After illness, shows being rescheduled, and courtside back injuries that threatened to prematurely end the ‘End Of The World Tour’, Naarm’s Rod Laver Arena finally got to welcome hip-hop wunderkind The Kid LAROI to the stage on the final date of his much-anticipated homecoming tour.
Nine days after the show was originally set to take place, the almost 10,000-strong crowd filled the arena again for their chance to catch the young sensation.
When the light’s dimmed, LAROI – born Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard stood a solemn figure at the top of his staircase-filled stage and proceeded to tear through his ever-growing track listing with ‘Let Her Go’, ‘Diva’, and ‘SAME ENERGY’. As the proud Kamilaroi man dances across the stage it’s easy to forget he is still a teenager – his polished act fitting for Melbourne’s busiest arena.
Although the rapper had hinted to ‘special guests’ to make up for his earlier cancellations, the crowd wasn’t ready as The Wiggles were welcomed on stage to play their biggest hits — even allowing the headliner to drive the Big Red Car before gifting him a very wiggly guitar — it felt like a passing of the guard as the predominately teenage crowd’s music tastes mature.
The concert rolled through its 23-track setlist, ending with biggest hits “WITHOUT YOU” and a solo rendition of his Justin Beiber collab “Stay”, and every time the young star opened his mouth, the crowd erupted. It’s a statement that his success so far is far from a flash in a pan — this could be the beginning of a generational takeover.
Photos by Tim Lambert