UCSD Associated Students Concerts & Events (ASCE) announced in a September 18, 2022, Instagram post that rising Indonesian singer-songwriter NIKI would be performing a concert at UC San Diego’s newly opened Epstein Family Amphitheater on October 20, 2022.
23-year-old Nicole Zefanya, known as NIKI, was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is currently based in Los Angeles. NIKI, who has opened for Taylor Swift during her Red Tour in 2014, was involved in several songs for the soundtrack of the 2021 movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and released her second studio album Nicole on August 12, 2022, through the music label 88rising.
As I walked down Rupertus Lane and made my way to the Epstein Family Amphitheater, I noticed an extremely long line of students. Although I knew there were many NIKI fans at UCSD, as seen by the scramble to claim the limited number of free and paid student tickets shortly after UCSD ASCE’s announcement, I was still caught off guard by the large turnout.
When people began streaming into the amphitheater and filling up the seats, conversations full of excitement and anticipation filled the air. It was almost as if I was attending a concert during the weekend instead of an on-campus concert on a Thursday night.
The amphitheater was an open-air venue, with rows of stone benches, well-lit pathways, and an expansive green hill. Blue violet light drenched the highly arched stage roof. I recognized some of the R&B songs playing in the background (including RINI’s “Aphrodite,” thuy’s “chances,” and Hojean’s “Pick Up Your Phone”), which set the mood for the show to come.
The concert kicked off with an opening performance by Jacob Ray, a musician and NIKI’s boyfriend who has worked with her on various songs. In his first live performance since 2017, Ray pulled out his guitar and let his soulful voice echo in the air with “Magic,” a great opening song. “Magic” and Ray’s third song in the set, “further,” have a calm, soothing sound that make them the perfect songs to listen to during a long car trip while looking out the window at the beautiful sights passing by.
Ray’s second song, “Don’t Wanna Fight,” feels more upbeat and heartfelt, yet it is a wistful serenade that hits home especially when you’re feeling heartbroken or missing someone you haven’t seen in a long time. After toning things down with “Next Door,” which Ray mentioned was one of NIKI’s favorite songs, Ray changed the mood with a groovy guitar rhythm and his mellifluous singing voice in “Someone Else’s Name,” and I could not help but nod my head to the catchy beat.
Ray finished his set with “never gonna be just friends,” which is another great post-breakup song. This song made me want to move along with the music, which I saw others in the crowd do as well. I could feel the speakers’ vibrations in my chest, and the song’s soaring background instrumentals and Ray’s light voice seemed to envelop everyone before the song faded out.
Although I do not like the cold, listening to good music made the cold night more bearable.
Before coming to the concert, I didn’t realize how long the concert would last and was feeling a bit stressed because I also had homework and other tasks to do afterward. However, being in this open air space in a sea of excited people chatting under the dark night sky made me feel a bit more alive than I had been this entire week. Surprisingly, this concert came at a nice time near the end of Week 4 during midterm season.
During her performance, Paravi changed the entire mood, sharing her positive, feel-good energy with her tour band and the audience as she sang a combination of released and unreleased songs in front of the background projector screen showing “Paravi” in multicolored letters. A Music Theater major at UCLA, Paravi became viral on TikTok in 2019 and has been working on new songs and posting videos on TikTok and YouTube.
Upon hearing her first song, “Blowing Kisses,” I was immediately struck by her sound when singing lyrics like, “I hear my future laughing ha ha ha, she’s blowing me kisses mwah mwah mwah … I don’t deserve compassion.” What a voice and personality she has. In “Shake the Feeling,” Paravi’s deep, rich voice and the sparkling piano notes in the background reminded me of Adele as Paravi sang about being caught between India and America and the disconnected feeling of being in between the two cultures. Her vocal runs and belting in “Revenge Body,” a song about body image issues, reminded me of some of the pop singers in the 2000s.
Paravi continued to impress in “Hollywood Honeymoon,” a cute and heartfelt love song dedicated to her boyfriend who was also in the audience but had not heard the song yet. Her voice was so full of emotion and really soared and echoed throughout the venue. In “Broken English,” Paravi returned to the theme of being a child of immigrants who did not speak English and dedicated this song to her parents, saying that people deserve respect and community. In this song, I was again struck by how she had such a soft, heartfelt voice that reminded me of a scene in a musical or movie where a person sings from their heart.
Paravi wrapped up her set with “Cloud 9,” a song that became popular on TikTok, “Angry,” which is her most recent release, and finally “Golden Child,” where she sang about being the perfect child of immigrants with lyrics such as “When I fuck up, I’m free.”
Despite having different energies and moods in their songs, Ray and Paravi did a brilliant job of opening the concert, creating dreamy soundscapes and getting the crowd in the mood for some good music. Ray’s “Someone Else’s Name” and “never gonna be just friends” and Paravi’s “Hollywood Honeymoon” and “Broken English” are among my favorite song discoveries from their performances, and I am excited to check out more of their music.
After the break with pop songs playing in the background, the audience cheered as NIKI took the stage wearing hoop earrings, a white shirt with grayscale people on it, shiny black shorts, black fishnets, and black cowboy boots.
If I had to describe NIKI’s concert in one word, I would say it was hyped. From the very first song, NIKI’s singing, dancing and energy were infectious, and she not only energized the crowd but also the musicians on stage. NIKI started the show with the upbeat song “Keeping Tabs” from her most recent album Nicole about staying aware of what a former lover is doing. During this song, everyone in the audience stood up and moved to the catchy beat.
