Gig Review: G-Eazy - o2 Institute, Birmingham

After the release of his sophomore album, When It’s Dark Out, and the huge success of his most recent single ‘Me, Myself and I’ featuring the powerhouse voice of Bebe Rexha, G-Eazy has embarked on a headline tour including 6 UK dates. I was lucky enough to attend his gig last night at the O2 Institute in Digbeth, Birmingham. The show was quite a spectacular production with lights and visuals to accompany G-Eazy’s hard-hitting lyrics.

The dapper rapper himself

The acclaimed US rapper is from the Bay Area of California which is famous for being the home of the hyphy movement which boomed in the mid 90s as a major movement for rap music and urban culture. G-Eazy has been heavily influenced by this, evident from his enthusiastic performance style.

Such a passionate performer

His touring DJ, DJ Quiz, got the crowd pumped with tunes you’d expect to hear on a night out clubbing, he definitely got the party started. This atmosphere was injected even more by G’s support act, ILoveMakonnen, a fellow hip hop recording artist. He was great at getting the audience involved but I wasn’t a fan, his performance style was very passionate, just not my cup of tea. G-Eazy even made a small appearance, showing some support for his colleague’s performance and causing more than enough excitement from the stalls of fans. However the wait between ILoveMakonnen leaving the stage and G-Eazy making his anticipated entrance was longer than expected and the atmosphere started to die. Of course, that didn’t affect how well received he was by the Birmingham crowd.

Watching ILoveMakonnen

It was only the second time that G, real name, Gerald Gillum, has ever performed in Birmingham. He explained to the sold out crowd how last time he performed here he had a mere fraction of the fans he does now. I’m not sure about you but I find usually at most gigs and concerts you go to, the artist will always say in a patronising way how they are so humbled to be performing in front of their fans. G-Eazy didn’t even have to say this, you could tell by the look on his face. The crowd, being predominantly aged between 14 and 18, knew every one of G’s immersive lyrics to every one of the song’s he performed. At certain points he was left speechless by the reaction he received from the audience which proves how humbled he was. I think he appreciates the attention more than other artists on the circuit as he’s waited a long time for his hard work to pay off. This is reflected in his story-telling style of lyric writing.

G-Eazy’s humble smile

My personal favourites from the evening were ‘You Got Me’, ‘Me, Myself and I’ and ‘I Mean It’, which he performed as his encore as it’s from his previous album.

One other thing to add which I feel made the night even more special was that G-Eazy was celebrating his 27th birthday on stage performing, where better to celebrate than Birmingham?

The Birthday Boy performing

It’s safe to say I enjoyed G-Eazy’s performance so much so that I’ve been and purchased both When It’s Dark Out and his debut album These Things Happen today. G-Eazy gets 5 stars from me!