MAKE NO MISTAKE. THE KID LAROI IS ALREADY A LEGEND.

OUR REVIEW OF THE KID LAROI LIVE IN MELBOURNE. CONTRIBUTIONS BY BEN MADDEN, MATT SLOCUM, AND MATTHEW CRAIG.
PHOTOS CAPTURED FOR AUD’$ BY RREY STUDIOS.

A balmy Naarm night in November was the setting to catch two of Australia’s biggest exports grace Rod Laver Arena. A lot has changed since The Kid LAROI made his infamous last trip to the southern cultural capital of the world; COVID is no longer a restricting factor, Quavo is no longer on the tour (due to VISA issues), but most importantly the freshly turned 21-year old has a swag of new anthems under his belt and an even bigger crowd of loyalists dying to scream out every lyric.

ONEFOUR were up first, with the Western Sydney group finally touring semi-regularly following years of police harassment and travel restrictions. The things that make drill music so compelling on record don’t necessarily translate to the live stage, at least in this instance. J Emz, Spenny, and Lekks engage with the substantial crowd, who are here to get a rare glimpse of the group, but it would be remiss to ignore that at times their vocals get a bit lost in RLA’s vast expanses. 

‘Welcome To Prison’ and ‘COMMA’S’ were the highlights of the set, as they added a bit of variety, breaking up the pace of the setlist. While it’s only a support slot, it is an arena show, and some visuals behind the group would have helped to elevate the experience — we’d love to see them perform with a live band in the future, to add some pockets of space to the performance and continue to elevate their presence.

When The Kid LAROI takes to the stage soon after 9.30 pm, things immediately go up a notch. As he acknowledges repeatedly during the show, his last performances in Melbourne weren’t without issue — but tonight, he’s on top form. There isn’t a huge amount going on production-wise in the show: there’s a live band, some visuals, and pyro/confetti at opportune moments, but the show hinges on his voice and his charisma. He delivers in spades on both accounts.

Seamlessly flowing through pop-hits that include collaborations with Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus, melodic-rap smashes with Juice WRLD and Lil Durk, and solo acoustic ballads — there doesn’t seem to be a space that LAROI can’t dominate in. His 2023 debut album ‘The First Time’ showed glimpses of the direction he was heading in rap-wise (on records including ‘Sorry’ and ‘Kids Are Growing Up’), a clear evolution from the heavily melodic-trap during the FUCK LOVE series. 

Whether he’s bouncing around on top of the DJ decks, sitting on a stool to deliver slower songs like ‘BLEED’, or soaking it all in during ‘WHERE DOES YOUR SPIRIT GO?’, it’s hard not to look to the future. If this is what he’s capable of at just 21, then the sky truly is the limit. Leaving the arena, there’s a shared sense that we’ve all just witnessed something special — a superstar artist who’s at the top of his game, but with so much time to continue to grow. 

Despite your preference or lack thereof towards his wildly successful catalogue, it is impossible to deny his innate ability to absorb a crowd’s energy and command their attention. As seen at this year’s NRL Grand Final Pre-Game Show; The Kid LAROI is a true showman.

Whenever after-party conversations veer in the direction of Australia’s greatest music exports, names like Michael Hutchence and Kylie Minogue get readily bandied about. And deservedly so. And whilst it may be premature now to elevate The Kid LAROI to those prestigious upper echelons, with multiple global No. 1s, a multi-year domination of the local ARIA charts, and a consistent presence in the Top 100 most streamed artists on the planet; there remains little doubt in our minds as to the trajectory he is on.

Maybe we can revisit that conversation on a future Melbourne tour stop when he inevitably sells out the MCG.