Finally! I feel like I've waited forever for Jamiroquai to make a fully fledged comeback, and obviously expected so much from the funk-master himself. Although, I'm not sure that this latest single lives up to the hype that I put on it beforehand...

Okay! I'll start with apologies for the delay in posting - university coursework is extremely time-consuming. First post of 2017 and it's a post about the last gig I went to in 2016. Only fitting I guess, and what better way to end the year than watching my number five album of the year pick throw down in a most spectacular fashion?!

First up on stage was a rapper named Mouthe. I'd never heard of him before, and nobody else knew anything about him so did a little bit of research. I must admit I was pretty underwhelmed when I saw that he only had about 500 likes but I thought if anything could make somebody a fan it would be seeing a live show. I was wrong in this instance. When he came on stage, after about 30 seconds of performance I could sense the side-eyes in the room. I could barely hear the backing track over his optimus prime-sounding vocal effects. I couldn't even concentrate on his lyrics after his ridiculous song introductions. There were a few whispers between songs like "do you even know this guy?". To say that I was disappointed is an understatement. Although afterwards, my friend sent me one of his songs "Hallelujah" and it actually didn't sound too bad. Maybe he's just more of a studio artist.

But now for the main event - Quincy in the flesh. To be honest, even before he came on stage, the crowd was just bubbling with excitement. It seemed like they just knew the lyrics to every good hip hop song that played. At times the crowd was even rapping along as if somebody was actually performing. So when those lights dimmed and ScHoolboy stepped out, you can only imagine how the crowd galvanized. Within minutes I had already lost the people I came with and was fighting for breath, swaying through the weeds of people, mouthing a few lyrics whenever I got the chance to come up for air. It. Was. Manic... and I loved every second of it! The energy was incredible, and of course the set list didn't fail to impress. Q played hits from his last three albums and even jams from his label-mates Kendrick Lamar and Ab-Soul. The crowd was spoilt! I also feel that it's important for me to note that, ScHoolboy played in London the night before and just before playing "THat Part" to us, he declared that the Birmingham crowd was even crazier. Being the last show of the tour as well, whilst we screeched the lyrics to "THat Part", everybody knew that they'd witnessed something special. It had been the longest while since I'd left a gig that sweaty, breathless, yet energised, and I can only say - what a way to end an amazing year of music?!

Overall Rating - 8.5/10


DISCLAIMER: As the crowd was so mad, I only managed to get a few non-blurry, mediocre pictures...