Night Lovell
6th May 2018
The Studio, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Chelsea Munro.
He’s one of the hottest up and comers in the business. His album Red Teenage Melody – dropped in 2016 – was cited as one of the year’s best rap projects, and tonight Night Lovell was bringing it all down to Auckland New Zealand on the last night of his tour. Being a Sunday night did not put off any of the hundreds of fans that packed out The Studio floor to see him, in fact it seemed to have the opposite effect. The fans seemed hungrier, many of them day one fans of Lovell since he first released his self-produced track ‘Dark Light’ on Soundcloud back in 2014.
Accompanied by his ‘ride or die’ friend and DJ ShaqFrance there was never a question of just how lit tonight was going to be; but just to make sure ShaqFrance warmed the crowd up with a playlist that threatened to burn the venue down. Tracks such as ‘Dark Knight Dummo’ by Trippie Redd, ‘1000 Rounds’ by Pouya x Ghostemane and ‘Faneto’ by Chief Keef, saw the horde of fans crash up against eachother as they simultaneously rapped the choruses in perfect unison. ShaqFrance, obviously impressed threw out another couple of tracks to really make the fans sweat, both ‘Take A Step Back’ from Ski Mask The Slump God and ‘Gummo’ from 6IX9INE almost making the fans bleed before he asked them to make some noise if they wanted Night Lovell to come out “right now!”
Hailing from Ottawa in Canada, Lovell has been held aloft as an iconoclast following the release of his debut album Concept Vague in 2014; with an icy palette many of the tracks featured bars that were quoted as being similar to Bones or Vince Staples. Producing music under the alias KLNV (killanov) has allowed Lovell to make his mark through different avenues, often combining the two to his advantage. With his “bleeding edge” take on contemporary hip-hop with the classic hazy lo-fi production of cloud rap it is no surprise that Lovell’s fans are so passionate in their following of him, the audience tonight chanting Lovell’s name on mass til he finally exploded onto the stage dressed completely in black spitting the lines from ‘Concept Nothing’ off his aforementioned debut album. Watching hundreds of fans chant the chorus while maintaining a heaving mosh pit is always impressive, but tonight’s vivacity for Lovell was next level; upon finishing the track Lovell talked about getting a call from home about “people trying to start some shit”, the speech a lead up into the track ‘Boy Red’ the obligatory gunshots from DJ ShaqFrance signaling its end.
While many of Lovell’s tracks are ice cold, live Lovell has both strength and momentum as well as a genuine love for his fans; repeatedly asking them throughout the night to “make some noise” if they were a day one Night Lovell fan, allowing the audience to prove their worth time and time again. Pausing briefly between each song, Lovell would use the time to joke about how the place smelled like weed or talk about this latest tour; at one point asking the fans to make some noise if they fucked with Pouya before dropping ‘Don’t Bang My Line’ a recent Pouya track that Lovell himself features on. Lovell don’t like rules either, the crowd delivering the loudest chants of the night when Lovell pointed out that it was Sunday and that most people would have work in the morning and that if they hated all those rules and authority they should say “fuck you” which they did several times on his count.
Showing that he had a sense of humour as well Lovell – after making the mistake of confessing to doing a ‘shoey’ at his Brisbane show – obliged the audience when they too demanded. Kicking off his own sneaker he drank down some straight spirits before declaring “no more fuckin speeches, fuck you guys” with a grin on his face.
Hitting the crowd with killa track ‘RIP Trust’ released just last year along with ‘Trees of the Valley’ from his first album and Lovell asked a favour of the crowd; the result being hundreds of sweat drenched fans, many of them shirtless singing Happy Birthday to Lovell’s sister back home. While Lovell could hype it up with the best of them, he also took it down, bringing out a mic stand for slow burner ‘Jaime’s Sin’ before once again bouncing on stage for ‘Questioning Your Theory’. Easily one of the biggest tracks of the night was ‘Contraband’, Lovell’s demands for the mosh pit to be opened up seeing one of the largest ever formed in the Auckland venue. Testing the fans Lovell then threw out ‘Feel the Rage’ by Lil Gnar, upon which he features along with trip hop artist Joji.
But of course it was ‘Dark Light’ that saw the heftiest reception last night; the fans proving once and for all that they truly are day one fans of Lovell. And Lovell had noticed; throughout the night returning to a fan in the front row who stood out from the pack for his tenacity and knowledge of the words. Stripped down to his jeans and deciding to drop ‘Contraband’ once again for the fans – Lovell had security pull the fan from the crowd, bringing him in for a bro hug as he clambered up onto the stage. Sharing a mic they spat out the verse lines before each walking to the far corners of the stage and diving into the crowd as ShaqFrance dropped the pounding bass, the air punctuated by CO2 cannons.
Shortly after returning to stage Lovell requested the fans to put two hands up in the air as he rapped the verse once again acapella style, the fans matching him line for line. Lovell’s mic drop signaling the end. But Lovell is an artist that appreciates his fans, and while there may have been no encore – ShaqFrance instead dropping more tasty morsels from his playlist in the form of ‘Up Like An Insomniac’ from XXXTentacion, ‘Audi’ from smokepurpp and of course ‘Drip From My Walk’ by Young Pappy – Lovell did take the time out to come down to the merch desk and take photos with each and every fan that stayed behind.
With artists such as Night Lovell on the scene you better believe the future of hip hop is looking bright.
Were you there at The Studio for this rowdy hip-hop gig? Or have you seen Night Lovell perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Concept Nothing
- Boy Red
- I’m Okay
- Still Cold / Pathway Private
- Don’t Bang My Line [Pouya feat. Night Lovell]
- Louis V
- RIP Trust
- Trees Of The Valley
- Jaime’s Sin
- Questioning Your Theory
- Teenage Cutie
- Contraband
- Feel The Rage [Lil Gnar – feat. Night Lovell & Joji]
- Dark Light
- Contraband
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