Sometimes it’s nice when a band room isn’t packed to the brim – as long as more than a handful people show up, obviously. Despite Festival Hall being Wiz Khalifa’s first ever headlining show in Melbourne, it didn’t sell out. And it was awesome.
Despite the large capacity, the iconic venue is notorious for being way too hot and sweaty when so many people are crammed into the standing area. However, for Khalifa and A$AP Rocky’s co-headlining show, there was room to dance and space to breathe, creating a friendly and comfortable vibe – unlike the packed out, pushy, and sometimes hostile environments at many hip hop shows.
Melbourne trio Diafrix, made up of members Azmarino (MC), Momo (MC), and Surrenda (DJ), got the crowd into gear with their pop laced, hip hop tunes.
A$AP Rocky, who was next to grace the stage, was late. Really late. Luckily the waiting game only meant the already eager crowd was bursting with enthusiasm when the rapper finally appeared.
Surprisingly, a band made up of drums, bass, keys, and a DJ accompanied Rocky on stage. Not so surprising was the guest appearances from the rest of the A$AP Mob. However, their collective voices often muffled the tunes, while the drumming created a distorted sound rather than the depth it usually provides.
The hour-long set was filled with tracks from his recent debut LP LONG.LIVE.A$AP. Fans were appropriately enthusiastic during lead tracks ‘Wild For The Night’ and ‘Long.Live.A$AP’.
The devoted audience sang “It’s so easy to fall in love” during the slower ‘Purple Kisses’ (fittingly accompanied by purple lighting).
As expected, Rocky took some time out of the set to preach, explaining, “we are the future” among other words. Basically, it was a pro-weed, pro-sex sermon.
After saying his goodbyes and walking halfway off the stage, the collective returned to play the final track – A$AP Ferg’s, ‘Shabba’.
A full band was also present when Khalifa arrived on stage. However, where Rocky’s DJ chimed in and fired up the crowd to appropriate levels, Khalifa’s DJ spoke far too often – a distracting rather than encouraging addition.
The rapper opened his set with ‘Cabin Fever’, from his mixtape of the same name, as a relentless light show of lasers and strobes commenced.
Despite spending much of his time standing at the mic stand rather than moving around the stage, as Rocky had done so persistently, the idle stance worked to Khalifa’s advantage – especially when he performed an a capella version of one of his songs. No music, no instruments, just a rapper busting out continuous and quick lines of verse. It was one of the most impressive features of the night.
The performer occasionally went crazy on stage, at one point even going so far as to use the mic stand as a machine gun whilst pointing it at the crowd.
Khalifa played a collection of tracks from his entire back catalogue – a decision no doubt indicative of the fact that it was his first time playing to Australian fans. He used an interesting assortment of samples, such as Empire Of The Sun’s ‘Walking On A Dream’ and Toto’s popular 80s track ‘Africa’.
Naturally, the fans erupted to the sound of his 2011 single ‘Black And Yellow’ and sang along to recent hit ‘Young, Wild and Free’.
The rapper also took time to preach to the doting audience, again conveying the importance of following your dreams, taking control of your life, smoking weed, and having sex. He offered a sign of peace to the recently departed Hollywood actor Paul Walker and performed his own version of the boorish Aussie cricket chant ‘Tits Out For The Boys’, to which several females in the crowd granted his request. It goes without saying that the set was packed with bizarre elements.
It’s hard to judge the outcome of a co-headlining show. However, it appeared that Rocky was the preference for many. Despite being newer to the game, the rapper has visited his Australian fans more – a factor that made for a stronger connection.
