RL Grime
19th July 2017
Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Matt Henry Mendonca.
With the show being sold out for the last couple of weeks, desperate pleas for tickets have been plaguing the FB event page right up until the point the doors opened, many fans suffering from a serious case of FOMO. RL Grime is in the house and with it he brings not only the beats but an amazing stage set-up that turned Auckland’s Powerstation into an international quality club the likes of Las Vegas’s XS or LIV in Miami.
The predominantly 18-25yr old crowd have already warmed themselves up with Auckland’s own t1r, New Zealand’s up and coming trap producer Quix and Australia’s TKAY MAIDZA but now they want the legend himself, the fans baying for Grime to begin. Most people on the street would not recognize the name Henry Steinway, but there would be very few who wouldn’t recognize him under his artist name of RL Grime; and if you are a super fan you would already know of his tribal house style music that he produces under the name of Clockwork.
At just 26yrs old, Grime is at the top of his game, his mix of Hip Hop, Grime, Bass and Trap slaying audiences the world over. He first introduced himself to the electronic music industry with his debut EP Grapes in 2012, but it was his remix of Kanye West’s ‘Mercy’ with Salva in that same year that secured his place. Since then Grime has gone on to produce a second EP (High Beams) and a debut album by the name of Void which was released in 2014. Fans are currently on high alert for his second album ‘Nova’ which Grime announced in May of this year.
There were already a few casualties around the room as Grime took to the stage; an almost deafening roar rising up from the crowd who were chomping at the bit for that sweet EDM. As Grime let loose, hundreds of people simultaneously lost themselves to the music, an easy thing to do considering the quality of the sound spilling forth from the stage – and if the sounds didn’t get you the visuals certainly did. Standing atop a platform with a huge three-piece screen set up in front of him and one large vertical screen behind, Grime was often just a black shadow against a continuously changing kaleidoscope of colours and images. While much of these visuals and indeed some of the lights are pre-programmed, with over three banks of individual light units above Grime, tonight required a fair amount of live work as well. So this is a shout out to the guys crammed inside the small sound desk area who kept control of everything throughout the entire evening – producing absolutely magnificent effects; taking the stage from looking like it was being engulfed in flames one moment to being in the middle of an XBOX 360 shooter game the next, the name RL Grime periodically being projected onto the screens and outlined in very realistic looking lightning bolts. Grime in a simple t-shirt, his hair tied back in a small bun jumped up and down from behind the mixing desk, hand in the air occasionally finger gunning the crowd. Remixes of tracks such as ‘XO Tour Lilf3’ by Lil Uzi Vert and ‘Runaway (U&I)’ by Galantis made early appearances in his set, the crowd squeezed onto the dance floor as they bounced up and down in time to the beats; the stragglers at the back using the open space in front of the bar to let loose with their dance moves.
CO2 guns fired off and were illuminated by changing LED lights, giving the venue the effect that it was a lot bigger than it actually was. A remix of Drake’s ‘Fake Love’ had the crowd raising glasses and singing before Grime took them back in time with some old school Prodigy; ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ having the crowd going wild for the somewhat vintage track. “What’s Up Auckland? I need to see how hard everyone can jump tonight” Grime yells out to the crowd as a wave of 160 BPM hits them square in the chest. We then move smoothly into the slightly slower tempo of Migos ‘Bad and Boujee’ the crowd instantly leaning back. This was then quickly followed by Grime’s own track ‘Core’ a huge hit with the crowd. “Holy shit Auckland, make some noise for yourself”, Grime grins as he briefly pops out from behind the screens to encourage the audience to dance even harder, the humidity levels of the room now off the scale.
Grime rarely takes his foot off the pedal for the entirety of his set; however there are small moments where the crowd can catch their breath before the next wave of sweet music. The screens on stage display a view of the ocean at sunset, the effect hypnotic and rather fitting for the Hex Cougar remix of Deadmau5 ‘Raise Your Weapon’. Suddenly the room is bathed in red as the popular RL Grime remix of ‘The Hills’ by The Weekend bursts forth from the PA’s, the crowd absolutely losing their minds. How popular is this particular remix you may ask – 26.7 million plays on Soundcloud alone popular would be the answer.
But the set isn’t just all made up of remixes, many of Grime’s original pieces feature throughout the night including ‘Waiting’, ‘Aurora’, and ‘Scylla’; Grime saving his latest hit for the encore. “Auckland you want one more song?” the crowd having already chanted his name for the last couple of minutes certainly responding favorably, and with that the stage went black as the words to ‘Stay For It’ (feat. Miguel) were displayed along the front screens, the crowd raucously singing along. Grime encourages everyone to get their lighters out, he himself doing the same from behind the desk, many fans hopping up onto their friends shoulders eager to soak up the last few minutes of this amazing night. Stepping out from behind his on stage set up to high five a few lucky people in the front row Grime addressed the audience one last time “Auckland, once more I am RL Grime from Los Angeles, California, take care of yourselves, take care of one another and see you next time! Peace!”
You couldn’t have asked for a better message to end a night of good vibes on.
Were you there at Powerstation for this high energy EDM extravaganza? Or have you seen RL Grime perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!