Fridayz Live
Fridayz Live
Sydney - 12/11/22
After a Covid forced hiatus Fridayz Live (formally RnB Fridayz) returned to the Australian Festival circuit, and what a return it was. Fridayz Live hit 5 capital cities across the country and we were lucky enough to attend the Sydney show held at Giants Stadium in Olympic Park. Trying to describe the event as a whole I find myself coming up with a bounty of compliments, but I suppose the one that sums the entire event up the best is BRILLIANT. I don’t think anyone left the festival without a fuzzy feeling of being blown away by not only the talent that performed on stage but the entire running of the event.
Fridayz Live was faultless from start to finish. From the entry process which is usually a time-consuming exercise to the time it took to get a drink, everything flowed quickly and patrons barely had any wait time at all. There was an abundance of choices for food, drinks, chill spaces, Merchandise and amenities. The choice of venue by the organizers was perfect and provided enough room to house the 30,000 attendees very comfortably.
Something that Fridayz Live had that a lot of other festivals struggle with especially the summer shows, was shade, an excess of water stations and seating both inside the stadium itself (obviously) but also outside, so you could sit and eat a meal, or just have a break and rest your feet, it’s things like this that really make a difference to people’s level of comfort and enjoyment on hot summer days.
Resident DJ Yo! Mafia played a cleverly curated list of tunes, while Hosts, Fatman Scoop & Abbie Chatfield were engaging and provided some light comedy relief in between acts (although this time was limited as the stage crew were lightning fast in their execution) ensuring there was always something to enjoy on stage.
Frontier Touring and Illusive Presents are experts in the field of tours, festivals and concerts and this clearly showed at this event. In being a hundred percent honest (as one should be in a review) I have no negatives I can point out, not one, even just to add some objectivity. I will say it again, Fridayz Live was faultless from start to finish. Huge thanks go to Andy and his Team for having us along, we can’t wait to see what this festival series has planned to top this year’s event in 2023.
The Lineup
Lumidee was the first international artist to hit the stage, starting things off with a cover of the classic Whitney Houston song ‘I wanna dance with somebody’, The beautiful songbird dressed in a cute little number was fierce in her delivery of 3 of her own songs including the highly streamed ‘Never Leave You’
“I’ve never been to RnB Fridayz before, now I’m never going to miss one”
Dru Hill jumped on stage next with all past members returning to the fold for the Fridayz Live events, including Jazz for their hit ‘Beauty’. fans went crazy when they played ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ (one of the heaviest RNB songs I’ve heard with plenty of guitar), frontman Sisqo even did a 25th-anniversary edition of his famous solo hit ‘Thong Song’.
SHAGGY
Jay Sean was the next international to hit the stage launching into his back catalogue of number 1’s, ‘I’m All Yours’, ‘Do You Remember, ‘Ride It’, ‘Hit The Lights’ and ‘Down’ which provided the first crowd sing along for the day and the first few drops of rain for the day, but it didn’t even come close to dampening the crowd’s spirits.
Mr Lover Lover himself, SHAGGY hit the stage next and it was clear fans were eager to see him and he didn’t disappoint playing all the big songs that made him a household name including ‘Bombastic’, In The Summertime’, ‘Angel’, ‘It Wasn’t Me’, before launching into a mashup of ‘Red Red Wine’, ‘Bad Boys’ and the Bob Marley classic ‘Three Little Birds’.
Jeremih was next on the lineup, proving why he is such a hit with ladies, handing out roses to lucky recipients in the Platinum section, even pulling a fan out of the audience to serenade her Happy Birthday while playing the keyboard before launching into a saucy rendition of ‘Birthday Sex’ to the delight of the birthday girl still on stage. He followed up with ‘oui’, ‘Dont Tell Em’ and his collab with Nelly ‘The Fix’. Jeremih finished off his set by doing a “shoey” to become an honorary Australian citizen.
Ashanti
Ashanti didn’t need lights, her smile lit up the stage and it never diminished throughout her entire set. She belted out her record-breaking hit ‘Foolish’, ‘Baby’, ‘Into You’, ‘Rock Wit U’, ‘Always On Time’ and her latest track ‘Fallin For You’ with power. An acapella sing along and rendition of Tina Turner’s ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’ demonstrating not only her talent but also her versatility.
Akon, one of the portrayed bad boys of RnB was anything but on stage, he was charming, engaging and was one of only two artists to leave the stage and descend into the crowd, now I know this gives security the scare of their lives but for people that are in a touchable reach of an international superstar, it can be a stand out in a lifetime experience. Akon played every song his fans would want to hear ‘Smack That’, ‘Right Now’, ‘Ride Out’, ‘Beautiful’, ‘Dangerous’ (collab with Kardinal Offishall) and the two David Guetta mega-hits he provided the vocals for ‘Work Hard Play Hard’ & ‘Sexy Bitch’
“That was the best concert I’ve ever been to ”
Havana Brown
TLC, one of the world’s most successful female groups took to the stage next and the crowd went nuts proving these ladies have lost none of their popularity over the years. They sparkled while they delivered the super hits ‘Waterfalls’, ‘Unpretty’, ‘Red Light Special’, ‘No Scrubs’ and ‘Creep’ with T-Boz and Chilli also taking time to pay homage to Left Eye, their bandmate who was taken too soon.
Our very own Havana Brown jumped on the decks and kept the crowd’s energy high while preparations were made on stage for the final act. Showcasing her talent and experience in the industry she had selected a playlist that perfectly complemented what had and what was to come, even including a couple of her own songs like ‘We Run The Night’. Havanah’s parents watched on proudly from the very front row and so they should be, she really is one our best kept secrets.
Macklemore
The One, The Only Macklemore took to the stage in a grass-green coloured suit, a colour palette his band and dancers matched in various shades. He played chart-topping hit after chart-topping hit including ‘Downtown’, ‘Thrift Shop’, Good Old Days’, ‘Throw Your Hands Up’, ‘Glorious’, ‘Same Love’ and ‘Dance Off’ which included 2 punters being brought up out of the audience for an actual dance-off on stage. Our very own singing superstar Tones and I came out on stage to help sing their collaborative effort ‘CHANT’. There was interaction, choreography, a band and props making for not only the ultimate in stage shows but also cementing Macklemore as the ultimate showman.
Fridayz Live
Our Ratings
Public Transport: 🎫🎫🎫🎫.5
Line-Up: 🎫🎫🎫🎫🎫
Amenities: 🎫🎫🎫🎫🎫
Food: 🎫🎫🎫🎫.5
Bars/Alcohol: 🎫🎫🎫🎫🎫
Merchandise: 🎫🎫🎫🎫🎫
VIP Package: 🎫🎫🎫🎫.5
Over All: 🎫🎫🎫🎫🎫
“Macklemore was freakin’ awesome”
