If you haven’t heard of Raury Tullis, a.k.a Raury, then get yo shit together, man.
His Sydney show at The Oxford Art Factory on Monday night opened with a great set from relative newcomers Milwaukee Banks. With the venue filling up fast, the Melbourne based duo were well received, delivering some pretty chilled out electro hip-hop vibes. The guys were awesome; vocalist Dyl was as good as the recordings, and had so much energy I couldn’t get a photo where he wasn’t blurry. Many of the punters weren’t familiar with the tracks, but there were some good comments going through the crowd, and Van Gogh, their collaboration with Andrei Eremin, was a definite stand out.
After a longer wait than was comfortable, Raury finally entered, engulfing the audience with a sonic onslaught, complete with rock star entry and Michael Jackson-inspired prancing. His hat and mic stand were used as a prop for some pretty dynamic moves. There were some sound issues, but Raury took it in his stride like a seasoned performer.
He then went into Higher, his track with SBTRKT, which was a big favourite with the crowd. The only drawback was that there was a backing track of the original song playing, with Raury rapping a harmony over his own vocals, and then running out of breath, leaving his backing track to pick the rap up.
Raury’s confidence and charisma belied his tender age, not failing to impress with a high-energy show while adoring fans looked up in awe to the stage, and leaped at the opportunity to touch the rising stars’ hand. Unfortunately the crowds’ energy didn’t match the performance, but this didn’t seem to dissuade the self proclaimed Indigo Child, who populated his set with motivational anecdotes between songs.
Things got a super preachy after Super Fly, with Raury encouraging his audience to follow their dreams, saying that money doesn’t make you happy. Cigarette Song was probably the most popular track, spurring on a hearty sing-along from the crowd.
Lost Souls saw Raury fronting the band with the acoustic guitar, with a spiritual atmosphere created by the audience waving lighters and iPhones along to the track. The show ended with God’s Whisper, with the song getting another play when the call for an encore was met, cumulating with a mighty water fight using water bottles supplied by the band.
Raury gave a wonderful, powerful show with the only drawback would be that there were not enough quiet moments interspersing the loud, majestic performance, leaving my ears fatigued by the end of the show.
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