Little Simz
Little Simz wrapped up the Europe leg of her tour in support of sixth studio album Lotus with a headline performance in her hometown at London’s O2 Arena. Having witnessed her first headline festival performance at Sussex’s Love Supreme Jazz Festival, I was looking forward to her first arena tour. Since 2021’s Mercury Prize-winning Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, the Islington-born rapper has been at the top of her game, blending powerful lyricism with beautifully created instrumentals.
After a DJ set from PÉJÚ as the arena started to fill, neo-soul and R&B singer Greentea Peng graced the stage with a 30-minute performance. Featuring a band of talented jazz musicians, and, despite the low lighting, the audience were transported back to summer. Playing tracks from newest album TELL DEM IT’S SUNNY as well as hits ‘Mr. Sun (Miss da Sun)’ and ‘Hu Man’, she performed to a surprisingly large crowd of early arrivals. This is the fifth time I’ve seen Greentea Peng live, and she was just as good as I had expected. Her vocals never disappoint, and it is always a treat to see the singer perform.
Prior to Little Simz’ appearance onstage, actress Emma Corrin appeared from a trapdoor and enthralled the audience with a monologue. This certainly set the precedent for a high-quality production. After Corrin descended back underneath the stage, a large black curtain dropped, revealing a stage in the shape of a lotus flower with a live band nestled in the centrepiece. Finally, Simz took to the stage. Opening with ‘Thief’, the set began with a mix of tracks from Lotus and songs from SIMBI. The audience was incredible. A crowd of 20,000 sang along word-for-word and danced for the full length of the concert. The special effects were just as good as the staging; parallel rows of flames stretched down the catwalk and the screen behind the lotus flower showed a roaring furnace during ‘Heart on Fire’. The rapper ended the first segment of her show with ‘Venom’, to which those in the standing area bounced as green strobe lights flew overhead.
Following this track, the band left the stage and DJ decks began to rise from the trapdoor at the front of the catwalk. Wielding a microphone in one hand and the decks with another, Little Simz turned the dancefloor into a rave. An array of lights descended from the ceiling to settle on either side of the rapper as bass exploded into the arena. Four tracks from Drop 7 were performed in a 50% live and 50% DJ style, with the crowd being encouraged to wave their hands in the air. Before a return to the band-backed format, fellow rapper Deela appeared onstage to perform unreleased track ‘Dide’.
The rest of the performance featured an array of special guests, as well as some of the biggest Simz tracks to date. ‘Point and Kill’, ‘Selfish’ and ‘Woman’ (again, all SIMBI heavy hitters - what an album!) had the audience belting along, even at the end of a concert that had lasted almost two hours. It was a really special treat to witness the performance of ‘Blood’ with guests Wretch 32 and Cashh for the second time ever (the other being during her headline performance at the Southbank Centre’s Meltdown). Wretch and Simz commanded a now silent arena with their deep and meaningful lyricism and poetry, before Cashh brought the energy in the room back up for the chorus. As if that wasn’t enough, Sampha emerged from the trapdoor, sat at a piano - performing ‘Blue’ for the first time ever with his beautiful, soulful voice. The concert ended with ‘Gorilla’, complete with impressive pyro.
This concert was nothing short of pure genius. With a stacked setlist, set design and lighting that perfectly matched the atmosphere, and a performance big enough for the arena-sized stage, Little Simz is one of the best contemporary performers in her genre. With special guests galore and masterful crowd control, Simz has curated her tour in a way that ensures I (and her entire audience) will remember this night for a long time.