#concertreview

By 25782697 on Concert review, EDM tagged #concertreview, #Fredagain, #UKMusic- Leave a comment

Fred Again.. at Alexandra Palace – a euphoric and unforgettable show like no other!

Alley Palley night 1: Fred was in his element! The performance was flawless, from live remixing to incredible visuals but perhaps incomplete?

Last week, the 30-year-old Electronic producer, Fred Gibson, announced on Instagram that he is beyond excited for the show, and that each night of his tour will be different, including setlist, and remixing songs live.

On the 4^th of September Fred Again.. played his first show of his European tour and the first of his four shows inside London’s Alexandra palace. The London-born EDM performer smiled in disbelief as he told the crowd, that he grew up going to the iconic concert venue. On the screen he wrote “nothing is ever as good as playing at home”.

Alley Palley opened its doors opened at 7pm. The queues were bearable and after taking time to get some food and drink inside, I made my way into the actual venue and took my spot not far from the front barrier. The support act was London-based EDM duo, Joy Anonymous who played for around 30 minutes starting at 8pm. Their set was lively and well-performed, which set up perfectly for Fred’s show.

After a long wait in what can only be described as a greenhouse due to the venues large glass roof, Fred was finally on at 9pm. Despite the extreme heat and underlying smell of sweat the crowd remained in high spirits throughout the whole show, selflessly helping pass cups of water back to help those struggling in the middle of the crowd.

Fred Again.. opened with the wholesome spoken-word poem turned dance track, Kyle (i found you) whilst the audience screamed every word. Then Fred seamlessly flowed into a handful of emotional songs from his trio of albums titled ‘Actual Life’. This included Bleu (better with time), Tate (how i feel) and into the more energetic track Kammy (like i do).

Then, Fred asks if he can try something he hasn’t tried in a long time, he parted the sea of fans down the middle and walked through eagerly to a smaller stage set up in the middle of the room. The producer then hit the exhilarated crowd with fan-favourites Jungle and popular grime dance track Rumble, playing the song twice and making a completely new unheard remix as he adds heavy drum sounds live.

The king of electronic music then returned to the front stage keeping the high energy and live drums as he teased an unreleased song that samples Baby Keem’s ‘South Africa’. For me, this was when the show went up a level from very good to incredible.

The music then slowed down, as Fred transitioned into his new song, 2023 summer release, adore u, that features the beautiful vocals of Obongjayar. The gentle glittery notes were received with pure elation amongst the crowd. Fred announced, “this one is for your brothers and sisters,” dedicating the song to his sister, whom he wrote the song about. Some people around me were even moved to tears as the song played alongside a compilation of heartfelt videos of loved ones filmed by fans.

The emotions continued to run high, as Fred played his euphoric remix of Frank Ocean’s ‘Channel’ as a video of the beloved singer performing played on the large screen. The crowd then erupted when hearing the first few chords of Delilah (pull me out of this), chanting the melody as they waited for the drop. Simultaneously, the main screen showed videos of fireworks travelling up above the heads of fans onto the huge overhanging screens that fans could look up above to.

For the next track Fred Again.. told fans hold up their phone torches and blue plastic squares they were given in the queue creating a sea of small blue lights. The interactive idea was great in theory, but as the lights in the room were already blue, it didn’t work as well as the producer may have hoped.

The incredible show closed with Angie (Ive been lost). Fred Again.. commanded the crowd to sing along, splitting them into 2 sides and at the end asking them to sing in unison, creating an overwhelmingly ecstatic atmosphere to end the show.

Unfortunately, the only thing stopping this show from being a perfect 5/5 stars was the abrupt ending. Personally, the sudden ending made the show feel slightly incomplete without an encore as a few popular songs were still left to play and it had not yet reached 11pm. For example, the high energy Marea (we lost dancing), Baby Again.. and Turn On The Lights again.. were all missing.

However, as I mentioned earlier, each show is supposed to be unique from each other so it makes sense that some songs will be swapped so he can have a different setlist each night. This didn’t make it any easier for the loving fans who waited at least 15 minutes hoping for an encore.

To see exclusive videos from the show follow our TikTok @chunesmp

By 25782697 on Concert review tagged #AltRap, #concertreview, #slowthai, #slowthaiugly, #UGLYtour, #UKMusic, #Underrated- Leave a comment

Slowthai’s Banquet Records concert Review: manic but unforgettable!

The Northampton-born alternative artist played two back-to-back Banquet Records gigs in Kingston (Greater London) last weekend. The concerts showcased the love him and his fans share for new album ‘UGLY’!

The shows followed his six-date run of £1 ticket small pub shows at the beginning of March and a week following the release of his newest project ‘UGLY’. The album that includes a fusion of both punk and grime perfectly illuminates Tyron’s talent with creative lyrics, raw vocals and stripped back production.

Ty’s transparency and vulnerability in his storytelling is what enables him to connect to Britain’s younger generation.

This set of dedicated fans mostly made up of patchwork tattoo and mullet owners did not disappoint and really brought the frantic high energy you would associate with the punk genre to the venue of just under 2000.

Slowthai welcomed fans with a smile asking “how are we feeling? do you feel good? Do you feel great? Do you feel alive?” before joking “I heard a lot of you have been in spoons, so hopefully you’re a lively bunch tonight!”

Setlist:

Selfish
Sooner
Feel Good
HAPPY
Sorrymum
Wotz funny
25% Club
adhd
feel away
falling
Tourniquet
Deal Wiv it
Doorman
Yum (encore)

Slowthai began the setlist with 7 songs from the new album including upbeat singles ‘Feel Good’ and ‘HAPPY’. As soon as the music started the crowd instantly began pushing, jumping, drink throwing and opening up the mosh pit in true punk fashion.

The live band played flawlessly adding so much more to the performance and overall atmosphere. The small venue allowed everyone to have a great view of the stage and the option of being a part of the intense pushing or watching safely from the side-lines.

Tyron himself seemed overwhelmed with joy and contentment as he performed, taking complete ownership of the stage. After receiving a bouquet of flowers from a loving fan he went on to express his gratitude for the people in the room as well as his friends and family.

Slowthai then calmed it down, playing a collection of slower ballads. This includes two slower more emotional songs off his last album ‘TYRON’ (that reached number 1 in the Official Charts) called ‘adhd’ and ‘feel away’. Whilst watching his faultless performance I noticed a handful of listeners in the crowd being reduced to tears highlighting just how meaningful his tracks can be. Although, to ruin the wholesome moment between Slowthai and his admirers the mosh-pits (rather embarrassingly) continued.

To end the incredible show, Slowthai performed two older songs from 2019, fan-favourites ‘Deal Wiv it’ and ‘Doorman’. The crowd’s jumping had the whole room shaking at one point. And to be honest being at the edge of the mosh pit for a whole 10 seconds was enough for me, although it felt like a near death experience – it was completely worth it.

The encore was the opening track to the new album ‘Yum’ and was the ideal ending to what was a lively and euphoric show, Ty left the stage thanking fans and telling them he will be back again soon.

Slowthai took to twitter after the show, saying “tonight was banging” and retweeted a video from the show captioning it “beautiful”.

Overall, I was seriously impressed by Slowthai’s vocals and overall performance. As a frequent Banquet Record’s show attender, I would say this has been my favourite of all, topping huge mainstream artists such as Stormzy. This is simply due to the enormous amount of energy and emotion that Tyron radiates that he feeds straight back into the crowd.