Live Review: Lil Nas X @ Hordern Pavillion

Let’s set the scene for pre-game: the sky is cloaked in a storm cloud, bleaching the venue’s grey surrounds of any hint of colour it may have had. Thus, the snake of people that coiled around the venue in anticipation was all the more impressive. It makes sense that the bold fashionista would inspire an equally bold crowd, and he certainly did that. At the very least, this gig has the highest cowboy hat ratio of 2023 on this side of the equator (hyperbole? Perhaps, but maybe not). The unofficial dress code of the event was very much, show up to show out.

And if it wasn’t already evident that this was a live show with a difference, it has a playbill. A playbill at a Pop Rap show! Right?! Also, the playbill includes the setlist broken into a three-act play, a QR code for a Snapchat interactive concert experience, a two-page spread covering his outfits and pages dedicated to important causes like The Trevor Project and GLAAD.

Gold Fang took the stage in a matching brown leather overcoat and trousers at the advertised 8 pm, setting the tone for the incredibly well-orchestrated evening. The crowd were engaged from the onset, waving their hands side to side concurrently as soon as they were called on. Fang knew his assignment as the sole opening act: hype the crowd for the headliner. The Trinidadian-turned-Australian artist added a different flavour to the evening and, much like a good entrée, whetted the crowd's appetite, leaving them salivating for the man of the night.

The 35-minute drought between sets was broken by a booming voiceover to mark the beginning of a journey. Lil Nas X's Long Live Montero Tour borrows and extends on many ideas, pieces and forms, with the set more like a theatrical piece than a concert. Broken into three acts, The Wizard of Naz opens each with a beautiful direct-to-camera monologue that inspires as much as it excites the audience. Then, a lone figure walks to the middle of the stage to an uproar. A fresnel directly above our protagonist abruptly illuminates his silver chest plate, and the show begins.

The choreography of X and his team of dancers was elevated all the more by the visuals, with the virtual camera matching up with the onstage talent. When dancers leaned one way, so did the visuals, and when they twirled, the camera spun, too.

The visuals were more integral to the show than any artist this fresh to the industry. The venue was intimate enough that the screen was never wasted on close-ups, with the utilisation of the screen being a presentation masterstroke.

X incorporated elements of other hits into his set, as many artists with blossoming catalogues tend to. However, he and his team were clever with how they incorporated them thematically. For example, Old Town Road transitioned into Ginuwine's Pony, which transitioned into Black Eyed Peas' Pump It, which concluded with his single, Rodeo.

The show was rehearsed, considered, and incredibly well-executed. It featured numerous costume changes, multiple props, a dance break where his eight-strong dance crew got the literal and figurative spotlight shone on them as individual performers, and related crowd participation (X called up five members of the audience as he believed “the people want[ed] to see some ass being shook”).

X's live performance is transcendent because it doesn't rely on any one thing. Not his vocals, not his charisma, not his showmanship, not his dancers, not his visuals. Everything is interwoven so thoughtfully and choreographed so effectively that it lifted the collective spirit of all present.

X, or Montero, appears to be living his best life, and fortunately, he’s taking us along for the ride.