Just four nights before this show, Mercury Prize and BRIT-winning UK rap legend Dizzee Rascal MBE delivered a spectacle for the packed bp pulse LIVE in Birmingham, as he accompanied headline boxer Ben Whittaker while rapping during the ring walk, live on TV around the world.
50 Cent did the same thing the weekend before for Chris Eubank Jr and many saying afterwards that Dizzee’s performance was better!
Tonight Dizzee packed a hell of a punch at Brighton’s Concorde 2, which has seen its fair share of sweat-soaked nights, but few have carried the voltage Dizzee Rascal unleashed last night [Weds 3rd Dec].
Night 10 of this 13-date “We Want Bass” UK tour. A second consecutive night added after this show sold out in the blink of an eye at this popular 600 capacity South coast seaside venue.
Setlist
Foxtrot Oscar
Jus’ a Rascal
I Luv U
Fix Up, Look Sharp
Heavy
(Chase & Status cover)
Dirtee Cash
I need to know
(Denon Reed cover)
Don’t Gas Me
Bassline Junkie
R U SLEEPING
(Sigma cover)
Gather Around (Good Times)
Dance wiv Me
Holiday
So Hot
Filthy Bassline
(efan cover)
Stop Dat
You’ve Got the Dirtee Love
(Florence + the Machine & Dizzee Rascal song)
Encore:
Bonkers
Bonkers (Buckley Mix)
Fader
After a support set from DJ AG, even before Mr Rascal stepped out on to the sparse stage, the packed room was already humming…
A crush of grime loyalists and fresh-faced ravers, and the kind of heads who know that seeing Dizzee in a room this size is a rare, borderline-reckless privilege.
He hit the stage like a switchblade. No slow burn, no easing in…
Straight to the jugular, detonating the floorboards and immediately reminding everyone why he remains one of the UK’s most electric live MCs. Dizzee’s delivery was tight, every bar fired with that familiar mix of menace and mischief.
Dizzee controlled the room with the ease and swagger of someone who’s been doing this for 25 years, yet still performs like he’s got something left to prove.
Production-wise, it was all muscle: thick low-end pressure, clipped drums, and lighting that strobed just on the right side of disorienting, plus some tasteful lasers. No excess, no filler – just a tight, relentless assault built for a space this size.
Accompanied by two rapper mates and a DJ. Dizzee Rascal is a livewire, still unpredictable, still capable of turning an intimate venue into a full-scale riot.
When a fan hoisted a vinyl record above the crowd, Dizzee leaned down between tracks to sign it mid-set. It was a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but the kind of thing that turns a gig into someone’s life story.
Spotting fans pushed up against the barrier, he halted the hype to make sure security passed out some water.
A relentless tsunami and hurricane-like 20-song set, including the triple tune encore – opening with “Foxtrot Oscar” and then into the fab “Jus’ A Rascal”.
Covers from Chase & Status (“Heavy”), Denon Reed (“I Need To Know”), Sigma (“R U SLEEPING”), efan (“Filthy Bassline), “You’ve Got the Dirtee Love”, which Dizzee cut with Florence + the Machine.
The encore featured the Buckley mix of the absolute banger “Bonkers”, and kicked off with the original version, closing with “Fader”.
The volume and gut-punch of the bass – with an assault course of bass bins across the pit for the photographers to deal with – was enough to almost pin you to the back wall, but it was just what was needed to make the point of this spectacular event and experience.
The ensemble of fans singing back almost every word was loud enough and aggressive enough to rattle the window frames in Worthing.
Last night, Concorde 2 didn’t just witness a show; it got scorched…
41-year-old Dylan Kwabena Mills aka Dizzee Rascal is a force of nature, and still very much in the business of levelling rooms. He flipping flattened this one.
Photos by Manja Williams
Words by Manja Williams and Les Howard
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