Sunday night’s Yung Gravy show was not your ordinary show hosted at the Forum, as the American rapper proved throughout his ninety-minute set. Known for his on-stage humour and antics his chaotic set was full of all kinds of stunts, not limited to having the whole crowd throw water into the air.
Opening Yung Gravy’s evening was a local Melbourne rapper called Babyface Mal. While he seemed to have some fans in the crowd, his set didn’t feel overly structured and his posse often came on and off the stage even though they weren’t involved in the set which at times could be quite distracting. That being said he did raise the atmospheric energy in the room. The crowd was quite large at this stage, so having an act that could get the ‘engine started’ was important, Babyface Mal managed to do so and Yung Gravy’s DJ tiiiiiiiiiip, was thankful for it.
DJ tiiiiiiiiiip was a great addition to fill the time between Babyface Mal and Yung Gravy, he was exciting, confident and had the perfect level of presence to later pair with the chaotic energy that Yung Gravy radiates. tiiiiiiiiiip made sure to take the room atmosphere to a fever pitch with some choice tracks, including the Bunnings Theme Song, but not before he ran the crowd through the rules that would allow them to “Turn up at the Yung Gravy” set.
By the time his set was over, he’d completed his job to the utmost, hyping Yung Gravy to the excitable crowd and getting ready to bring him out.
Dj tiiiiiiiiiip
While the night was fun, it was marred by some unfortunate acts, with a couple of crowd members vomiting throughout the set, leaving the people around them worse for wear. Everyone remained thankfully safe, but it did leave a little asterisk on the evening overall.
Yung Gravy was excellent. Arguably beyond so, while all the videos and memes that float around the internet about him make him seem like quite a funny act, his confidence, bravado and humour are far better live. He seamlessly moved between self-deprecating humour, milf jokes, and his music, which gave his fans more than just a simple music experience.
Yung Gravy opened with “Boys Back In Town” to the screams of his crowd, before rolling through, “Cheryl”, “Mr Clean” and “Welcome to Chilis”. While some of his songs are often quite short, Yung Gravy was generous with his setlist, extending the time needed at the Forum to play a mammoth 18-track set.
While “Whip A Tesla”, “1 Thot, 2 Thot” kept the crowd engaged, Yung Gravy wanted more, throwing water bottles into the crowd and enlisting his fans to “make it rain”, throwing water everywhere during the drop of “Dancing In The Rain”. While the cleaners wouldn’t have had a good time after the performance, it was quite a spectacle, and the more the crowd engaged with Gravy’s antics the more he wanted to stay on stage.
His non-musical interludes were almost as good as the music itself with Yung Gravy bringing out Australian cereals at some stage, signing the boxes, and throwing them into the crowd. The set involved a lot of crowd engagement, Yung Gravy’s presence was so captivating that it is no wonder his fans keep coming back for more.
He carried on through “Magic”, “Gravy Train” and “She’s A 10”. Yet, the real magic came toward the end of his set as his biggest tracks, “C’est Le Vie” and “Betty” helped to end the evening. This was not before he escorted a line of VIPs and friends onto the stage though, making each one of them do a shoey alongside him. He ended up doing three shoeys and then signing the shoes to be given out to the crowd.
While there were a few misgivings, Yung Gravy’s tour finished off as a huge success and his Forum show was a testament to that. His fans will be looking on the horizon for a new tour announcement seemingly wanting the night to go on forever.
FOUR AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Yung Gravy’s Australian tour is now over, but you can keep up to date with him on Instagram and Facebook
