GIG REVIEW: DANNY BROWN | 170 Russell | MELB 26.4.16
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Danny Brown is one act every rap lover needs to see live—he knows how to entertain and turn any venue into a mass party.
Opening the night was fellow Bruiser Brigade member Zelooperz, who brought insane energy to the awaiting crowd. The rapper who is also from Detroit, has a similar likeness to Danny Brown. He admitted to the audience that it was his first time leaving the US and i’m sure it’s not going to be his last visit to Australia. He played tracks such as ‘B M’, where he made it clear that “he ain’t trynna be yo baby daddy”—take note ladies. The highlight from his set was when he went into the middle of the mosh-pit and made his own stage in the middle of the crowd. He played a few tracks in the crowd, including ‘lsbd’.
It was time for the leader of the Bruiser Brigade to hit the stage and the crowd couldn’t be anymore ready. He made his entry in true rockstar style, decked out in a leather jacket and all black attire. His set consisted of many older mixtape cuts as well as tracks from his last album Old.
Danny Brown is one of those artists who sounds better live…which is a rarity for many rap artists. It’s difficult to pick a crowd favourite from his entire set as the crowd seemed hyped up throughout his whole performance. But, if I had to choose, songs like ‘Smokin and Drinkin’ received a lot of love. Other party tracks such as ‘Express Yourself’ also saw the room go crazy. His slower tracks such as ‘I Will’ and ’25 Bucks’ also received. Though the crowd seemed to be lighting up throughout the entire night, the moment ‘Kush Coma’ came on, smoke clouds erupted all over 170 Russell. As expected, he closed his set with everyone’s favourite ‘DIP’. I mean, it would have been weird if he didn’t close with this one. ‘DIP’ allowed one final moment to party with the legendary Brown.
During the entire set, Zelooperz acted as his hypeman—which he did a great job of. The last time Brown was here in 2015, he didn’t have a hypeman on stage with him so I thought this was a great addition.
Overall, his performance was everything you could possibly want when you see Danny Brown live. Performing is what he does best and his ability to do it so well will continue to be part of his legend.
Words by Amy Smolcic
PHOTO GALLERY: DANNY BROWN | 170 Russell | MELB 26.4.16
