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The Kid Laroi // Photo – Nino Lo Giudice

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THE KID LAROI
+ Welcome To The Country
+ Lil Arts + TJ Mizell
@ Riverstage, Brisbane,
7th June 2022
(Live Review)

Review by Tammy Whitelaw

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The Kid Laroi // Photo – Nino Lo Giudice

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For most kids turning 18, a night out on the town with friends is a rite of passage. It’s a slightly different story for Sydney boy Charlton Howard aka, The Kid Laroi.  The youngster turned 18 last year, and his nights out just happen to be performing on stage in front of thousands of his friends.  The End Of The World Tour is Laroi’s debut headline tour of his homeland.  Getting off to a roaring start in his hometown of Sydney, a nasty bout of the flu knocked Laroi out and forced him to reschedule his Melbourne shows at the last minute.

Despite the Brisbane shows being pushed back by a day to give Laroi a little more time to recover, that didn’t discourage the Brisbane fans from turning out in droves.  The line to get into the Riverstage is so long we miss the first support act, TJ Mizell.  Luckily for us TJ joins Laroi as his DJ onstage later in the night.

Life has been Go-Go-Go for Laroi these past 2 years, ticking off a laundry list of achievements before he even reached adulthood.  Most artists his age could only dream of the things he’s accomplished.  While most musician’s careers came to a halt during the pandemic, Laroi’s skyrocketed to heights almost unimaginable.  From sitting at the top of the Billboard charts for 7 weeks straight and a Grammy nomination to having a signature McDonalds meal created in his honour.

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TJ Mizell // Photo – Nino Lo Giudice

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Lil Arts // Photo – Nino Lo Giudice

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Welcome To Country // Photo – Nino Lo Giudice

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With all the success, Laroi has remained passionate about his roots and giving back – he recently donated $100000 to a local youth service in Sydney.  Laroi also pays respect to his indigenous heritage (his stage name is derived from his tribe, Kamilaroi).  He’s actively giving a voice to fellow indigenous artists too, inviting 16-year-old rapper Lil Arts to support him on this tour.  Lil Arts set is short and powerful – more than enough to showcase the young, budding talent.  The Welcome To Country is greeted with roaring applause, showing that honouring the long history of the land and its people is important to the young crowd (politicians take note).

It’s a tense wait for Laroi to take the stage.  The moment the lights go down, thousands of phone screens illuminate the Riverstage as fans prepare to capture the arrival of their idol.  Scaling the large white staircase on stage, Laroi launches into his set with an energy the crowd was clearly not ready for.  As he delivers Let Her Go and Diva, it’s hard to imagine Laroi is still recovering from influenza – “Forgive me if I’m sipping water, I’m still fucking sick, but I’m ready to kick some ass on this show”.  The only sign of any sickness appears as his voice strains slightly on the Tell Me Why chorus.

There’s no shortage of hits plucked from The Fuck Love mixtapes. GO is met with chants of “Long Live Juice” – a tribute to his fallen mentor, Juice WRLD, while during Pikachu, a stuffed Pikachu is thrown on stage by an eager crowd member.  Laroi takes crowd participation to another level for Fuck You, Goodbye, inviting a (broken up) couple he met at the meet and greet earlier in the night to perform the song onstage to one another.

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The Kid Laroi // Photo – Nino Lo Giudice

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The Kid Laroi // Photo – Nino Lo Giudice

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The Kid Laroi // Photo – Nino Lo Giudice

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Fun aside, Laroi is a young man not afraid to bare his soul and share his emotions: “Today is my friend’s birthday who passed away 2 years ago” he opens up to the crowd.  Sharing a new track, he has only performed once before, Where Does Your Spirit Go, Laroi holds back tears.  He asks everyone to “keep your phones off. I want this moment just between us” and the crowd oblige.  “Happy Birthday Saik, I love you so much” his voice breaks again, this time with emotion.   

Laroi regroups for his new single Thousand Miles before the crowd bombard him with “Shoey” chants – “If I do a Shoey and I get sick, I’m blaming you”.  He quickly puts a stop to the chanting by breaking into his mega-hit Stay.  Without You wraps up the night with another touching moment Laroi shared with a fan online, dedicating the song to the young man who lost his best friend.

For the lucky fans at the Riverstage, tonight feels special and intimate.  Laroi’s show is already begging to break out into a stadium with a large-scale production.  As long as Laroi maintains that connection to his roots as he rides the wave of superstardom, he’ll not doubt stay at the top of his game. 

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The Kid Laroi // Photo – Nino Lo Giudice

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The Kid Laroi // Photo – Nino Lo Giudice

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Check out Nino Lo Giudice’s full gallery of the
Brisbane Event on 7th June HERE

Check out Roman Wojtkowski’s full gallery of the
Brisbane Event on 1st June HERE

Check out Mark Francesca’a full gallery of the
Perth Event on 30th May HERE

Check out Melanie Griffith’s review of the
Perth Event on 30th May HERE

Follow THE KID LAROI
 Facebook – Twitter – Instagram

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Press Release June 5th (below) HERE

THE KID LAROI
postpones first Brisbane show
on doctor’s orders
due to influenza

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AMNPLIFY – DB