Dave
Dave live at RAC Arena, Perth | 28 June 2026
RAC Arena was pretty packed with Perth Hip-Hop denizens who were eager to catch DAVE on his penultimate Australian show in Perth. As a part of his The Boy Who Played the Harp tour. With a slew of punters dressed in hip-hop swag. The night played into an enjoyable tapestry of funk, hip-hop and soul.
The support act for the night was Karani who warmed up the night with a call back to some
classic 90s DJ samples. Like Eric Prydz Call on Me which saw punters in the general standing to start jumping in unison to the bass beat. From the seats in the stands above this was quite entertaining to watch as it was like watching a small herd of ant’s dance like tiny Mexican jumping beans on a table.
After getting the crowd sweaty to some R&B tunes. Karani asked punters if they were ready for some Hip Hop. With the stadium crowd replying a loud resounding ‘Yes’ in form of enthusiastic screams. Things took a hard-left onto the off-ramp of dank with Kanye West’s Runaway echoing across the arena with punters lovingly singing the lyrics being blasted from the speakers.
A couple of fans also began chanting Thiago Silva to the tune of Jack White’s Seventh Nation Army (for the uninitiated, a famous Brazilian footballer who plays for Chelsea, and a namesake of one of DAVE’s songs).
With a brief intermission occurring before DAVE’s appearance on stage. At this point many punters felt right at home. Arriving on stage beaming to punters on how Perth was one of the first locations he had toured outside of the UK in 2017 as a part of his first overseas tour. Reminiscing the city having a special place in the memory of his early musical career.
His set included an ecstatic mixture of soul, heartfelt ballads and of course, incredibly sharp and observant hip-hop. This included an intimate call-back to the freestyle rap of where he begun halfway through his set. Improvising each lyric with perfection and fitting each line that marched to the rhythm of the beat with exceptional clarity.
Never hesitating to not stray to far from his roots and still delivering those sharp bars with the same angst and grounding of a working-class musician. The brief cinematics between songs, which saw DAVE reflect on his own music career, and learning the harp as a boy only reinforced his talent of being a multi-instrumentalist and rapper in the present. There were also fun moments with the band backing DAVE with wild guitar solos and heady drum beats.
The night finished with the crowds belting out hits like ‘Raindance’ and ‘Starlight’ which were mesmerizing to watch. With the crowd ecstatically chanting Thiago Silva to harken the end of the show. This celebratory spirit was only matched with more chanting outside the arena. With a mad tussle of lads outside jumping up and chanting Thiago Silva in celebratory chaos. Roughhousing each other whilst mounted on each-other’s shoulders. Demonstrating the elation and fun DAVE had provided RAC Arena and Perth.
Review by Joe Wilson
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