Live Review: Azealia Banks, Ivan Ooze

Sydney Azealia Banks fans are looking fierce, street and ready to play tonight, which bodes well for support act Ivan Ooze. The Melbourne rapper is full of gusto as he spits out a selection of both released and unreleased tracks for the building crowd. His super-fast flow and sweaty, infectious energy make for a pretty mental set that ends with shirts off and a hype man backflip. Solid start, Sydney.

It's been almost two years since Azealia Banks last visited Australia, so fans embrace the Harlem native with wild screams when she struts out on stage. Looking something like a bad-arse mermaid with hair down to her hips, clad in a dominatrix-esque outfit, Banks looks on-point and is beaming with that trademark, cheeky grin. She gets straight down to business, performing a handful of tracks off her 2014 album Broke With Expensive Taste first, before mixing it up with a few old favourites — Liquorice and 1991 entice mass singalongs.

There are a few moments where the sound almost drowns out some of Banks' vocals but thankfully this is rare and we're treated to some amazing displays of MC skills from the rapper. She makes the bars in tracks like Desperado, Van Vogue and Luxury sound effortless and when she busts out the loudhailer for the insane Yung Rapunxel, our chill, if it hadn't already, is gone. 

Banks belts out some lyrics from 212 a cappella-syle and we know what's about to go down. People actually start removing clothing items before that famous beat kicks in, because if ever there was a song to dance around in your underwear to, it's 212. Not speaking from experience or anything...

No encore is needed after that. Sydney is a sweaty, happy mess, Banks is a beast, and music and not giving a shit what anyone thinks wins.