Live Review: Allday, Remi, Baro

Every ten years or so, a new generation of artists move into an old genre to give young music lovers a fresh voice for their generation. The next generation of Australian hip-hop is here and on display in one big sold-out show at The Metro.

Baro started out the night with his fresh new stylings. This is one soulful rapper. Smooth, floating and effortlessly cool. This 17-year-old is making people take notice and his voice will be going far.

If Baro is the new kid on the block, then you could hardly call Remi an old hat; however, the confidence and swagger that he expels on the stage belies his age. Playing songs from his exceptional debut opus, Raw x Inifity, Remi just looks like he’s having fun as he busts the moves on the stage and belts out the lyrics with passion and intent.

The all-ages crowd gave The Metro a noticeably bubbly feel as they fill every gap and scream their approval when Allday (aka Tom Gaynor) strides to the centre of the stage. Dressed completely in black, he launches into Got It, the opening track from latest album Startup Cult. Allday toys with the crowd as they rap along with nearly every word of the first four songs, especially Right Now, where Allday could almost just not sing at all.

In all honesty, sometimes the crowd carry the tune better than Allday, and a couple of songs fall pretty flat, like Wasting Time, but ultimately the show is fun and seems to please the largely pubescent female crowd immensely. The final song in the main set, You Always Know the DJ, is easily the highlight of the night. Despite the plea for ‘one more song’, Steezed Out wraps up a night of hip-hop that may have seen more than one first kiss.