The UK’s most popular Hip-Hop artist, Dizzee Rascal, descended upon the Enmore Theatre for his Big Day Out sideshow to showcase his latest album ‘Tongue N Cheek.’ Sure it was a good concert – Dizzee could never disappoint – but his new material leans more towards the mainstream than stay true to the grimey sound that Dizzee became known for, hence, this concert catered more to the ‘newbie’ Dizzee fans; the ones that became fans after they heard ‘Dance Wiv Me.’

On support duties was well-known New Zealander rapper Scribe; having seen Scribe live a few times I was well aware of his ability to drive the crowd crazy and this was no exception. The ground was shaking by the time Scribe finished his set; saving his most-loved songs “Dreaming” and the show-stopping “Stop the music,” for last.

I’m still not a fan however, his ‘freestyle’ was a straight rip-off of Jay-Z’s style, a bad one at that, and his crowd interaction is embarrassing. He has his moments though, and you cannot take that away from him.

It didn’t seem that long of a wait for Dizzee Rascal to hit the stage as he opened with the Tiesto-produced “Bad Behaviour” and as good as that song is, it is quite boring in a live setting. The next song, “Road Rage,” made up for it as Dizzee aggressively rapped the catchy hook and verses over the fast-paced beat; the mosh-pit was widespread now as the crowd showed how much they were loving it.

A couple more average-sounding-live tracks from his latest and Dizzee finally got into an oldie in “Flex” but twisted it to cater to the very mainstream crowd by rapping the last verse of David Guetta’s cheesy “Sexy Chick” which I guess served its purpose because the crowd went insane.

A few older classics such as “Fix Up, Look Sharp,” “Sirens,” and “Stand Up Tall” kept me satisfied in the midst of his latest material until Dizzee closed with three of his most crowd-pleasing songs “Dance Wiv Me,” “Holiday,” and the oh-so-popular “Bonkers,” the last two being the most fun to jump around to.

All in all, the aggressive style which Dizzee is best at was sorely missed along with some of his best tracks such as “U Can’t Tell Me Nuffin’ and “I Luv U.” However, I can’t complain; Dizzee came to give us a taste of his latest offering and he did that successfully – I just really wish he made a bit more room for his older material.

Setlist:
Bad Behaviour
Road Rage
Freaky Freaky
Flex
Chillin' Wiv Da Man Dem
Sirnes
Fix Up, Look Sharp
Jus' A Rascal
Money Money
Pussyole (Ol' Skool)
Dirtee Cash
Stand Up Tall
Dance Wiv Me
Holiday
Bonkers