Slowthai - Deb Never

Okay so, anyone who reads my reviews often knows that I’m normally more of a dad rock kind of girl. Rap is not my thing. But on the 25th of March I found myself queuing up with the rest of the youth (who all seemed much cooler than me) to go see slowthai, and I’ve got to say, I had an absolutely fantastic time.

Starting off with Deb Never supporting, who is an up-and-coming dream pop/grunge artist making her name through some really impressive collaborations. Known now for her elusive presence in the spotlight (much preferring to take a step back and let her music do the talking). Her energy on stage is fantastically tempered to the song she is playing at that given moment (switching from chilled out indie-girl-and-guitar vibes to high energy and jumpy). She genuinely seems like one to watch, and I can very much see her music creeping onto my playlists fairly soon.

The energy in the venue was up by the time slowthai took to the stage, with people pressed as far forward as they possibly could be. I must say I was a little thankful we hadn’t quite managed to get down in the pit at LCR, as at various points I’m fairly sure I saw a shoe fly across the heads of the mosh pit, and the vibes further back was still just as high. His gritty, politically charged music can seem daunting to an outsider but looking around at the kind of fans he attracts you can really see how this particular style of rap is quickly becoming a new form of punk. The guy has an amazing presence on stage, keeping his performance fairly casual (almost making what he does seem effortless), at a contrast to the power and anger in his songs, and a standout moment for me is the way he addressed the crowd, especially with regards to his reminder to look after those around you when at a gig.

He played a few new songs, which seemed fairly similar to his old stuff, and the things that really stood out were his classics (which I only listened to for the first time an hour or so before the gig). ‘Doorman’ off his 2019 album ‘Nothing Great About Britain’ really highlighted that punky attitude and being able to see the song ‘Momentary Bliss’ off The Gorillaz ‘Song Machine’ live gave me a new perspective on it that I hadn’t had before. For ‘Push’, a song off his album ‘TYRON’, he brought Deb Never back on stage to sing her featured part in the song, which was a beautiful collaborative performance, and showed the mutual respect they have for each other as artists.

I’ve got to say, I’m so pleased I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and experienced something I never would have otherwise. I thought the performance was absolutely phenomenal, and I have very few complaints at all. I would go see slowthai again in an instant, and look forward to getting to know his music better in the interim.