Rudimental, Sneaky Sound System @ Entertainment Centre Theatre, Adelaide 2/6/2019
The Londoner Drum and Bass Band Rudimental kept their promise and partied with Adelaide last night as part of their postponed “Toast To Our Differences” Tour. To make up for not making their original tour dates back in February 2019, they brought along Australian dance music duo Sneaky Sound System as support act – and what a treat that was!
The first forty five minutes of their set singer Connie Mitchell sang through an endless track mixed by band member Angus Black which incorporated some of their famous tracks such as Pictures, We Love and Big. For a split second I felt like the Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre had transformed into a trendy night club somewhere on an island in Europe during summer time only to be brought back to reality looking at rugged up 17-year olds on their Snapchat waiting for Rudimental to hit the stage.
After a short break the lights went off and here they were: School mates Piers Aggett, Amir Amor, Kesi Dryden Leon “Locksmith” Rolle, better known as Rudimental, opening their show with an intro of New Day and then going straight into Right Here. The vibe of the whole theatre changed immediately and the audience started dancing and singing from the top of their lungs. And how could they not? The energy of all band members and the three amazing vocalists kept you in awe throughout the whole show.
It is hard to believe that these talented Hackney guys have only just released their third album Toast to our Differences earlier this year, yet have over 1 billion views on YouTube alone but it doesn’t stop there. Rudimental have also sold over 20 million singles, earned more than 40 platinum awards and have over 12 million monthly listeners on Spotify. But just what is the recipe for their huge success? Maybe it is the catchy drum and bass beats, or the vocals accompanying their tracks sung by artists such as Rita Ora, Ed Sheeran, Anne-Marie, Emeli Sandé or Macklemore?
Next up were tracks like Not Giving In, Toast To Our Differences, and their smash hits Sun Comes Up, Bloodstream, Rumour Mill and Human. Surprisingly enough the vocalists performed all tracks as if they were their own making the audience forget about the likes of Ed Sheeran and Anne-Marie featured on the original recordings.
The set was finished with Sweet Love and Feel the Love but, of course the guys could not leave without performing the biggest hit of 2018 These Days and Waiting All Night as an encore. After about ninety minutes the guys left the stage with a “Goodnight, Adelaide!” but the audience was on such a high still they started dancing to Earth, Wind and Fire with the lights on instead of leaving. I had never seen anything like it – especially not mid-week in Adelaide!
My first Rudimental concert experience was in every way an incredible one and even though I still don’t know the answer to the recipe for their success, I do know that there’s a whole lot of love for these guys here in Australia! We hope to see you again soon, Rudimental!
Live Review By Isabell Al-Nahat