Following his chart success with three top five singles, grime rapper, Wretch 32, embarked on his first headline tour, stopping off at Lincoln’s Engine Shed on Thursday, May 17th.
The first of the support acts was West London-born singer, Kyra, whose powerful voice impressed the early arrivals. Her cover of Rihanna’s “We Found Love” went down a storm with the onlookers, as well as her final song, “I Hate My Job.”
Another London-born singer, L Marshall was the second support act. He showed great energy as he kept the crowd going with a number of his tracks, giving a change of pace when he acoustically performed two songs he wrote, Wretch 32’s “Traktor” and Loick Essien’s “How We Roll.”
The third and final support act was dubstep DJ, Jakwob. The gig was a return to his hometown for the DJ, who performed hits such as “Right Beside You” and “Electrify.” Their set well and truly warmed up the crowd before the main act of the night was due to perform.
As Wretch 32’s band came out and “Black and White” started playing, there was no sign of the main man himself. Nevertheless, it wasn’t long before he took to the stage and got the crowd going with “Unorthodox,” which he cleverly merged with House of Pain’s “Jump Around.”
This wasn’t the only cover on the night as Wretch 32 also put his own spin on Labrinth’s “Earthquake,” Coldplay’s “Yellow,” Ed Sheeran’s “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You” and Nero’s “Me And You,” all of which went down very well.
While the gig was predominantly quite fast-paced and energetic, there was a change of pace half-way through his set for “I’m Not The Man”, “Forgiveness”, “Anniversary” and his latest single, “Hush Little Baby”. Whereas this section lost the attention of some members of the crowd, it was still enjoyable as Wretch 32’s emotional side was on show.
Wretch 32, whose real name is Jermaine Scott, performed tracks off his “Black and White” album. He thanked the audience for buying his records and promised to release his next album later in the year, before leading into his number one single, “Don’t Go,” which had everyone singing along.
Returning for the encore in a white t-shirt, Wretch 32 ended the night on a high with “Traktor.” While his set fell short, it certainly didn’t lack charisma and was thoroughly enjoyed by those who attended.
With the release of his new single, “Hush Little Baby” and a new album on the way, this certainly isn’t the last we’ve heard from Wretch 32.