Live Review: Stormzy, Manu Crook$

It was a night of pure, unfiltered, rapid-fire hip hop. The emotional hype for UK Grime artist Stormzy to take the stage at his sold out concert at Metro City was felt from all corners of the building, from the mosh pit to the top row and all the levels in between. With 2000 of Stormzy's fan base packed in the nightclub, his supporting act Manu Crook$ made no bones about that. He spun an eclectic mix of different records, his taste-making skills put to the test as he strategically weaved tracks from his own catalogue with other popular records to match the crowd's energy, joking that "Stormzy is up next!" in between each song, keeping the crowd on their toes. 

Making Perth his first stop on his Australia-wide tour to promote his debut album Gang Signs & Prayer, Stormzy appeared on stage in the packed-out nightclub to a deafening crowd. It was impossible to get a proper look at him from the front - the mosh pit instantly became a sea of frantic fans pushing and shoving each other, every punter feeding off each other's excitement. This scribe was smacked in the head at least 20 times in that mosh pit. Looking back on it, it was so worth it.

"I remember last time when I came to Perth two years ago when I was nothing and performed at Jack Rabbit Slim's, when no one knew nothing about me. That's why it's so special to me to be back here in Perth again, to kick off my Australian tour at this sold out show!" he said, before kicking off his set list with Return Of The Rucksack to an adoring and genuinely hyped crowd.

His brilliantly grimy one-hour set flew by fast as he performed songs from Gang Signs & Prayer, including hits Cold and Big For Your Boots, the latter of which received such an ecstatic response he decided to perform it twice. He also made time for some throwback records, including Know Me From, One Take Freestyle and WickedSkengMan 4. He even rapped his remix of Ed Sheeran's Shape Of You to a crowd that sang along wildly and happily to the chorus as Stormzy jumped from one side of the stage to the other. His performance was quick-fire, unreserved and executed with maximum energy. Halfway through, a male from the crowd bolted his way past security and threw himself off the stage into the audience. Stormzy shook his head in a mixture of disbelief and amusement, but made no comment as he carried on with his lightning rhythm and rhymes. The only time he slowed down was when he went to the front of the stage to take a seat. "I'd like to pray for you. It doesn't matter to me what you believe in - if you believe in something, whether it's God, or your mother, I'd like you to sing this song with me," he said, and there was a second of silence before he launched into the touching, soul-warming Blinded By Your Grace for a club that was dotted with waving flashlights and mobile phone screens.

Once the song was done, he switched right back to his relentless energy - "Energy levels UP! I don't care what you've been up to today, I want the mosh pit crew, the crew at the top, and everyone else from the front to the back to have their hands UP!" he bellowed into the microphone, before launching into Cigarettes & Cush, his loud style again on full display as he rapped with the ferocious tenacity of lyrical genius, the crowd having difficulty keeping up.

"I have a giant spliff waiting for me now. This has been the fucking sickest show I've ever played!" he screamed one last time. Now standing in the front of the stage, sweating and stripped to the waist, he took a second to bask in the crowd's noise, which was loud enough to tear the roof off. He took out his phone, captured a Snapchat video of the crowd, and with that, he jumped off the stage to an endless roar.