Loyle Carner took to the stage at Birmingham’s iconic O2 Institute last Saturday night.
The South London hip-hop artist had the crowd dancing straight away, as he began a seamless run through tracks off his newest album ‘Not Waving but Drowning.
He reignited some fan favourites from his debut solo title ‘Yesterday’s Gone’.
© muxphotos 
© muxphotos
The crowd was introduced to both Kofi Stone and Arlo Parks. Birmingham’s very own Kofi performed upbeat tracks including Dirty Air Forces and Talk About Us, warming us up before Carner made his appearance.
Poet and singer Arlo, created a laid back vibe with her elegant and raw tones.
Ice Water was Loyle Carner’s first song of the night, whipping up the crowd from the get-go. This tune is a signature blend of calm and cool as he raps about the joy of falling in love and finding someone who he can trust with his insecurities.
Possibly one of Loyle’s most loved songs, ‘Damselfly’ came next. The combination of yearning, jazzy background music alongside its incredible lyrics, saw the ‘Yesterday’s Gone’ track go on to be a massive success once more on Saturday night.
Loyle always seems to bring the crowd together with his warming personality, passion for the performance and love for his music, and Damselfly was one of my night’s favourites.
Desoleil (featuring Sampha) revoked raw emotion around the Institute’s tiny room, as the song which sees Loyle switch up massively speaks with a new maturity and positive outlook. With a set that almost resembled a family living room (plus his iconic football shirt collection), Desoleil’s ‘mise-en-scene’ vibe suited perfectly to the stage. The vocals provided by Sampha are romantic and nostalgic – a perfect contrast to Loyle’s upbeat lyrics and the audience loved it.
As an artist who really connects with his crowd, Loyle noticed the fans who have been there from the start, giving them a personal shoutout on stage.
Later, after Carner has left the stage and as a still-standing crowd screams for more, the background track to NO-CD begins to play and the room lightens up again. His classic dance moves were still as powerful as the start and this was probably the most insane track of the night. As he throws his towel down to my friend, it’s clear the night has come to a close.
Carner spoke of the inspiration behind ‘Not Waving but Drowning’ being the 1957 poem by Stevie Smith. “I see myself in it. When the album process was beginning, I was drowning but everyone thought I was hanging out.”
It’s rare to witness a performance where the passion is so raw and their love for the fans is that explicit, but that’s what you get with Loyle Carner. With all that pure talent and charisma, the world truly is his and drowning suddenly seems a whole lot less likely.