Now displaying 1 - 16 of 16
Oh boy, oh Big Boi. Despite this tour being his third visit to Australia within the last twelve months, it did nothing to diminish the anticipation or excitement of OutKast and Lucious Left Foot fans alike. For this round, Big Boi was accompanied by not only his DJ and hype man, but also a talented band fully equipped with bass, guitar, drums and live brass. Oh, and one of Brooklyn's most exciting young acts, Theophilus London, was out in support too.
Though owners of very different kinds of charisma, Big Boi and Theophilus both have amazing stage presence. Big Boi wears his swag as casually as he dons and doffs the hats of his multi-mad-skills as a rapper, songwriter, producer (and registered pitbull breeder). He does the same with his various musical alter-egos; slipping from Daddy Fat Sax to General Patton to Lucious Leftfoot to Sergeant Slaughter and a plethora of others like it ain't no thang. Because it ain't. But no matter how many different outfits Big Boi shucks on and off, there's one thing he's always wearing: the aura of a true entertainer.
Secure in the comfort that his audience loves him, Big Boi's swagger is deliciously easy. He doesn't have to prove anything; as opposed to say, his younger and highly ambitious tour companion Theophilus London. Yet Big Boi invests no less in his engagement with the audience than Theo does. It doesn't take much to have the crowd eating out of Big Boi's hands either, as he rolled out a back catalogue of OutKast hits (obviously sans Andre 3000), smashing out 'Rosa Parks', 'So Fresh, So Clean' and 'Ms Jackson' out of the way early, to the delight of the fans.
Big Boi segued into his solo material, as well as more OutKast classics, before he left his excellent band to drink up some spotlight whilst he took a quick breather offstage. If only the solos lasted longer… A bunch of ladies were then invited up by hype man CBone to populate the stage whilst Big Boi wasn't filling it, in a hilariously cringe-worthy grind fest of meh. But all was not lost. As bewildering as that little situation was, when the hissing high hat of 'The Way You Move' came on, all was (kind of) forgiven. The next part of the show was just as energetically dynamic and banging as the rest, again with both OutKast and solo tracks on parade. The shuddering boom of 'Shutterbug' finally came on second to last, before a three-song encore closed out with 'You Ain't No DJ'.
Many rugs were cut. Plenty of deuces were thrown. Lord have mercy Big Boi, that was the most fun gig I've been to all year.
Words by Christel Escosa. Photos by Mark Sherborne for Everguide.