Lupe Fiasco @ The Enmore,Sydney (24/1/11)

Fri 28th Jan, 2011 in Gig Reviews

In what has almost become an annual January residency, Lupe Fiasco once again brought his always on-point and energetic live show to the Enmore Theatre. After enduring lengthy delays, we now know that we are only a matter of weeks away from hearing the talented emcee’s much anticipated new album. Many of his fans in attendance would have been using this opportunity to get their ears around some of the new record before its release, whilst obviously hoping to hear some of the older favourites along the way as well.

Lupe is currently travelling the country as part of the Big Day Out bill. So this brought with it another piece of good news for the heads. Detroit emcee and producer Black Milk, also currently travelling as part of the Big Day Out circus, would be opening the night’s proceedings. For obvious reasons producers are very particular when it comes to their sound. So it’s no surprise to see someone who has his roots in producing, touring with a very solid band. Made up of a DJ, keys and one of the best and most entertaining drummers you would be likely to come across. He carried a swagger on the kit unlike any I had seen before. Not only can he play, but the way in which he does is phenomenal to watch. The highlight of his time on stage being a huge solo near the end of the set which had him keeled-over, head resting on one of his tom’s from exhaustion when he finally belted the last skin.

The entire set showcased spectacular timing between band and emcee as Black Milk spat over some complicated time signatures. One small disappointment was the under-use of the Key’s player. Not for what he was doing with his hands, but for his spectacular voice. We were only given a small taste of what he can do near the end of the set, when he sung a couple of spine-tingling hooks and fills. I saw more than a few people looking at each other after hearing him with that “was that for real?” look on their faces. Black Milk might have been relatively unknown to a lot of the crowd that night, but I guarantee those there to hear it will be remembering him and his band after that performance.

Lupe’s five piece band was onstage first. From the stacks started coming the high pitched guitar chords to Shining Down. This was Lupe’s cue, and he came out to thunderous applause. Lapping up the praise for a few moments before grabbing the mic and getting down to business. A heavy song which was a lot more rock than hip hop followed, Lupe pretending to hit a boxing speed bag in time with the punchy drum beats towards the end of the track. Keeping pace with the heavy song before it, a beefed up version of the already rockin’ The Instrumental was next and the Enmore was alight.

First taste of the new album We are Lasers came in the form of State Run Radio. A catchy repetitive hook over a big wall of sound. This one has all the hallmarks of a future concert favourite. Lupe introduced the next song as another new one Outta My Head. A driving bassline gives the song it’s direction, while a soulful (yet slightly electronically assisted) hook fills in the gaps between Lupe’s fast verses. A small filler between songs was a rocking re-working of *N*E*R*D’s* Everyone Nose.

Hearing the songs that are usually backed by a beat on the record now being played by a live band gives them a whole new feel, something I’m sure Lupe was aiming to achieve. Go Go Gadget flow took on an almost dark feeling in regards to the music, while I Gotcha was dominated by bullet like drum beat.

Lupe then kicked off the first of two modern day classics, Kick Push which had the entire theatre singing along word for word. Followed by a smokin’ version of Hip Hop Saved My Life. Which, much like the last track found everyone in good voice. The look on Lupe’s face showed a little surprise and a lot of appreciation at the crowds collective efforts in the last couple of songs. Superstar also received good treatment from the fans, Lupe now happy to leave the chorus’ up to them entirely, and they nailed it.

From hip hop back to rock, Lupe and his band performed a punkish assault on the next joint. The fast and messy guitar riff was backed up with a sensory overload light show. Leaving even the fittest in the room trying to catch their breath at the end of it.
Another example of songs taking on a new feel when played by a full band is Streets Are On Fire. Already dark lyrically, the added elements of a live band take this one to an even darker place.

Then something happened that would change Lupe’s mood for the rest of the set. It was unclear to me what exactly went wrong, but Lupe was aiming his frustration towards his DJ. Momentarily interrupting the start of what sounded like a new track, abruptly telling him to just stop what he was doing. When the song did get underway Lupe was spitting with a new found venom in his voice, leaving me with the impression he was taking his anger out on the mic. The track itself sounded incredible and left me with high hopes for the new album. At the end of the track, Lupe went back over to the decks and started speaking with one of the stage-hands besides the turntables. At the end of their pow-wow a clearly frustrated Fiasco started punching the side of the desk the turntables were sitting on. Whatever did go wrong seemed minimal from an audience stand-point, but it just goes to show what a perfectionist our emcee is, the best artists usually are.

The following track couldn’t have been more appropriately titled The Show Goes On. Lupe’s latest single which uses a sample of Modest Mouse’s Float on in the hook. This song has divided the Lupe faithful that I know, but everyone sounded pretty happy with it at the Enmore on Monday night. Lupe then took the time to introduce his band. As he did, he gave each member a small solo on their respective instruments. Lupe left the introduction of his DJ, Simon Says, till last. Then instead of giving him a solo like he had the rest of the band, Lupe re-introduced himself before asking his father to come out to the stage. After a some anecdotes from his father about why Lupe sings with a British accent in his Japanese Cartoon side project. Lupe then launched into the home stretch giving us monster version of Daydreams.