Live Review: Lethal Bizzle, O2 Ritz Manchester 06/05/16

I do love a good gig but to say I was inquisitive about how a night at a grime gig would go would've been an understatement. Arriving at around 9 I had missed the first couple of support acts, of Lady Lykez and Big Tobz, but arrived in time for a few club bangers from DJ Frisky to get the crowd in the mood for the electric atmosphere to follow. Beginning with Dude and Rari Workout the crowd was bouncing from the start. Tearing through hits Bizzle had the crowd in the palm of his hand. The energetic presence of Lethal on stage, combined with the fantastic lights display made for spectacular viewing.

Hit after hit followed as he tore through the set comprising of new single Wobble (a tune hand-picked for summer), classics such as Go Hard and Oi! and crowd pleasers like Going to the Gym and Box. Athough the atmosphere took a more mellow turn as he payed a tribute to his late friend Richard Antwi - a top music lawyer that helped launch Lethal Bizzle's and many other artists careers and who sadly passed away on February 11th. The moving cover of Wretch 32's Don't Go, Please Stay, was thought provoking but was also the calm before the storm, as Lethal began to show a hand full of aces for the Manchester crowd. First he brought out special guest, Fuse ODG, for chart hit Light It Up which lifted the whole crowd and then followed by bringing out Krept and Konan (for tracks Don't Waste My Time and Freak of the Week) simply because "you're the best crowd this tour Manchester!".

I thought Bizzle and his Boys, the Dench-gang, really engaged with the audience, organising the mosh pits between songs and leading the football-like chants of "Lethal, Lethal" to fire up the boisterous crowd. Saying that, although a fair number of the crowd were lads, the mix of the audience reflected how Lethal ha managed to attract a varied audience with his grime music. Further illustrating the sky-rocketing popularity of grime in the UK at the moment. I admit I am no avid follower for grime and have only really began listening to it within the last year. However, I am a firm believer that 2016's Grime artists are only doing good things for the genre.

Personal highlights were old school grime hit Pow in the encore and without doubt the banger Fester Skank, arguably his biggest hit to date, which provoked a riotous response from the crowd to finish in style. I was left exhausted, exhilarated and excited to attend future gigs from genres not within my usual scope. Moreover, it would be unfair not to mention Lethal Bizzle's talented drummers sitting high up on the stage pounding away with skilled prowess and setting the beat to perfection all night. A truly talented bunch to top off a class night.

Overall a solid 8.5/10.

~Phil Etchells 06/05/16

Photo credits: Mr Harry Long