Destroy Lonely at the Enmore Theatre
Performed on the 9th of January, 2024
Review published 22nd of January, 2024
baby im the fashion.
Waiting in line for the doors to open provides a glimpse into the sub-culture that has emerged since the formation of Playboi Carti's Opium label. Everyone, including myself, is dressed in monochrome, looking fashionable. Brands such as Rick Owens, Vetements, as well as fan merchandise are plentiful, one attendee going so far as to dye his hair into the shape of the labels logo. On the night I decided to sport a face full of 'Donda 2' era facepaint.
Once inside, it does not take long for the crowd to warm up. The first DJ, Kenfo, sets the tone with the music we want perfectly. The real rage though starts with Prestige, who has been on a journey with this scene for a while now, hosting their own events under the umbrella ‘Conclave TFRA’.
Carti at Donda 2 Listening Party, Shot by DES.
His set list is consistent, but he knows what he is doing. Tracks such as ‘Location’ make the crowd levitate in a hunger for the return of the Opium kingpin to our shores. Following this, circles start to form for more abrasive high energy cuts, such as ‘Fighting my Demons’ and ‘RICK OWENS’. The floor has fallen out once before at the Enmore, and I’m surprised it didn’t on this night.
After moshing to rager after rager, finally, the former twitch streamer and now culture contributor, Destroy Lonely, comes out. Up until this point I have not found myself to be overly enthusiastic about the rapper, in part due to fairly negative reception to his work from online personalities, such as Shawn Cee and Anthony Fantano, especially regarding his 2023 LP, ‘if looks could kill’. And while I still will probably not listen to these records front to back, especially the deluxe editions with over 30 songs, I can say I have picked up an appreciation for more than just the TikTok cuts, ‘NOSTYLIST’ and ‘NEVEREVER’. In particular, I went back to the ‘NOSTYLIST’ album after his performance and found cuts such as ‘FAKEN***S’ and ‘TURNINUP’ to be infectious. Lone has time to grow too, being only 22 years of age.
Throughout the night, he brought energy that is sometimes understated in his recorded music. The live introductions, with sick electric guitar infusions, and yelling, brought the room to a boil without fail. Almost to a fault at times, as at one point, an unruly fan tackled the performer on stage.
Overall, this was a night to remember. It set the bar for how performances should be, and how fans should support their favourite artists. Met some great people, and made me excited for more live music in 2024.