L-FRESH The LION Concert Review by Daniel Jaramillo

Over the years I’ve been to many of L-FRESH The LIONs a.k.a. Sukhdeep Singh concerts and his shows are always uplifting and packed with people ready to have a good time. The music is hip-hop that you can dance to but it also contains a message of growing up in Australia and resisting the labels that are put onto you. Living in Australia can be a privilege but also for many people there is an ongoing struggle to be treated as equals and to feel included rather than discriminated because of differences in cultural heritage, economic opportunities or religious beliefs. These are some of the issues in L-FRESHs music however he is also a guy who knows how to rock a crowd and entertain you with his skills on the mic and his back up band is always keeping a tight groove behind him with a highly energized hype MC in Mirrah. I attended L-FRESH The LIONs sold out show at the Newtown Social Club and this was my take on it.

The supporting acts of the show started with Sukhjit a Sikh

poet/story teller who made the audience laugh on several occasions as she told us several anecdotes from dealing with men who perceive her in a certain way to growing up in white Australia. As she was the only non musical act it was a good warm up to start exercising some dialogue with the audience and make everyone feel right at home which is exactly what she did.

The next act to arrive on the stage was renowned poet/hip hop artist Omar Musa. Musa’s performances are always passionate and come from a place of sticking up for the underdog and revealing uncomfortable truths. His set list mainly comprised of songs from his recent Dead Centre E.P which I found had some of Musa’s most cleverly thought out poetry to date, an example is on the song The Razers Edge where Musa says“They stroked Surveillance cameras between their legs”. Joining him on stage was Australian veteran MC Hau who performed alongside Musa on the last song of his set.

It was time for L-FRESH The LION to step on stage and Mirrah got the crowd all pumped and ready to party. L-FRESH was joined by his live band and performed new and old songs. There were some songs which L-FRESH had never performed before which revealed a more personal and vulnerable side to his songwriting.  His performances are always about making people feel hopeful and encouraged to make change in their personal lives and in the world at large. However it wasn’t all-serious as he also played songs which got me and the wrest of the crowd jumping and clapping their hands like Get Mine and 1 in a 100,000 always give the crowd something to get their bodies moving to. L-FRESH also gave tribute to his ancestors on the song Never Alone and gave special praise to his mother. He thanked the audience for their support and brought back Omar Musa and Sukhjit to the stage again with Hau and they all performed together before saying farewell.