The Black Eyed Peas Blast Into Melbourne!
07 October 2009
Black Eyed Peas Concert Review - Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne - 6th October 2009
The Black Eyed Peas are no longer just rappers! After spending several months in Sydney last year filming X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Peas' front-man/producer Will.i.Am spent a lot of time in our clubs listening to Aussie electro and house, including local heroes The Presets and Empire of the Sun.
Those clubs have well and truly infiltrated the the sound of the band's latest album 'The E.N.D'...and the stage show as well!
Along with their new electro sound, the band have taken on a robotic, futuristic club aesthetic, entertaining the crowd with plenty of lazers, fancy screen projections and spooky smoke.
The gig was split up into several different parts, kicking off with a selection of songs from their 2003 commercial cross-over album 'Elephunk' mixed in with their current single 'Meet Me Halfway', then their was will.i.am's impressive freestyle rapping under the beam of a bright green lazer and Fergie relinquished her sassy rapper-chick persona for her girly side and performed a songs from her solo album including the hits 'Big Girls Don't Cry', 'Glamorous' and 'Fergalicious'.
PHOTO GALLERY: Black Eyed Peas Live in Melbourne Photos - 6th October 2009
The club vibe was truly embraced later on as will.i.am took to the decks as promised, at the front of a long catwalk jutting out into the crowd. The interlude, featuring pumping remixes from Estelle, Flo-Rida, Michael Jackson and Fedde Le Grande turned into a full on dance party the crowd was a see of pumping fists and glow stick, something this reviewer has never seen before at Rod Laver Arena. It The dance off, which ended in will.i.am's DJ desk becoming elevated right up toward the roof of the arena, was a welcome interlude and a nice change to the standard pop show, which can get tedious even during the most entertaining show. This was followed by a mysterious music video on the screen proclaiming "I'm in the House" featuring DJ Steven Aoki, which we can only assume confirms recent blog rumours that the mysterious [[Zuper Blahq]] is indeed will.i.am.
Will.i.Am/Steve Aoki Collaboration video shown on the big screen
Steve Aoki I'm In The House Feat. [[[Zuper Blahq]]] from Dim Mak on Vimeo.
The performance seemed to be segmented not only in theme, but also as far as the performers. The real star of the night, Will.i.am, featured heavily in the production, meanwhile glamour girl Fergie popped on and off the stage. There wasn't much dancing on her part and when she did, her effort seemed half-hearted. Naturally, a troupe of oddly dressed dancers were part of the clan, but this gig must have seemed like a walk in the park compared to a Beyonce concert, as they were only required on stage for sporadic dance routines.
"Melbourne is a very special place to us" the Peas explained to the crowd, which was greeted with groans and "awww yeah we've heard that before"s, but as the band explained, Melbourne truly does have a unique significance to them, as it at the Falls Festival in Lorne in 2002, that they played with Fergie for the very first time. Awww!
The set ended on a high note with hits 'Pump It', 'Where is the Love?' and 'Boom Boom Pow', but it was all about the encore. After some impressive showcasing of the skills from their band members and back-updancers, they launched into 'I Gotta Feeling', while cannons catapulted thousands of particles of love heart shaped confetti skywards, the crowd illuminate by mobile phones and glow-sticks.
