Wiley – Manning Bar – 1/2/18

Photos & Words by Lars Roy

One of East London’s originals of Grime, Wiley, a.k.a “Eski Boy” has made the long journey down under and absolutely tore up Manning Bar last Thursday.

From commercial anthems such as ‘Wearing My Rolex’ to the raw lyricism and deep beats of ‘Numbers In Action’, Wiley has defined English rap and hip-hop for over a decade now, continuing to evolve it and pass on to the next generation.

At doors open, committed punters flocked through Sydney Uni’s Manning Bar and were treated to Brisbane up-and-comer, Carmouflage Rose.

His hit, “Late Nights”, has been doing the rounds on Triple J and has received massive praise both locally and overseas.

While closing with “Late Nights”, Carmouflage Rose gave the crowd a taste of what’s to come in 2018, and as a fan myself this made me very excited.

After a strong supporting set, the locals got well into the grime vibe when resident DJ began spinning the likes of Skepta, Stormzy and JME – I swear one track might have even featured Wiley.

After constant banging on the photography barrier, just after 10:15pm Wiley burst out of the shadows sporting a backpack and snapback and opening with none other than, “Back With A Banger”.

Punters went mental as Wiley paced from one side of the stage to the other, some mouthing every single word of the song.

After wrapping up an electric start to the set, the backpack came off and Wiley began to tell the story of how his DJ couldn’t come along due to an expired passport. He continued by saying the show was saved at the last minute by a local on the decks. Wiley began to press on with the rest of the show, favouring more of his older, underground tracks.

Midway through the set, Wiley gave the stage to Sydney rapper Kwame along with his posse, who continued to bring the heat.

After showcasing some of the local talent that continues to be constantly growing, Kwame left by reinforcing that what they do is “for the culture”, thanking Wiley for giving them that opportunity to spread that message.

Wiley returned, very dimly lit by a deep purple floodlight and continued to put his energy and soul into the music - very rarely opening his eyes to see the packed out room.

The rest of the show was pure sweat and grime with every single person on the floor jumping, causing one of the stronger mosh pits I have seen at a gig.

With pure energy, Wiley hasn’t skipped a beat. Approaching 40 now, it seems like the king of grime can go on for another 20 years and we’ll all be there, still listening.

ENDS. Lars Roy.