Dave review: British star transcends rapper status at hometown gig

Dave review: British star transcends rapper status at hometown gig 2 hours ago Annabel RackhamCulture reporter Performing to a sold-out London O2 Arena on Friday night, Dave celebrated 10 years in the music industry in front of a hometown crowd who knew his lyrics nearly as well as he did.

As he seamlessly transitioned from playing the piano to the guitar, he proved that calling him a rapper was not an entirely accurate description.

The 27-year-old, who won the Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act category at last week's Brit Awards, played a setlist that leant heavily on his recent number one album, The Boy Who Played The Harp.

But he also incorporated some of his biggest hits, much to the delight of his fanbase, who managed to capture every moment for Snapchat and Instagram.

Dave mostly used his time on stage to thank his fans for the "journey we have been on together", marking his first time performing in London in four years by announcing "I am home". The night felt mostly like a celebration of his musical journey, with video interludes during the performance referencing his gratitude towards those who had followed his career since he started in 2016.

After a performance of his latest album's titular and arguably most political track, Dave did take the opportunity to acknowledge the number of young fans in the crowd, saying "you guys are powerful, you are the future".

He added that "we're going through tumultuous times" but urged positivity by adding "you have your whole lives ahead of you".

It reflected a lot of the messaging in the 2025 album, which became his third to reach the top of the UK album charts - following 2019's Psychodrama and 2021's We're All Alone In This Together.

This included themes around mental health, masculinity and activism. As an artist who often explores more traditional rap topics such as fame, wealth and status, as well as deeper discussions around political consciousness and religion, it felt appropriate that the setlist reflected both sides of his music and flipped between them both throughout the night.

Having sold out four nights at the 20,000 capacity venue and several other cities across the UK, it felt pointed that Dave had chosen to perform in arenas rather than stadiums.

The set-up felt deliberately intimate, with a large central platform that allowed Dave to spend most of his time as close to the audience as possible.

Where this really worked was during performances of some of his older tracks - Screwface Capital and Psycho, which could have easily been swallowed up in a stadium environment.

Clever staging was also used to showcase his live band on the evening, who appeared on a raised platform behind the Brixton-born artist.

They provided a steady soundtrack for Dave's stream of rap hits, including Location and Verdansk, but also elevated his Afrobeats tracks System and No Weapons.

The platforms also allowed Dave to show off his multitude of talents, providing opportunities for him to play the grand piano and then transition to the guitar for one of several duets with album co-collaborator James Blake, who called him "the greatest" during a performance of History. Much of the evening felt like a sing-a-long, with the audience even starting chants of 'Thiago Silva' to the tune of The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army - something that has become a tradition at Dave's festival performances in the last few years. Luckily for them, Dave did then perform the track - which basically proves that peer pressure does indeed work. Professor X and No Words provided genuine moments of joy for the star, who grinned throughout as the London audience rapped along and in some instances, screamed a bit too.

The evening was light on special guests, which could have been an obstacle for the performer, who boasts a back catalogue with a large number of feature artists.

But the solution came in the form of several large screens, which floated across the stage with holograms of the likes of Stormzy and Tems.

This worked particularly well for tracks such as UK Rap and Trojan Horse - which came from his highly acclaimed collaborative album with Central Cee, Split Decision