Flickers of movement behind the silver curtain that served as his first backdrop incited the kind of isolated squeals that you'd expect to hear at a blockbuster boyband stadium concert, and when he finally emerged on stage and stood still, hunched over in a yellow suit, to perform "Igor's Theme", the crowd's word-perfect sing-a-long was almost as impressive as Tyler's ability to switch between moods and personas. Whether he liked it or not, it felt as though much of the energy at his opening night at Brixton Academy was fuelled by his audience's political angst, as thousands of fans armed with bumbags piled into the show ready to mosh and shout some bad words at the top of their lungs. GIFs of the ex-prime minister's awkward dance moves soon spread across Twitter like wildfire. Not long after, in a bizarre moment of cultural and political serendipity, Tyler announced that he would be playing three dates at Brixton Academy in September, sold them out, and May tearfully handed over the responsibility of Brexit to someone else. Organising spontaneous comeback shows is apparently a little trickier when you have millions of fans who have been waiting to see you perform live for four years. ![]() ![]() Crowds swarmed to the gig's venue, Virgil Abloh apparently got caught in the mob, and then the police shut the whole operation down. But just days before May's resignation, he'd returned to London to announce a last-minute, surprise show in Peckham via a selfie of him stood outside Buckingham Palace. In 2015, the rapper had been banned from entering the UK by the then home secretary, for offensive music he had released in 2009. "Theresa gone, I'm back," penned Tyler, The Creator to his eight million Twitter followers, to the tune of 131,000 likes. It’s why his music has spoken to a generation of teenagers.When Theresa May resigned from her role as prime minister earlier this year, there was one celebrity response that elicited more excitement than most. His voice is raw and quakes at moments, but that only underlines the honesty in his lyrics. He notoriously hates his own voice, but tonight he sings beautifully without effects. Tyler stands with the mic by his side, drinking it in, before ripping through half of IGOR. The ‘IGOR’S THEME’ instrumental plays while the crowd yells along and chants “Fuck Theresa May”. Even the spotlight tracing him across the stage shakes, as if it’s also been blindsided by the fact that oh my God, he’s actually here. The already iconic mushroom wig and yellow suit silence the crowd. It’s twenty minutes later when the man himself, in full IGOR regalia, actually emerges. ![]() If the ritual works, it’s slow to have its intended effect. The crowd at O2 Academy Brixton – the first of three sold-out nights – skews so young that at 22 I constantly feel like I’m about to be led out back and put down like an elderly dog in a Western.Īt 9pm screams rise from the standing section and the entire circle balcony jumps up, as though in a summoning ritual. The silver lamé on stage shrinks into neat squares, vertical Snapchat rectangles. You can feel the anticipation in the air at Tyler, the Creator’s first UK show in four years – it feels like the heat of nearly five thousand humans in one room.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |