Lil Pump. Live at the Birmingham academy review (15/11/2018)

Considering his cartoonish persona, part of the fun of going to a Lil Pump gig is the thrill of actually being in a room with this living meme of a person. Before this was an underwhelming set from support acts Splurge X Huncho, a duo who barely fill the low standards set by other soundcloud rappers. A long gap between this and Lil Pump's hypeman coming on stage made for a bit of a lull in the night but it was worth the wait once Lil Pump hit the stage. Running on stage at exactly 10pm to his Carnage produced banger 'I Shyne' and delivering a solid 45 minute set. Unlike the fake deep posturing of many of his contemporaries Lil Pump knows exactly what he's about and how to put on a show. What he lacks in lyrical depth he makes up for with attitude and an ability to command a crowd of sweaty teenagers, enticing mosh-pits and crowd surges at will. LP said he rated the energy in the room a 7 but wanted to push things up to a 10* which the Birmingham crowd did. As you might expect from someone who recently launched a weed balloon into space so 'God can get high' the show wasn't without it's WTF moments. The most jawdropping of all was his sideman encouraging a crowd of impressionable teens to chant 'free Cosby'. Which goes to show that you can make people shout anything as long as you're on a stage and have a decent enough beat behind you. Also strange was the crowd counting down from 20 as he did a 'push up challenge'. Less surprising was a tribute to the late XXXTENTACION with an 'RIP' backdrop and airing of their posthumous collaboration 'Arms Around You'. Yet there was little time for silence or reflection when there was bangers such as 'Gucci Gang', D Rose, Boss and 'I love it' to bounce around too. When he'd finished inciting chaos Lil Pump claimed that he loved us all and would hang around to sign merch. Lil Pump might just be the luckiest kid in the world but at least his desire to entertain and connect with his fans is admirable. After blasting 'Boss' for the 2nd time Pump left the stage and his sideman announced that there would be an after-party for 18+ year old girls only. On this evidence Soundcloud Rap might just be the new Rock N' Roll. 

6.8/10

*a dig at Anthony Fantano?