Being a huge fan of south London rapper Dave, I had to get hold of tickets to see him live at London’s 02 arenas. After a crazy performance at the Brits 2022, this man’s talent had to be seen and experienced first-hand. Dave closed the awards show when he performed his song ‘In the fire’ with Fredo, Ghetts, Giggs, and Mee
kz on stage and bought literal fire to the platform. His metaphoric way to perform gave us an insight into what everyone was to expect at his first-ever concert with a large capacity of people. A sold-out arena with an extra second sold-out date added to the show was a remarkable moment in my life and for many others. Initially, the concert was meant to take place on the 22nd of February, however, due to the British weather, storm Eunice tarnished half of the roof of the dome, which led to the show being cancelled and all of us disappointed.
On the 31st of February the rescheduled date was intimate, emotional, and a vulnerable atmosphere, and it certainly did not fail to disappoint. During the first and the opening show in London, Dave truly put all his efforts and hard work into this and made sure that this was a memorable night for his fans. Dave made sure that the full performance in his hometown was something worth experiencing, being the star of the UK rap scene and dominating the music game for years now, he performed a mixture of his songs, ranging from his most popular commercial music to the original old school Dave style songs such as Psycho, Screwface capital and no words. His usual partner in crime grime star Fredo appeared on the stage with him for funky Friday, before West London’s star AJ Tracey had the whole crowd going crazy when he performed his hit 2019 track, Ladbroke Grove, shortly after staying to join Dave for their major hit Thiago Silva. However, fans expected a bit more co-performances with his sidekick Fredo. The famous duo has more than 3 songs together that have charted in the UK top 40 over the years, and they could have at least performed last year’s big song ‘Money Talks’.
Although there is no connection together in music but friends behind the scenes, the star of the moment of the second day was Central Cee, who was the most unexpected guest, the greatest fast-evolving rapper that the rap scene has ever seen had the whole crowd shocked and going crazy when he showcased his most streamed and viral song ‘Day in the life’. Dave gave his fans multiple motivational speeches about his journey to get to where he is today, and thanked his mum as he usually does in every award show and performance, he went on saying “there are so many special people in the building but I want to give a special special special shoutout and honorable mention to my mum today” he then went on talking about “my mum brought me my first piano after saving every penny on it” before showcasing the fans his expectational pian
day.” The artist made his headline very intimate and almost like a family gathering, no one felt left out or out of place and many true Dave admirers were present in the arena.
Towards the end of the set, being in the week where we were faced with the news about the death of Jamal Edwards MBE, Dave played a tribute to him with a 2-minute-long video of Edwards’s career with him and other legends from the UK music scene such as Ed Sheeran. “R.I.P Jamal we’ll forever carry the torch and shine in your name” thanking him for everything that he has done for them and music. After a night of drinking and good vibes, Stormzy surprisingly came and closed off the show by performing their energetic and electrifying single Clash to get everyone hyped again. Dave took one final moment of everything that he achieved as he showed everyone his vulnerability for one last time when he fell to his knees and cried. Fans were super proud of him as he pulled off an arena show like no other artist. Dave will defiantly be an artist who is worth spending every penny on to see and travel every distance for his shows, if you’re a fan of Dave, then seeing him live at least once in a lifetime should be on your bucket list.
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