The band is famous around the world for its self styled Polynesian sounds, said manager Julie Foai. Songwriter Opetaia Foai began the band in 1997 in an effort to connect with his birthplace.
Born in Somoa and raised in the Tokelau, a group of islands sitting in the South Pacific Ocean halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii with a population of under 1,500, Foai saw music as the way of linking his culture with his new life in New Zealand.
“Every gathering (of the Tokelauan community) was an opportunity for people to sing and dance, and this mood is sustained in the evocative spirit of the band,” the group's website states.
The band didn't waste any time in exporting the collective sounds of the islands around the world and immediately began touring. They haven't stopped since, said Julie Foai.
“We've toured the USA and Europe as well as the pacific islands,” she said.
Last year more than 10,000 sports fans watch the Paris show, organised as part of the entertainment of the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup.
The band's website carries quotes from the globe's newspapers, including "one of the most
dynamic live experiences I have ever witnessed" from UK daily, The Guardian.
With a stage full of instruments from guitars and keyboards to more than five types of drums and a flute, Te Vaka has modernised the traditional South Pacific music while keeping with its roots, said Ms Foai.
The opening number, written in honour of the sailors of the region and titled Vakaaitu, begins with the unaccompanied piercing but musical voice of Melodee Panapa. Ms Panapa describes her heritage as Tokelaun, Tuvaluan, Samoan, Cook Island and European.
As she cries out you can imagine reaching across the seas in search of a loved one.
The sole flautist then delivers an accompaniment that could easily be the sailors constant companion, the wind.
The burley Neil Forrest, complete with moustache and goatee is the last band member you expect to pick up the flute.
The music moves from serious almost totally percussion based performances to celebratory singing and dancing to the backing of electric guitars and keyboards.
The curious mixed crowd of Westerners and Chinese were soon clapping along.
A song follows about raising a family in a “loving” environment.
“We are very proud of our home and we like to travel around the world and tell people where we come from,” said Ms Foai.
Te Vaka has released five albums and two DVDs and has performed in over 30 countries.
In the USA the group's sounds are labelled “alternative” or “world music” while in the islands of the South Pacific the music is very much mainstream.
Pockets of islanders throughout the world have also adopted the music as their own, such as a group of Malaccans living in Holland, said Ms Foai.
The group ended up in Macau after a delegation New Zealand government officials visited the SAR recently.
As a result of the trip, Fisherman’s Wharf will also be organising a New Zealand food fair later in the year.
Prior to last night's show Te Vaka performed in Hong Kong and will now move on to Taiwan for the two final shows of their Asia tour.
