Live at the Marquee review: Aitch has the packed venue 'rapped' around his finger
Mosh pits, screams, excitement, fake tan, and neon colours are how Aitch’s packed Live at the Marquee gig tonight kicked off.
Mosh pits, screams, excitement, fake tan, and neon colours are how Aitch’s packed Live at the Marquee gig kicked off on Wednesday night.
The doors opened at 6.30pm but by 7.30pm, the tent was already so packed that there was no chance that you could make your way to the front to catch a glimpse of the British rapper.
The colourful lights took the senses by surprise as drill, rap, and trap took over the high ceilings of the Marquee tent; crowds of people jumping up and down, phones waving in the air and people busting moves.
Tickets to the British sensation’s gig sold instantly as soon as they were announced, marking it as one of the first Live at the Marquee acts to do so.
After an MC warmed up the crowd with recent hip-hop hits, emerging London repper Antslive hit the stage with a set that included his breakthrough chart ‘Number One Candidate’.
The Marquee roster often has a lot of heritage acts and guitar bands, but Aitch and co also follow an illustrious list of hip hop artists to play the Leeside venue, including Jay Z, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent.
Screams and chants for Aitch echoed under the yellow and blue tent as he arrived on stage shortly after 9pm with a live band and bright electric lights.
‘Hello Cork, how’s it going,” says Aitch before kicking off.
Smoke from the machines filled the room, people were sitting on shoulders, yearning to make eye contact with the rapper while others jumped and jumped and jumped.
He gestured the crowd to move in waves, with arms, and hands in the air as he covered 'Strike Me a Pose'. Screams from the mostly teenage crowd echoed when he did so.
Aitch did not fail to please as he performed songs from his debut studio album.
The British sensation has risen to the top of the UK hip hop scene and is very popular with Generation Z. It’s been a whirlwind few years for Aitch with six smash hits and collaborations with big names like Ed Sheeran, Anne Marie and even Stormzy.
Kicking off his Close to Home European tour here on Leeside was truly an exciting, wild, and interesting experience. He’s set to play again on the island of Ireland later this month, with one gig in Belfast and another in Dublin. His Glastonbury show is scheduled in between.
Truly, Aitch is going places. Even though he is only 23, he already has over 10m listeners on Spotify and was able to attract hundreds to his sold-out Cork City gig with his ability to energise a crowd. That speaks for itself.
The cheers and singalongs from 'Close to Home' show he will always be welcome back.
One thing spectators may have not expected was a cover of Oasis' Wonderwall that evening. As Aitch went away for a little break, the live band kept the crowd going with Oasis' song being played loudly through the stage speakers.
Aitch later performed a song that was close to home, 'My G' a collaboration with Ed Sheeran that is about his little sister, Gracie, who has Down syndrome.
As lights and torches lit up the room, the British rapper got Cork to sing the song back to him.
"Once for Gracie up there," he said as he gestured the crowd to give a round of applause to a photo of his sister that was on the bright LED screen.
Aitch played for about an hour, and some fans were surprised that there was no encore.
'Good night Cork, I'll definitely be back again," he said, before taking his bow before his adoring crowd.
