American artist Iniko recently brought their Awakening Tour to three Australian cities, capturing attention from audiences in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. Iniko is a beyond talented artist, known for their songs ‘Jericho’ and ‘The Kings Affirmation’ and amassing over over four million followers between their Spotify and Instagram alone.

I personally attended their show at The Tivoli in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane on July 5th 2024. Opener, Brisbane local Cloe Terare, set to the stage at 8pm and warmed up the crowd with a 45 minute set, featuring her hit songs such as ‘Alignment’ and ‘Cadillac’ as well as a couple of her unreleased songs. Cloe also performed a cover of ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ by Wheatus, which received a positive reaction from the crowd.

Iniko entered the stage at 9:10pm after much anticipation from the crowd, starting their set with their 2019 song ‘Pinocchio’. Iniko used their powerful vocal skills and a mix of interpretive dance to captivate their audience from the very beginning of their set. Iniko takes inspiration from multiple different artists, one of which being Michael Jackson. Iniko incorporated two Michael Jackson songs into their set, those songs being ‘Earth Song’ and a mashup of ‘They Don’t Care About Us’ with their song ‘Jericho’. Their performance of Earth Song was truly captivating, keeping the original message of the song alive, whilst also turning it into their own.

Pictured: Iniko live at The Tivoli. Photographed by Jazmin Wilkins

Pictured: Cloe Terare live at The Tivoli. Photographed by Jazmin Wilkins

Iniko is an activist for equality and anti-war, making sure to spread their message of love and advocation for the atrocities happening in the world. For the final song of their set, being the ‘They Don’t Care About Us’ and ‘Jericho’ mashup mentioned earlier, Iniko dedicated the song to the people of Congo, Sudan, and Palestine in an attempt to spread a message of peace and awakening, and help make our world a better place.

Iniko and their live band not only exceeded my expectations, but absolutely blew the show out of the water, with Iniko showcasing their incredible live vocal work (not missing a single note might I add!), as well as the tightness and consistency of their band and backing vocalists, this show was not one to be missed. Iniko’s live show was unique and unlike anything I’ve ever attended before, but I believe everyone needs to experience one of their live shows at least once.

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