Photos: Meg O’Connell
Apologies are in order for the people who reside on Bank street, for the extremely loud, floor shaking, sh*t-show (in the greatest possible sense) that was Machine Gun Kelly’s sold-out Bydek event at Barrymore’s on Monday, November 24.
Machine Gun Kelly, better known to his large-and-ever-growing fan base as MGK, visited the capital for one night during his Canadian No Class tour and showed the sold-out crowd what it truly means to give your all in a performance.
Considered one of (if not the) fastest and most versatile contemporary rappers to date, he is said by fans and critics alike to soon “dethrone” Eminem and Jay-Z as the top tier of hip hop—and he just might do it.
The explanation for this is relatively simple. Love him or hate him, 2011’s hottest breakout MC writes and performs songs with a message. He pours his heart out; reflecting on his own life and personal struggle, urging his listeners to reconsider social conventions and self-perception, and challenges his fans to develop their own opinions and understanding of social issues, rather than following what is presented to them by a third party and what they are made to believe. He rhymes about addiction, family issues, and wages an internal war on accepting and giving love. It’s made clear that he’s not necessarily making music with the intent and sole purpose being his audiences’ ability to relate, but the fact the he is making music that such a large, diverse group can ultimately identify with is inescapable. Because of this, MGK has accomplished what most rappers are unable to—establish a solid following inclusive to hip hop fans, as well as those of rock, punk, and even grunge.
The 24-year-old from Cleveland, who stands at 6’3, appeared on stage after a collection of openers, in a Guy Fawkes mask and (after a deafening roar from the audience) took to posting behind a black podium reading “No Low Class”. Considerably more “punk” than his usual stage presence, it was clear the rapper wanted to make a statement, though no words were needed.
His 17-song-set included fan favourites like Wild Boy, See My Tears, EST 4 Life, Invisible, Mind of a Stoner, Raise the Flag, Swing Life Away, and Sail, all of which were performed in true hip hop star fashion (between swigs of liquor and tokes of joints—obtained from fans after it was discovered his own marijuana had gone missing). What was notable, though, about MGK’s stage presence was how closely it resembles that of rock legends Robert Plant’s agitated and intense delivery, and Iggy Pop’s predictable-yet-unpredictable stage diving, speaker climbing, on-stage antics.
With not a single minute of his stage time spent standing still, MGK made it seem like a personal mission to explore each part of Barrymore’s- from climbing over the crowd on multiple occasions to perch on speakers; jumping into the audience and surfing his way to a side bar table and performing the rest of Wild Boy from far, far stage left; climbing back behind his drummer and guitarist now and then; to simply pacing back and forth on stage, MGK ensured he left his mark, and that every single inch of the venue had been touched by sweat, smoke, or his own two feet.
If there’s any doubt that a hip hop artist can inspire a crowd to rage and party as hard and with as much enthusiasm as they would at a Metallica concert, this performance put that argument to bed. Girls flashed their chests and simulated oral sex with beer bottles, flags and hats alike were desperately thrown on stage, security visibly became more and more aware as the set went on that they had severely underestimated what the night would have in store for them, and every single person in the audience (both on the floor and in the balcony) spent the majority of the show in the air, jumping in time to MGK’s rhymes.
By the end of the night it had been made very, very clear. MGK came to party, and he took that objective very, very seriously. His Instagram tagline reads, “I intend to play music very f*cking loudly today.” and he did just that.
So, again, to those who reside on Bank Street (and also to the employers, teachers, colleagues and young children of these residents), we offer our sincerest apologies. Next time, we’ll try and keep it down…
