FOMO 2020
15th January 2020
The Trusts Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Doug Peters.
The new year brings with it a plethora of fresh delights and yesterday it was Auckland’s turn to partake of a few as FOMO returned with a whole new venue (but the same brilliant philosophy of ‘one stage, no clashes, party together’); the midweek weather just right for the late afternoon kick-off time.
2020 saw Trusts Arena open its outdoor gates and offer up a lush green field for fans to make their home as New Zealand acts Vayne and Melodownz christened the stage with some local flavour. While rising Hamilton rapper Vayne unfortunately seemed to be suffering from a little touch of nerves, Melodownz (accompanied by none other than IllBaz) absolutely ignited the stadium with one of his best performances to date and a set that included both the popular ‘Peace $igns, Gang $igns’ and ‘No Mercy’, his collaboration with Florida rapper Denzel Curry that undoubtedly proves that Melo is more than ready to take on the world stage.
Sun still kissing the skin of thousands of patrons, an explosion of cheers filled the air as Rico Nasty stormed out with the persona of unadulterated attitude, those in the front rows being able to take in her stunning make-up and poppin yellow and blue ensemble that just screamed summer vibes.
At only twenty-two, the Maryland rapper, songwriter and record producer already has a solid following worldwide, her collection of mixtapes gaining her well-deserved notoriety. DJ in tow and her name plastered across the screen behind her, she smashed her New Zealand audience with tracks such as ‘Cold’, ‘Guap (Lalala)’ and ‘Hard’, the tenacity of the crowd only doubling down with ‘Roof’, ‘Sandy’ and the Doja Cat track ‘Tia Tamera’ which features a trap-beat that will melt your face and a chemistry between Doja and Rico that brings the spice to the hip-hop banger.
It may have been a somewhat shortish set, but Rico Nasty packed everything she could into it, never backing down for a second; her demands for a mosh pit during the metal-esque ‘Smack a Bitch’ met with eagerness, her performance of ‘Rage’ (from 2018’s album Nasty) which embraces again elements of both punk and metal and highlights her incredible range and eclectic nature ensuring that she would be welcomed back to our shores with open arms (headline show? Yes please!).
Keeping the masses happy between sets, while dedicated crews flipped the stage with incredible speed and efficiency, club hits such as Travis Scott’s ‘SICKO MODE’ and Sheck Wes ‘Mo Bamba’ kept peeps happy, a little ‘Digital Bath’ by Deftones – who will soon be playing at the very same venue – tying in nicely with the flavours being seen throughout the acts.
A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie brought something a little different to his set with the addition of a giant inflatable hand that hovered over the desk of legendary South Bronx DJ Ominaya who accompanied him. Backing it with incredible graphics that lifted the overall epicness of his performance to next level status, and it would be safe to say that A Boogie once again impressed on only his second visit to the country (his first seeing him grace the bill of Laneway).
‘Look Back at It’ and ‘Voices in my Head’ both from the record Hoodie SZN got the crowd moving, ‘Beast Mode’ featuring PnB Rock & NBA YoungBoy bringing some heavy melody to the atmosphere.
A Boogie worked the crowd, throwing down ‘Still Think About You’, ‘My Shit’, and ‘Jungle’ before amusingly asking the crowd if they liked drugs, the track ‘Love Drugs And Sex’ an obvious follow-through. While ‘Startender’ and ‘Swervin’ (a track that was again accompanied by some wicked multi-colour graphics) killed it was ‘Drowning’ that saw fans rap along word for word, despite the often agreed less than desirable turn from Kodak Black; ‘Mood Swings’ taking out the set.
The queen herself – yes, Lizzo, who else? – may not have been actually headlining FOMO but she may as well have been, audience numbers seeming to instantaneously swell as she arrived on stage in a black and white leotard imprinted with the words ‘Good As Hell’ all over it. Backed by her outstanding DJ Sophia Eris (who for those lucky enough to catch her at K’rds Saloon Bar on Tuesday would know is quite the rapper herself!) and an all-female dance crew, Lizzo opened with ‘Good As Hell’ and proceeded to tear Trusts Arena apart.
