image credit: Keera Adamson

On Monday 2^nd November, Dizzee Rascal, one of the forefathers of British hip hop and grime, took to the stage of Glasgow’s O2 Academy as part of his ‘We Want Bass’ tour, and bass we indeed received. 

The Monday after Halloween weekend was a hard enough crash back to reality, so heading out to a gig on such a dreich night was not at the top of my priority list. However, I am so glad and grateful that I did.  

Going in with low expectations, I wasn’t a huge Dizzee Rascal fan to begin with in that I only knew his most popular hits, and having been unsure how the crowd would feel and act, I left feeling blown away by the music, by the opening act, by the crowd’s reaction, by the production value, by the sheer talent of everyone on the stage that evening.  

Opening act Gardna hails from Bristol and was an excellent choice to perform on this tour. He worked the tired crowd into a frenzy, hyping the audience up with his own set in preparation for Dizzee Rascal. 

Gardna is renowned for his reggae style mixed with dance and electronic music, with one of his last songs being a sample of The Prodigy’s hit song ‘Out Of Space’, which is well known for being a sample of ‘Chase the Devil’ by Jamaican artist Max Romeo. In closing with such a classic within the electronic music community, the audience were ready and set for the main act.  

Upon Dizzee Rascal arriving on stage there were lasers, flashing lights and chanting, with the famous rapper himself starting one of Scotland’s famous chants ‘Here we, here we, here we f****ng go!’ 

Having never been clubbing or raving in the early 2000s, this phenomenal gig gave me just an idea of what it might have been like. 

You could feel the bass thumping through the floor along with all the patrons of the O2 Academy jumping and bouncing along to the music. He played his top hits such as ‘Bass Line Junkie’ and ‘Bonkers’ as well as some new tracks, such as ‘C U Dance’, from his ninth studio album, ‘We Want Bass’, which the tour is aptly named after. 

The rapper spoke of his love for Glasgow and the crowds that attend his gigs here. Maybe I’m biased but, a Glasgow crowd always bring the energy, even more so for artists who love us as much as we love them. And this definitely wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard from a visiting artist that a gig in our city is always up there in some of their top places to perform.  

I especially enjoyed the DJ who was spinning decks live on stage as I feel that nowadays, real DJs can be a bit overlooked due to the stereotypical narrative that all they need to do is show up with a USB drive to perform, so this live act really highlighted it as the art form that it is.

I always appreciate when an artist chooses the O2 Academy as their space to perform. Touring for artists can be a bit of a numbers game when it comes to selling tickets and the cost vs the return on investment but the O2 is, in my opinion, one of the better gig venues in Glasgow. The sound quality is great, the different tiers of standing mean you can decide how involved you want to be in the crowd, and it seemed everyone in the building on Monday night wanted to be in the crowd for this one.  

This is an artist I would definitely see again if the opportunity were to arise in the future, simply for the vibes and the feel-good crowd atmosphere, even if one is not an avid Dizzee Rascal listener. I would highly recommend that if you found yourself with the opportunity to see this trailblazer of British hip hop then you absolutely should.  

Therefore, I would give this gig five out of five stars. No hitches, no bumps, just an all-round great time. Dizzee Rascal continues his ‘We Want Bass’ tour throughout England and onto Australia and New Zealand for the end of the year.