Lupe Fiasco, Diafrix @ ThePalace Theatre, Melbourne(03/05/2011)

Mon 7th Feb, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Certainly no stranger to our shores, Lupe Fiasco is back for his 3rd run of Big Day Out shows and 5th tour of Australia in just as many years. As was the case last time he played BDO, Lupe scheduled a Palace Theatre sideshow, though this time with the support of hometown duo Diafrix.

The latter’s brand of Roots, Afro-Beat and Hip-Hop was so infectious that you couldn’t really help but move along to it. Comprised of African born MCs Azmarino and Momo, the two pushed through songs from their debut LP Concrete Jungle. With the uptempo Let’s Go proving the stand-out of the set, it was clear why Diafrix had been chosen as supports for the show, and before too long, they were done and we were left to wait in anticipation for the evenings main event, Lupe Fiasco.

Starting his set a little early, Lupe had the The Palace crowd in the palm of his hand from the get go. Playing with a 5 man backing band, his songs sounded much heavier compared to their studio incarnations. This was especially evident in early highlights Everybody Nose (Remix) and Go Go Gadget Flow, where, spurred on by the intensified bass, the crowd went nuts. With the entire front floor section jumping in unison, Lupe switched up the lyrics of Go Go Gadget Flow to “I’m in the city of Melbourne, best city in the whole wide world”; endearing himself even further to the onlooking masses.

Throughout his set, Lupe dropped a few new tracks from his long awaited 3rd album Lasers. Songs like Words I Never Said and The Show Goes On, which have already permeated mainstream consciousness, were particularly well received. Scream, as the name suggests, encourages the audience to scream every time the word is spoken, and the crowd was more than happy to oblige. Other new tracks were not, however, met with as much enthusiasm and instead drew many blank faces. The album nonetheless is looking to be very promising, and Lupe took it upon himself to cement the release date (March 4th) into our heads by starting a chant promoting it.

As the show progressed and the air got hotter, exhaustion began to take over. During (_Daydreamin’_, The Show Goes On and Paris, Tokyo) it was became clear just how much Lupe commands the crowd; directing them in every way conceivable as if he was the puppet master playing with his marionettes. Finishing off the evening with Daydreamin’ with what proved to be the biggest sing-a-long of the evening, Lupe proved that his older material is still as loved now as it was when it was released 5 years ago.

While Lupe Fiasco has been here a handful of times already, this show felt different. It was great to finally have some fresh songs in the set and this was reflected in the way he performed. It was as if he had a new sense of energy and excitement as he played them to Australian fans for the first time. I imagine we will be seeing him once again later in the year as he tours to promote Lasers, and it seems certain that he will continue to sell out venues in this country for some time to come.