The music landscape has evolved at a rate of knots over the past few years, with giants such as Spotify and Apple playing a huge part. The boom of subscription services has meant the giants are looking for ways to grab people’s attention, and develop loyalty to their brand. And with that, Spotify have taken a big step in the right direction with their Who We Be live show, hosted at the famous Alexandra Palace in London.
The event at Ally Pally brought together some of the world’s biggest hip-hop, grime and R&B acts, with huge names including Tory Lanez, Craig David and French Montana as part of their Who We Be live show.
The show saw some of the UK’s top talents putting on a treat for their fans, including performances from Ghetts, Lethal Bizzle and Raye.
A personal highlight of the show for me was the appearance of FAULT Magazine #28 cover star Tory Lanez. He performed his biggest songs, with a real energy and verve. Before he was done, there was time for a spot of crowd surfing across the front rows.
Craig David showed why he’s well worth headlining, continuing his remarkable comeback to put on a great performance. He cycled through a few of his classics (7 Days, Fill Me In) alongside some of his new songs, as well as a cover of Robyn’s Show Me Love.
Ending the night was hip-hop heavyweight French Montana. Eagerly anticipated, he played some of his biggest hits such as Unforgettable and No Stylist, and was even able to call upon Stefflon Don and Krept & Konan to help close the show and make it a truly unforgettable night.
The youthful audience were delirious, seeing their favourite acts performing back-to-back-to-back and so on. No waiting around for 30 minutes between acts like you get at some music events. Each act coming up pretty swiftly after the other; as if you’ve streaming it through your earphones, with music being played continuously. It helped add to the live event aspect of what Spotify are trying to achieve, and showed they’re serious about giving people what they want. All their favourite acts delivering their favourite songs for them.
We’d love to see Spotify extend this format out to other playlists they have on their service. And if the Who We Be live shows are anything to go by, they’ll be making the right call.