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Screams resonate around a packed out hall, which has for the past hour, been practicing dance moves and drinking endless vodka-and-cokes in anticipation. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice that there is a group of audience members suspiciously dressed up in banana costumes.
But I don’t have time to dwell, because when Example and band finally hop onto stage and launch straight into song, ‘Last One Standing,’ there is a tremendous amount of sudden, unsynchronised jumping, and the venue is on the brink of collapse. “Shepherds Bush baby!” Example shouts, and the screams get even louder. “I live just down the road from here!”
As such, the ‘Sahf Landan’ rap-come-popstar leads us through a triumphant, high-energy set of dance, hip-hop, techno and grime hits that don’t leave pause for rest. Every time he bellows, “BOUNCE LONDON” I have to cower, imagining a Foster’s drinking teenage boy, en route to losing a valuable limb is about to crash straight into me.
“Apparently some girl showed up earlier,” Example says mid breath and mid set, “and asked, will there be any strobes? Cause she had epilepsy. I hope she left, or she’ll be lying dead next to you right now.” The subsequent cheer from the crowd is worrying, but Example promises that he’ll be paying for everyone’s funeral in the event of death. And that makes everything better, because when well-known collaboration with Skream, “Shot Yourself In The Foot Again” drops, I feel that I too was born epileptic, and nobody had bothered to tell me.
At this point, I’m again wondering about the bouncing bananas when the grime-like ‘Hooligans’ begins, and a circle pit of young boys ‘avin’ it large’ opens up. It’s the kind of gig where you can lose yourself in exhilaration, or as a sorry security guard once informed me, in the dangerous ‘adrenaline grin,’ which is a force to be beckoned with.
An exciting duet with support act, Wretch 32, during the encore and almost karaoke-like final number, ‘Kickstart,’ show Example to be an engaging and endearing artist. I was dubious to see how well the radio-friendly singer would translate onto a live stage, but I’m glad to say that I’m pleasantly surprised.
With a decent balance of club hits, the odd sentimental lyrics - which no doubt strike a chord with many an angst ridden audience member, a collection of new songs and an impressive back-catalogue to boost, I don’t think anybody wanted the gig to be over.
One thing’s for sure, Example is going to be a massive attraction this summer, whether it’s headlining a festival stage, two-stepping in Ibiza, or hosting another series of his infamous house parties. He is - to use that fearfully regarded word - fun.
NB. I found out days later that if you dress up as a banana, you could have your photo taken with the singer post-gig. Once again, something everybody failed to inform me of. There’s always next time, I guess.
