scarlxrd
5th December 2018
Pxwerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Phxtxgraphy by Dxug Peters.
Evolution is defined as the gradual development of something; but when it comes to the artist known as scarlxrd, evolution has occurred at break neck speed. Appearing last night at Auckland’s Powerstation it is almost hard to believe that the man from Wolverhampton standing on stage was just six years ago loading up happy smiley videos onto YouTube. The evolution from the personality known as Mazzi Maz to the lead singer of nu-metal band Myth City just a year later came quick. Feeling like his creative processes were being stifled by the confines of being in a band, Maz spun a cocoon of isolation and emerged as the creature we see today; scarlxrd.
Accompanied by his DJ and offbeat hype man Jack Parker (aka Birmingham’s Jacky P) the duo ploughed through a set that tore the faces off the small but fanatical crowd. Warming up the early arrivals Jacky P’s DJ set included everything from ‘Take A Step Back’ by Ski Mask the Slump God to ‘Boss’ by Lil Pump – Jacky P even throwing in some old school Slipknot (‘Psychosocial’) a heavy influence in the visual aesthics of scarlxrd and Bring Me The Horizon (‘Anti-Vist’) an artist that both himself and scarlxrd will be sharing a bill with at next year’s All Points East Festival.
Arriving on stage scarlxrd’s trade mark black surgical mask – influenced by his love of Anime, and in particular Tokyo Ghoul – remained in place only briefly before he ripped it away and threw it to the ground; scarlxrd smashing out ‘BXILING PXINT’ before greeting his fans. Keeping his foot on the accelerator he dropped ‘BANDS’ from his 2017 album Lxrdszn; the pit churned against the barrier, hands stretched out towards him slapped in gratitude. Fusing the genres of trap, metal, hip-hop and rap (and a few more things in between) scarlxrd’s music has often been described as nihilistic with a propensity towards violence and negativity. But truth be known, his music is instead introspective, therapeutic and commentative. Here is an artist that finds it easier to express his thoughts via song than through speech, his lyrics his perspective on the world around him. This is one man’s honesty, hand delivered in a broken glass jar.
Perception is a key word in the world of scarlxrd; you choose the message, you choose what you hear. Witnessing scarlxrd perform live drives this idea home; referring to the fans as his family throughout the night he interacts with them consistently, at one point even climbing his way up to the balcony to visit the under eighteens. Any question of his ability to deliver both guttural screams and fast flows live quickly dispelled. Calls for mosh pits were answered with gusto, tracks such as ‘TELL ME YXU LXVE ME’, ‘SX SAD’ and ‘KING, SCAR’ only pushing the crowd harder, the words being screamed back to scarlxrd who himself was giving it everything he had and then some, despite his confession of wanting nothing more than to vomit thanks to his unfamiliarity with New Zealand’s humidity.
With a staggering six albums already under his belt in the space of two years, scarlxrd gave the audience a taste of the full gamut both old and new; his set even featuring ‘HXW THEY JUDGE’ which was just recently released despite the fact he only dropped his latest album DXXM in May. Bringing out the big guns fans were pummelled with ‘angels sleep at FXUR/AM’, ‘6 Feet’ and of course ‘HEART ATTACK’ – while it may not have been his first single under his alter-ego moniker (that of course being ‘GIRLFRIEND’) it was the one that grabbed the world’s attention, pathing the way for him selling out shows across the UK and Europe. ‘HELL IS XN EARTH’ culminating in undoubtedly the biggest mosh pit of the night.
Thanking his Auckland family of fans and asking them to return upon his next visit to New Zealand, Scarlxrd slipped away into the shadows. Meanwhile the world will continue to watch his metamorphosis with interest.
Were you there at the Powerstation for this intense intimate screamo-rap showcase? Or have you seen Scarlxrd perform live somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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