NIKI is an incredible performer and kept the energy up throughout the entire concert despite the nighttime cold. Underneath the blinking red and white strobe lights, she sang her popular hit “lowkey” while strutting and owning the stage, engaging with the crowd, and holding the microphone out toward the audience to give them a chance to sing the lyrics. In “Selene,” NIKI channeled a strong, badass, feminine persona as she danced under the flashing lights. She then seamlessly transitioned to “Vintage,” where she immersed herself with the music. Her smiles and dancing contributed to a positive and happy atmosphere all around on and off the stage.
“urs” may be a few years old but it’s still good. It’s dreamy, relatable, and vibrant. The song sounds so real and visceral when it’s blasting and playing live through the speakers with NIKI belting the lyrics. NIKI then sang and played the guitar in “Backburner,” her “not-so-secret favorite” song from her Nicole album. The drums and guitars added so much impact to the chorus as NIKI sang about still holding onto a former lover even if it means she will not receive immediate attention or action from that person. This song is relatable because even though we know being on the backburner is not the best, sometimes in life we still decide to remain on someone’s backburner. It’s amazing to see NIKI’s stage presence, confidence, and raw humanness in concert.
NIKI switched guitars and changed to a calmer but somewhat wistful tone in “Anaheim.” The orange sunset on the projector screen behind her, the orange light shining down on the stage, and her brown guitar contributed to the feeling of a sunset drive. The crowd was a sea of white waving phone lights, and I noticed a couple in front of me who were hugging during the song. Her stunning vocals and deep lyrics truly convey the seriousness and bittersweet feelings in the song.
For “The Apartment We Won’t Share,” NIKI sat down at the piano with three orange lights surrounding her, which gave a candlelight feel. She mentioned that the song was inspired by the 2022 movie Everything Everywhere All At Once, which she said was the best movie. Everything Everywhere All At Once made her realize that she’s obsessed with the idea of the multiverse and has thought about how there are lives we won’t ever live. The crowd screamed and cheered as NIKI’s melodious voice sang the last two song’s last two lyrics before the three lights went off at the end of the song.
Next, NIKI asked the audience what song they wanted to hear and then sang “I Like U” with Tiana Ohara playing the guitar. During this calm and intimate version of the song, which is about wanting to go back to the good times with a former lover, NIKI also let the audience sing parts of the song, including the iconic chorus. She played the brown guitar during “La La Lost You,” where she energized the audience again with the song’s thumping bass and bouncy beat playing in the background and big spotlights moving all over the stage and crowd. She then switched to playing the black guitar for “Facebook Friends” before smoothly transitioning to singing the three biggest singles from her album Nicole, saving the best for last.
With the music video playing on the screen behind her, NIKI began with “Before,” a song full of nostalgia and mixed feelings that are familiar to those who have experienced unfortunate heartbreak and coming face to face to the reality of going from lovers to strangers after a relationship breaks down. This song made me tear up a bit and made me want to belt out the chorus, and I let my voice drown into the deafening instrumentals and NIKI’s voice that soared above everything else. There’s just something about her lyrics — they’re so honest and raw that they just stare at you, revealing your soul’s emotions during a breakup.
She continued with another iconic song about heartbreak with “Oceans & Engines.” This is honestly the song I was looking forward to listening to the most and NIKI definitely killed it. Before she started singing, she switched to an electric guitar before saying, “You guys, we have reached the saddest song of this set” and asked everyone to turn on the flashlights on their phones. With the music video playing on the screen behind her, NIKI began singing, and the crowd sang along with her. I also couldn’t help but sing the lyrics that I knew. This song’s chorus actually made me tear up briefly — the song itself is cathartic and heartbreaking at the same time, especially when you’re belting it out, and it perfectly encapsulates the feeling of acknowledging that you have to move on after heartbreak and will do so, eventually.
NIKI then finished her set with “High School in Jakarta,” which is the most popular song from her Nicole album and also a total mood changer and booster from “Oceans & Engines.” With the music video playing in the background, NIKI was back to strutting and radiating confidence on the stage as the white strobe lights went crazy. Everything about the song, from the drums and guitars emphasizing the song’s catchy beat to NIKI jumping as she sang, revitalized the crowd and people jumped and pumped their fists.
With the end of this song, people screamed “Encore!” and “One more song!” after NIKI said “Thank you San Diego” and left the stage. After a period of uncertainty where the audience continued chanting and hoping for an encore, NIKI returned to the stage and brought back her badass and empowering aura in “Indigo.” She then sang her final song “Every Summertime,” which is from the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings movie soundtrack. The audience vibed under the roaming pink and orange spotlights as NIKI sang this feel good, confident song that sparkles and captures the warm feeling of summer and falling in love.
From the way she sings and interacts with the audience, NIKI is an indescribably incredible performer. On the stage, she looked like she was having the time of her life and shared her passion and excitement for her music when she hyped up the crowd and her fellow musicians on stage. With her meaningful lyrics, impressive stage presence and performance energy, and impactful songs, NIKI gave a memorable concert and has so much potential to create even more extraordinary music in the future.
NIKI owns the stage and she knows it.
Elizabeth Peng is the News Editor for The Triton.