Review and Photography by Robert Barrett

No support act, only playing for an hour fifteen? For any other show at the institute the audience might be grumbling, but not at NXWORRIES. The dynamic duo maximised the time to deliver an unforgettable performance.

It’s been seven years since they dropped their debut “Yes Lawd!”, and a lot has changed for the duo. Knxwledge has continued to make his name as on of the finest underground beatmakers, and Anderson .Paak has continued his trajectory into a household name. What would a tour look like all these years later, and without a new album to support?

A giant screen filled the stage surrounded by smoke, before Knxwledge stepped to his DJ booth at the top, roll up in hand. Laying down some vintage soul and funk, It wasn’t long before he introduced Anderson .Paak to the stage. Decked in a giant hat, black suit with the X from the cover as a belt buckle he launched into “Wngs”.

.Paak oozes charisma on the stage, without his drumkit or any other theatrics his vocal ability and crowd control was on point. “Can I tell you my story?” he asked before kicking into a remix of “Get Bigger” an unusually personal NXWORRIES classic. Rattling through tracks, .Paak kept the audience engaged with quips whilst Knxwledge mixed behind him. unreleased tracks were played, including the excellent “King Arthur” a completed version of the Knxwledge track “solivelife”

.Paak would leave the stage for extended periods of time to let Knxwlege DJ. A tribute to Bobby Caldwell and MF Doom were some of the highlights of these sections. Back on the main set one of the real highlights was latest single “Daydreamin” which had thew crowd light up the room with their phones. “Who’s ready for that new NXWORRIES album?” they both asked the crowd, if all the new cuts are what we have to go on, then everyone.

For the finale the duo recruited some female fans for a Soul train dance off on stage. For the sake of the ladies (this includes my other half) I won’t recount the dance moves performed, just to say it was a highlight of the night. Finishing the tight show on classic “Suede” (and Knxwledge’s unxepected remix of “Wonderwall”) brought it to an end. The show proved that the duo are best when working together, and that we need more NXWORRIES in our lives.