LIVE REVIEW: Childish Gambino brings church to HBF Stadium

The air was thick with excitement as the incredible Childish Gambino finally made it to Perth to treat us all to an unreal experience, and his last ever show under the name Childish Gambino.

The lack of supporting act was evident but was made up for by the utter shock and excitement of having none other than Gambino pop up on stage seemingly out of thin air. Accompanied by a handful of incredible gospel choir men and women, he proclaimed “this is church!”, asking the audience to enjoy the show, put our phones away, and take it all in.

Kicking off with some yet to be released music, titled ‘Algorythm’, Gambino gave the crowd another taste of the evolution of his sound over the past 10 or so years. From an angsty young man wanting to prove himself in the rap world, to a dad, comfortable in his own skin and with his achievements, with the new goal of simply putting on a powerful show and leaving a positive impact.

 A positive impact was indeed left, nothing but good vibes were felt as ‘Summertime Magic’ filled the air. It truly felt like summer inside HBF stadium. The audience soaked up every moment of it, with the mosh packed to the brim with hardcore fans dancing and singing along to every lyric. Up on stage, Gambino rocked his usual quirky, and at times appearing to be Michael Jackson inspired, dance moves, as seen the video clip for ‘This Is America’.

During a brief intermission, where he left the stage and walked around to emerge in another area of the stadium, Gambino spoke about his love for one of the most isolated cities in the world (Perth), and for Tame Impala.

We were then treated to more unreleased music, apparently titled ‘Human Sacrifice’. The new song, featuring vocals from the incredible choir, reinforced the godly feeling in the atmosphere throughout the evening. ‘Summertime Magic’, ‘Feels Like Summer’ and the two yet to be released singles all have an underwater, super funky sound, with ‘Human Sacrifice’ boasting a particularly big drop that the crowd went off for.

 Last but not least, some throwbacks to Gambino’s most popular songs went down an absolute treat. A bunch of dancers dressed as students launched onto stage for ‘This Is America’, which was unsurprisingly epic live. Energy levels remained high for ‘3005’ and ‘Sober’, which were both slightly remixed with his new underwater, tropical sound.

Finishing off with ‘Redbone’, everyone seemed well and truly satisfied with the incredible show Gambino put on. He remained excited, overwhelmingly positive and high energy throughout the night and the crowd left absolutely buzzing. There was no doubt Gambino was able to bring church to HBF Stadium!