Project Description

Machine Gun Kelly

@ Metro City, Perth

06/05/18

(Live Review)

Reviewer: Amy Smith

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Fans of Machine Gun Kelly (MGK) have endured a five year wait for his return to the land down under, but he definitely made it worth their while. Now with three albums to his name, anticipation was high as MGK wrapped up the Australian leg of the ‘27’ tour in Perth on Sunday night.

Excitement began building before the doors even opened, with many fans having the opportunity to share a message with MGK through ‘Kellyvision’, a YouTube series that documents the life of MGK. The genuine passion and relatability of MGK’s music became abundantly clear as fan after fan shared stories of the personal impact that MGK’s music has had their lives. Naturally, there were also calls to party.

With only local DJ’s as support, the crowd were more than ready for some MGK action after the two hour wait. Opening with The Gunner, MGK strutted on stage oozing attitude like the punk-rock rapper that he is. The hard-hitting opening continued with Golden God and Wild Boy. Things slowed down early in the set with heartfelt rendition of Linkin Park’s Numb transitioning into Kiss the Sky as tribute to the late Chester Bennington. The crowd did not respond well the early slow down in pace, with conversation audible over the performance. This behaviour was very disrespectful, and the performance deserved much more attention than it received. Thankfully the momentum picked right back up after a quick “bounce check” and remained high for the remainder of the night.

Photo by Amy Smith

“Five years ago we had, like, 15 people come to the show, now we’ve got, like, 70” MGK half-joked. While the turnout of tonight’s performance was significantly better than 2013’s, the upper levels of the venue being closed off clearly disappointed him. “Next time, I want to fill the stands!” he declared. While it may not be the biggest turnout that MGK has seen, those that were there, went hard.

MGK embodies Rockstar, from his looks to general ‘fuck it’ attitude and stage demeanour. He can be seen drinking alcoholic beverages straight from the bottle and rolling joints throughout the performance. This certainly does not detract from his ability to fluently spit fire, hitting every single beat of his rapid-fire lyrics.  MGK has the ability to bend the crowd to his will through non-verbal cues, commanding full participation at all times. At times he took a direct approach, notably evident during the intro of Till I Die, where he commanded the audience to sit down and would not allow them to move until his say so. Other times he didn’t have to do much at all to send the crowd wild. Ear piercing squeals resounded throughout the venue for merely removing his shirt shortly before launching into Bad Things.

Photo by Amy Smith

Aside from being a Rockstar performer, the intrigue and attraction of attending an MGK show is that it is not your typical hip-hop/rap performer set up. MGK performs with a five-piece live band, who are all just as entertaining to watch as MGK is himself. The addition of live instruments also adds extra power and melody to the songs.

MGK was feeling his jokes tonight. After returning to the stage to rapturous applause shortly after finishing with what seemed like the set closer Till I Die , he laughed “Oh you want another song? I just forgot my beer!”. He then picked up a guitar and finished with the laid back 27, this was not the strongest way to finish, especially after the intensity of the previous songs.

Ultimately, a good time was had by all. Keep the vibe alive forever!

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