Music > Live Reviews
Lethal Bizzle @ UEA
30/04/16
A quick disclaimer – I’m a huge Lethal Bizzle fan. But, no bias is necessary to say that he absolutely smashed the first night of his 2 2 tour, which is hitting 8 cities in the next 10 days.
The show got started with Frisky DJ easing in a few Urban hits, with the atmosphere building nicely. First up to support was Lady Lykez, the London FemC whose supporters include Chipmunk and Tinie Tempah. Lykez’s signature style, combining playful and combative lyrics with a variety of urban sounds, has been a great addition to the sometimes overly macho Grime scene, and I couldn’t wait to see how she handled a live crowd. Sexy, confident and with a seriously impressive weave, she took control of the crowd and had them moshing in minutes. And she’s got the lyrical speed to easily match Eminem on Rap God. If she keeps pushing her music in new directions, it doesn’t take any stretch of the imagination to see her filling out shows on her own.
DJ Melody Kane stayed behind the decks after Lykez, keeping the energy high. Crowd favourites Man Don’t Care and Feed Em To The Lions elicited manic responses as usual. Next up supporting was Big Tobz. Embodying the characteristic aggression of Grime music, his set was loud and in your face. New track Uno My Style was the highlight and took the crowd up a level ready for Lethal Bizzle.
At 9:30 the curtain on stage dropped, revealing two big screens, each with a drum kit on top and DJ decks above a smaller screen in the middle – production levels from a Grime artist I’ve never seen before. The man himself sauntered on stage in a white jacket to Dude and everyone on the dancefloor was crushed as the crowd surged forward. The Drop was next, a single which I’ve never liked but it works much better live; mosh pits quickly opened up under Bizzle’s encouragement and they weren’t for the faint hearted!
Half way through the set Bizzle requested lighters and phone lights in the air in tribute to the late Richard Antwi, Bizzles former manager and a figure who kick-started and nurtured the career of a range of well-known artists today. He then performed Wretch 32’s track Don’t Go (Wretch was signed to a label co-founded by Antwi). This was a nice touch and a respectful way to honour Antwi.
The rest of the show saw Bizzle’s hits smashed out, the pair of drummers driving the performance impressively and delivery character you don’t get from a simple DJ and backing track. Fellow artist and tour partner Face was on stage for Bizzle to bounce off, and the pair worked well together. Bizzle also had a treat in store for Grime fans, bringing out special guest Ghetts who performed the hits One Take and YouDunKnow Already. My favourite track of the night was Pow 2011, a song which was banned from the radio and clubs for inspiring too violent a response from crowds – it’s safe to say if you weren’t willing to take the risk of getting crushed, elbowed and moshed to within an inch of your life then exit the dancefloor swiftly when this gets started.
Bizzle could’ve easily come out, had a DJ hit play on his tracks and perform them as usual. Instead he’s taken his show to the next level, with impressive production and the live drummers re-invigorating every track.
This was Bizzle updated, upgraded and upscaled – in a word: dench.