REVIEW: Vince Staples - Enmore Theatre, Sydney

After a significant festival run, Vince Staples arrived at the Enmore Theatre being able to perform “Big Fish Theory” for the first time in Australia at his own headline show. The crowd, of all ages and backgrounds, were more than excited to see their idol. The chants, screams and claps during the intermission foreshadowed a show full of energy and unity.

Kucka opened the music for the night. Her sound, an amalgamation of experimental electronic and glitzy indie pop was quietly appreciated by the eager crowd. While one could argue she was quite out of place, her performance of a combination dancey originals and her excellent features with Cosmos Midnight and Flume were tone setters for the rest of the night.

The opening tracks acted as a vignette into what the crowd would receive for their money. The opening was flooded with tracks from his critically acclaimed album, “The Big Fish Theory”. The set was saturated with tracks from this album, with its heavy electronic influence adding an extremely unique energy to the typical hip hop show. Littered throughout the set were tracks from Summertime 06, while sonically entirely different, they worked extremely well in combination with the tracks from Staples’ latest effort. The combination of classic bangers, “Norf Norf” and “Seniorita” with “Big Fish” and “Rain Come Down” assisted the seamless flow of the fast paced set list. Dancier tracks, “Bagbak”, “Love Can Be” and “Little Bit Of This” were secluded from the other tracks, creating a period during the show of absolute mayhem within the crowd. Childhood, confronting stories were respected by the crowd, and were extremely well received. Classic tales for Vince out of South Side Long Beach, and the alley’s near Ramona park were recited word for word. It was amazing to see the personal stories from Staples given a new life, so far away from their traditional home.

Often at rap shows with a significant amount of energy, vocal performance can be compromised for pure hype. Luckily however, Vince managed to cover both areas perfectly. It is through this critical position that Vince was able to create an experience that could not be replicated. His minimal visuals, and dark lighting gave him significant stage presence, with all focus on the music and atmosphere provided by Vince. From this, Vince was able to perform without a hype man, focussing on every bar, with amazing breath control while still sending the punters in the crowd into pure elation. Mosh pits opened, sing alongs were rampant and Vince had utter control over the energy within the theatre.

While Staples is often known for his interviews and tweets more than his music, he did not interact much with the crowd. Other than hyping up the crowd between big drops, Vince was rather quiet, and left the microphone to rapping only. This heavily assisted the progression of the show, as Vince let the music do the talking.

Its always great seeing great hip-hop given a big platform in Australia. Their energy, story telling and ability to pull a crowd together of such diversity is so amazing. Vince brought all this to the table providing an unforgettable show.

Words by: Parry Tritsiniotis

Featured