This gig, as were a lot of others on his tour, was sold out, proving that the pint-sized star has obviously done something right in gaining a huge following. However, I don't think he is to everyone's taste by far; I have honestly never been to a gig before with so many pre-teens and parents acting as escorts for their little ones.
Obviously I had no problem with this but being a huge grime fan and being used to the Tinchy of yesteryear, when he was supporting grime artist Kano and marketing himself as an urban star, I was quite shocked.
Accompanied by his ever faithful DJ Spyro, Stryder performed a crowd-pleasing performance, which at times made me feel like I was at a Butlin's camp, in relation to his audience interaction and their reaction to him.
The concert began with an unknown voice announcing that tonight was going to be a good night, and in turn, The Black Eyed Peas song bearing the same name was blared out to an over-excited audience of parents and screaming teens.
The countdown then began to Stryder's appearance onstage, which led up to a large sheet with his black silhouette behind it dropping down to reveal the hooded rapper emerging and launching into his set.
In a nutshell, it was fine he ticked all the boxes for the screaming, fanatic audience members but I couldn't help but notice that those of us who were over the age of 20 (and not accompanying a child) felt a little bit out of place and unmoved by the whole experience.
His set involved a lot of talking between songs, which the hoards of scantily-dressed teen girls appeared to love if their squeals were anything to go by, but there were only so many times I could hear "Everyone shout star in the hood on the count of three" or "When I say hey, you say ho."
In terms of his performance, he put all his energy into it, although as a live act you do appreciate that his DJ makes most of the tunes what they are with the jumpy electro beats.
The low point of the gig was when he offered a free 'Star in the Hood' t-shirt to the audience, with Spyro declaring, "Is there anyone in the building that would like a present from Tinchy? Yes? No?" (this went on for about 15 minutes between various songs)until he eventually proceeded to add his sweat to it by wiping it around his glistening neck and under his armpits before offering it to the STILL shrieking mass of girls... it was like a horror movie; even though I knew it was wrong I couldn't look away.
The highpoint was when the very sexy Amelle from the Sugababes joined him onstage to duet in their tune 'Never Leave You', which I felt was the best song performance of the night. However, her appearance was fleeting and she had a very quick entry onstage and off again before the track had barely finished.
Along with himself, Stryder brought various members of Ruff Sqwad onstage to assist him during some tunes, which added to the whole 'street' vibe. However at one point it did get a bit silly and overcrowded and it turned into a 'Spot the Tinchy' contest.
I think it's important to mention Maveric, a fresh grime artist to look out for, who joined Stryder for one tune and embodied the lyrically strong, pure grime music that I was expecting form the evening.
All in all, Stryder did a great job for his heaving throng of fans. However I feel it is my duty to inform any grime/hip hop fans out there, that Stryder has definitely departed from that style of music and has joined a more commercial, poppy world of catchy choruses and generic electro beats. Oh, and hes not afraid of covering other people's tracks.
Set List:
1 I'm Landing
2 Stryderman
3 Warning
4 Express Urself
5 Take Me Back
6 No Limits (With Maveric)
7 Tryna Be Me (With Ruff Sqwad)
8 Spotlight
9 Halo
10 You're Not Alone
11 Shake Me
12 Preview
13 Never Leave You (With Amelle)
14 Number One
article by: Fiona Madden
published: 23/02/2010 08:17
FUTURE GIGS
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