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A great close to February saw the well known skateboarding MC from Chicago bring in one of the best shows, ever. Lupe Fiasco touched base in Canberra for the final stop on the Australian leg of his Steppin’ Lasers World Tour. Thanks to UC Live, Fiasco brought one hell of a show to a good thousand of the capital’s finest ladies and gents at the UC Refectory.

The night began around seven with D’Opus and Roshambo getting it on early with the crowd. The Canberra duo was this reviewers most enjoyable set of the entire night, excluding Fiasco) Despite the lack of about 800 people or so, it was these two that got the two hundred somethings that were there started.

A long line of awesome names in Australian hip hop, rap and DJs – from the delectable sounds of Katalyst, Horrorshow, and the much loved Koolism got the show really on to it.

At a quarter to midnight it was this reviewer who could tell that this shit was just about to get magical. Fiasco’s live band was first to the stage, where they suitably propped themselves to begin. When the guitarist, threw a few climatic notes to the crowd, a cheer began. No need for a vocal introduction, Lupe came on stage looking ready to give Canberra what they came to see.

From the drop of the microphone, Lupe was right into it. The real fiasco began when Lupe pulled out the favourites like Kick, Push, Hip Hop Saved My Life, Superstar and Go Go Gadget Flow. The combination of rock, hip hop and rap made each song so addictive; enthused by the guitar, a mad drummer and a DJ.

“This one is for all the girls,” Lupe said in a sly tone sometime between songs to introduce his awesome mash up of Girls by The Prodigy. The ability to take a sample and mould it into his own makes him rise above the cliche of a lot of the ‘the top of the chart’ kind of stuff.

Close to one in the morning, the crowd showed no signs of being tired. And the stars have left the stage. The end. No, the lights are only dim. Then finally, Lupe and his crew return to the stage. The heat from the room drove many up the wall – yet many put up with this by the removal of shirts. Patches of skin could be seen amongst the crowd quite thoroughly. Even Lupe got his shirt off before getting into another song. He clearly saw that his audience needed to get hot, and he flexed those skater boy shoulders and lifted the fans aiming the air at the crowd.

Once the audience cooled down, the MC broke into the ever so popular Daydreamin’. It was quite panache the way Lupe broke the audience’s minds, instantly throwing out his microphone down their way and with no direction getting them to sing along in such harmony.

Each of Lupe Fiasco’s songs, despite how unfamiliar, are easy to listen to and that just goes to show why he is the sucess he is today.

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