Live Review: Urthboy, L-FRESH The LION, Okenyo

Urthboy has always known how to produce a killer live show, but even without the likes of Jane Tyrrell at his side, the man upped his game to another level on Saturday night for what was the penultimate show of his Second Heartbeat Tour.

Recent Elefant Traks addition Okenyo began proceedings in solo mode on stage, taking a place behind keys and electronic pads, which she switched between at her leisure. The smooth beats complemented her powerful vocal delivery and made for a really engaging performance. She had the earlybirds enticed from the beginning and it proved to be the perfect warm-up for the explosive nature of the performances to come.

L-FRESH The LION was up next, and he damn near stole the show. Grouping together with the insanely energetic MC Mirrah in vocal sharing and MK-1 behind the decks, L-FRESH delivered one of the most prolific performances this reviewer has seen all year, constantly involving the crowd by telling everyone to get their "hands up" (Victory), otherwise teaching a lesson with the tongue-in-cheek track Hold Up. He and those performing with him took the time to acknowledge that the support act's role is to warm up the crowd for the main act — a lovely sentiment — but L-FRESH just about tore the roof off.

Having said that, Urthboy's game has always been top level, and he has a talent for picking out stellar support groups up on stage: Ev Jones, Jayteehazard, Claire Nakazawa and Meklit Kibret all added a unique element to the overall performance, and Urthboy had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the get-go. After acknowledging the rightful owners of the land, he launched into Stories, the first track from his 2012 album Smokey's Haunt. Jane Tyrrell may not have been there to feature, but Kibret stepped up superbly as she covered vocal duties for the catchy-as-ever Shruggin', while a cover of Hermitude's Your Call had everyone practically losing their heads.

L-FRESH The LION reclaimed the stage, along with the rest of the supports, for Running Into The Flames and both he and Urthboy bounced off each other perfectly as they traded verses. We Get Around and The Signal — two tracks from Urthboy's second album — generated the most rousing singalongs of the evening, and it was great to see him hold the stage on his own for the always enjoyable encore of No Other. There's no denying Urthboy is one of the best at delivering a fantastic live show — here's hoping we don't have to wait too long before he's back on the west side once more.