Live Review: Macklemore, Eric Nally, Xperience

An hour before the first supporting acts were due to play, the line outside the Hordern Pavilion seemed endless. Macklemore fans dressed in bright colours, thrift store outfits and rainbow pride threads cued, eager to see the Seattle rapper at his sold-out Gemini show.

Frequent Macklemore collaborator Xperience (Tyler Andrews) was first to take to the stage. The fellow rapper from the Pacific Northwest hip hop scene dedicated his track Not Today to 'the haters' and in an emotional moment performed Me Time, written about dealing with the loss of his mum who battled breast cancer.

Eric Nally (lead vocalist of Cincinnati band Foxy Shazam) came out next, recognisable to fans as the guy from the Downtown video clip with the cool moustache, acrobatic moves and great pipes. The singer, who's featured on the opening track of the Gemini album, performed his retro 2017 single, Black, and got the crowd moving before making way for the chill vibes of Dave B, kicking off his set with Pink Fleece.

Main attraction Macklemore — pulling off a sparkly, sequined jacket — bounced onto the stage to Ain't Gonna Die Tonight, playing drum pads and hyping up the crowd. The rapper welcomed his fans to the Gemini tour and announced that Sydney was one of his favourite cities in the world, receiving a roaring cheer as he launched into Firebreather.

Macklemore wasn't shy of interacting with his audience, telling anecdotes and continuing to flatter the crowd with his compliments of their city. He talked about his two and a half-year-old daughter Sloane, who will soon become a big sister before playing her favourite song, the Lil Yachty collaboration Marmalade. "My favourite thing about Sydney is the op shops", Macklemore stated in an oversized coat, introducing Thrift Shop, the song that made him known to Australian fans back in 2012.

He addressed the controversy over his performance at the NRL Grand Final a couple of months ago, where the advocator for LGBTQIA+ rights performed his song Same Love during the time of the same-sex marriage plebiscite. Despite the backlash from certain politicians, he stated that it was one of his favourite things he's ever done, before a powerful performance of the song in front of visuals of rainbow flags and pride and equality marches.

The MC is undoubtedly an entertaining performer and the show was full of costume changes and theatrics. He came out in a purple coat and orange top hat to perform Willy Wonka, as scenes from the original Charlie & The Chocolate Factory played on the screen and green confetti rained down.

He brought Dave B back out for their track Corner Store before treating fans to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis favourites Dance Off and Can't Stop Us.

The crowd demanded an encore and the rapper obliged, performing a few of his recent hits including Good Old Days (feat. Kesha) and Glorious, which got him a standing ovation.

As everyone was preparing to leave Macklemore declared, "Today is a very special day," noting that out of the entire world, Australia has led the way in supporting his music. He brought out his newly received award for Good Old Days going double Platinum and thanked the Aussie crowd for being his craziest fan base — ending a fantastic night on a high note.