It was a cold Friday evening on April 1st when eager fans began to gather before the entrance door to the London O2 Academy Islington. The rain drops illuminated on their faces by the six bright light letters – ‘ARRDEE’.
Previous scenes of ArrDee’s first UK tour included Dublin, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and Brighton. With this London show being the penultimate stop of his Pier Pressure tour gave the evening a special feeling of achievement.
Once fans were inside the building the rush to find the perfect spot began, queues for drinks formed and the hurried shuffle for the cloak room was quickly deterred. Excited voices carried across the walls in waiting for ArrDee’s arrival upon stage. As if the anticipation wasn’t enough, DJ DUBL took his place behind the decks to mix the perfect pre-show soundtrack, spinning hits such as 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” and Soulja Boy’s “Crank that (Soulja Boy)”, while also playing the likes of Drake, Pop Smoke and Saweetie.
Alongside DJ DUBL’s fire set, the euphoric light show covered the entire stadium streaming blue, purple, and red lights in build up for the entrance of the Brighton-born rapper that is ArrDee
Gradually the crowd became impatient with overexcitement, with the help of the DJ chanting the rapper’s name, shaking the entire building with the amplified bass. Shortly after the lights began to dim and the tension built. An unforgettable entrance, ArrDee – sporting a blue Stone Island hoodie and cream cargos – jumped on stage to flashing white beams and smoke machines blasting into the air whilst performing his opening song “Locker”. Without hesitation the audience sung back every lyric, not missing a single beat.
After performing his first song ArrDee took a moment to stand before the crowd, peering upon the faces of his fans, letting the monumental moment in his life really set in. A moment of appreciation was held in the atmosphere.
Celebrating the huge success of his debut mixtape Pier Pressure, ArrDee wasted no time getting through his greatest hits on the album “War”, “Oliver Twist” and “Wasted”. As the night went on each song brought more hype than the other. Turing swiftly from upbeat rap songs to a more emotional tune, ArrDee shows a more venerable side, the crowd and himself shared an intimate moment over the song “Early Hours”. ArrDee said: “This was not an easy song for me to write, let alone perform.” A sea of phone lights drowned out the darkness and the audience blissfully endured the artist’s heartfelt piece.
Becoming more connected throughout the night, ArrDee dove into the crowd, floating among his fans whilst performing the song “Crown”. Screams echoed throughout the building and tug of wars were held over his towel! Security seemed uneasy, guiding him back onto the stage, trying to control the chaos.
The show started to come to end, ArrDee momentarily disappeared behind stage leaving the crowd blaring for an encore. Within seconds he jumped back to perform “Flowers (Say My Name)”, uproaring the crowd.
DJ DUBL promoted ArrDee’s debut mixtape Pier Pressure one last time, alongside ArrDee showing the love to his fans and gratitude he held so close to his heart. They both signed off for the night leaving the fans in high spirits, cheering their way to the exit.