TINIE TEMPAH | LIVE REVIEW

Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Fri 4 Apr

After enduring the opening acts, including a DJ that ruined every good song he played, Tinie came out all guns blazing to a rapturous Cardiff crowd. Opening with Lover Not A Fighter, his energy was immediately apparent. The stage had two tiers, Tinie and his hype man alternating between being on the top level or the bottom. You could observe that the show also had two tiers.

Tinie is at his best when performing his smash hits, utilising the aforementioned energy, but where the show stumbled was when he showcased the less known or slower tracks. This was many people’s chance to get to the bar. He did his best however, getting the crowd to wave their arms like they were in a Westlife gig, but these instances felt flat.

The main issue that I – and, I’m sure, many others – have with Tinie Tempah, is the lack of variety in his flow. Yes, he has catchy choruses and polished beats, but his actual rapping leaves much to be desired. You could pretty much swap a verse from one song to any other without too many problems. Speaking of polished beats, however, Tinie’s band deserves a lot of credit for making this show worth watching. His drummer is a machine and his guitarist turned the likes of Written In The Stars into bona fide anthems.

To be fair, I think Tinie himself would reluctantly admit that he doesn’t have the greatest skills when it comes to rapping, but he does have a special talent for hyping the crowd up. The way he had them singing and dancing, and even partaking in the most cringeworthy moshpit these eyes have ever witnessed, demands admiration. My head didn’t stop nodding and my toe didn’t stop tapping throughout – bored I was not.

The (mainly teenage) crowd filtered out of the venue satisfied, but I can’t help but wonder if Tinie has many more of these tours to come. Surely as these kids grow up, they’ll discover more talented rappers, but  I suppose there’s always the next batch of teenagers to appeal to.

words IAN ROGERS