OVO Hydro, Glasgow
Showcasing chart-topping album The Boy Who Played the Harp, Dave charismatically switches between heavy beats, rock-show grandeur and searching introspection
As he recalls from tonight’s stage, the first time London rapper Dave played in Glasgow he was a teenager, and there were 350 people in the audience. Now 27, he has enough hits to fill arenas, and the charisma to both thrill and move each one of the thousands here.
His first UK tour in four years is in support of last year’s album The Boy Who Played the Harp, on which he perfected the technical skill and introspective complexity that he’s known for. The show starts with two tracks from the album: for History, handwritten lyrics are projected on screen as Dave weaves between his band on the diamond-shaped stage; for No Weapons, his deft flow is complemented by widescreen, organic drum fills. These lush, open arrangements darken and tighten for 2021 single Verdansk, its deep bassline throbbing in time with blasts of pyrotechnics. We’re transported to the club for bouncy early cuts Thiago Silva and Funky Friday, before Both Sides of a Smile invokes the bombast of a 90s rock show, with Dave playing an elevated grand piano surrounded by dry ice.
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