Dave Review – Amazingly Skilled Rapper Conjures Sexy Intimacy on a Large Scale | Dave

AAs he recalled from tonight’s stage, the first time London rapper Dave played in Glasgow he was a teenager, and there were 350 people in the audience. Now 27 years old, he has enough hits to fill arenas, and the charisma to thrill and move every one of the thousands here.

It was his first UK tour in four years in support of last year’s album The Boy Who Played the Harp, on which he perfected the technical skills and introspective complexity for which he is known. The show begins with two tracks from the album: For History, handwritten lyrics are projected onto the screen as Dave weaves between his band on the diamond-shaped stage. For No Weapons , his artful flow is complemented by organic, widescreen drum fills. These lush, open arrangements get darker and tighter for 2021 single Verdansk, as its deep bass line pulses in time with explosions of fireworks. We’re transported to the club to enjoy early tracks by Thiago Silva and Funky Friday, before ‘Both Sides of a Smile’ evokes the buzz of a 90s rock show, with Dave playing a soaring grand piano surrounded by dry ice.

The production is impressive, expanding and contracting with the show’s narrative. For more raucous tracks, guest stars like Stormzy and Central Cee hover above the audience as performers on 10 giant screens. For Selfish (“one of the most personal tracks on this album”), Dave takes us back to the human scale, as he sits on the edge of the stage with an electric guitar in hand; Effectively confessional mood for such a raw song about self-doubt and self-sabotage.

Tonight’s show may be on the scale of the big American rap tours that have come through this venue – Tyler and Kendrick – but Dave manages to maintain intimacy and real connection in this bombastic context. Towards the end of the set, his uncomplicated rendition of The Boy Who Played the Harp’s lead single creates elegant connections between personal, social and political trauma – a deeply moving moment, followed by Dave shouting along to Tim’s Chorus in Raindance as enthusiastically as an audience member. It’s a marvel to watch him move between fun and cute with such ease.