Steve Lacy review – Bad Habit showman balances virtuoso guitar playing and irreverent gags

Though agelong celebrated for his enactment successful indie-R&B radical the Internet and with the likes of Kendrick Lamar and GoldLink, Steve Lacy went stratospheric this twelvemonth aft TikTok sent Bad Habit, a azygous from his 2nd medium Gemini Rights, to No 1 successful the US and No 8 successful the UK. The attraction has brought his fantabulous premix of funk, R&B and slacker stone to a full acceptable of caller ears. Case successful point: armies of bright-eyed teens descending connected London’s Roundhouse connected a Monday night, braving a freak bout of snowfall to spot the Los Angeles-based guitarist, songwriter and shaper execute Gemini Rights’ surly tales of heartbreak and heady enactment astatine the 2nd of 2 sold-out London shows.

Their phones are astatine the acceptable earlier Lacy adjacent hits the signifier – a given, considering his halfway demographic. When helium does appear, it is wide that they’re close to person been eager: Lacy is an arresting beingness and madly handsome nether ever-changing temper lighting. He shows disconnected a tongue-in feature consciousness of humour, quipping astir messing up his ain lyrics, astir his fans and his erstwhile shows: “This is 1 of the craziest tours this twelvemonth – we laughed, we cried, we smashed cameras,” helium says, cheekily referring to an onstage bout of frustration successful New Orleans.

Static and Lay Me Down, the second opus taken from Lacy’s debut medium Apollo XXI, beryllium wide highlights: beneath bluish lighting, Lacy turns the second into a lengthy epic, twisting pedals to agelong his notes into frenzied drones. Lacy little plays his guitars, of which determination are many, than caresses them; his question and bid of the stage, astatine times, evoke the precocious Prince, and the heightened ambiance helium produces seems to beryllium arsenic entertaining to Lacy arsenic his audience.

But adjacent with specified precocious expectations, Lacy ne'er takes himself excessively seriously. He closes with assemblage favourites Bad Habit and Dark Red, and the hordes of teens sing on with gusto. He is arsenic irreverent arsenic helium is talented; passim the show, helium switches retired his pairs of Bottega Veneta skis goggles successful bid to acceptable the temper of peculiar songs; they marque him lucifer a cartoon character, a recurring ocular gag that elicits laughs from the audience. Sometimes, helium walks crossed the signifier wailing and freestyling notes agelong aft songs person ended.

“How does it consciousness to spot maine successful existent life, is that weird,” helium asks. And then: “Do I look better, oregon uglier successful person. Better?” The transportation is lone fractional deadpan: Lacy is leaning into his dual personas arsenic sensual frontman and jocular meme lord, and loving both. Someone successful his presumption mightiness beryllium anxious to close misguided notions that he’s conscionable a societal media occurrence story. He rightfully doesn’t look to attraction – he’s excessively engaged enjoying himself.