It’s hard not to be enamoured with Lizzo, and the world would agree it would seem, the Detroit artist named Time’s Entertainer of the Year for good reason. Her vitality, her positivity, her downright realness making her an artist that anyone and everyone can embrace wholeheartedly. Displaying both vocal and musical diversity, Lizzo wowed with her dramatic big notes on ‘Cuz I Love You’ before bringing a distinctly Motown vibe with ‘Worship’ that also featured some tasty choreography.
Asking if kiwis knew how to twerk, ‘Scuse Me’ rattled some cages, the line “I don’t need a crown to know that I’m a Queen’ summing up Lizzo perfectly; ‘Water Me’ and ‘Jerome’ – which was preceded by a pep talk about getting rid of “bad habits” i.e. fuckbois only making her incandescent personality shine that much brighter. Impossibly Lizzo continued to outdo herself as her set went on, ‘Tempo’ and ‘Boys’ (damn, that beat is infectious!) leading into a motivational speech about loving yourself in a hands-on way being a wonderful thing and a rendition of ‘Juice’ that saw the crowd dance like their lives depended on it.
But it had to be – of course – ‘Truth Hurts’ that was the winner on the day. Donning a veil and bouquet, Lizzo didn’t even need to sing the first verse as her kiwi audience did it for her, the chorus seeing not just every single fan but even the bartenders and security guards rapping along. A hyperactive flute solo, big confetti bursts that showered the crowd and Lizzo triumphantly left the stage, her fans love for her still ringing in her ears.
In some stellar line-up planning, Brockhampton was an inspired follow-up to Lizzo, the day which had started with reasonably sparse set-ups increasing in size and culminating with the American rap collectives centre staircase which they used to its full extent. While they may be a self-described boy band, Brockhampton are so much more, their impressive numbers meaning that fans have more than plenty to focus on.
Fomo saw members Joba, Matt Champion, Dom McLennon, Merlyn Wood, Bearface and Kevin Abstract command the stage in their familiar orange and white ensembles, lights, Co2 cannons and confetti all adding to the hype that they brought. Kicking it off with ‘St Percy’ and ‘If You Pray Right’, Brockhampton regaled their fans with a set that quite possibly outshined their last show here in 2018. With five studio albums to their name including last year’s effort GINGER from which they played several tracks, there was plenty of material to keep their devotees happy, ‘Zipper’, ‘Bleach’, ‘Gold’ and ‘Gummy’ just a few of the highlights. ‘Queer’ had the entire arena bouncing, Brockhampton soon inviting some ladies up onto the stage to kill some time during an unfortunate technical error which saw sound lost completely for a small amount of time.
‘Sugar’ (which haunts TikTok) took Auckland into the final killer tracks including ‘1999 Wildfire’ and ‘Boogie’ which left everyone smiling and ready to chill out to the final act of the night, Kaytranada.
Darkness had fallen which only made the visuals for the Port-au-Prince born DJ all the more beautiful, a striking giant blue eye that inhabited his mixing desk watching over the crowd as the twenty-seven-year-old DJ delivered an upbeat set that was the icing on the cake to an outstanding day. ‘All Night’, ‘10%’, ‘Scared to Death’ were all early winners, his remixes of songs such as Rhianna’s ‘Kiss It Better’ and Janet Jackson’s ‘If’ showing off his skills. Weather still warm and FOMO basked under ‘Gray Area’, ‘Meditation’ and ‘Leave Me Alone’, Kaytranada every so often calling out to the waves of faces still ebbing and flowing before him.
With such a smorgasbord of talent from which to sample from and an atmosphere that exuded inclusivity, FOMO 2020 was damn near flawless.
Were you there at the Trusts Stadium for this brilliant Hip Hop and EDM music festival? Or have you been to FOMO some other time? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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