Live Report: The Kid LAROI makes explosive Irish debut at Dublin’s 3Arena

Australian singer-songwriter/rapper The Kid LAROI has enjoyed a meteoric rise these past few years, now sitting at a whopping 38 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Playing in Dublin last night as part of 2024 world tour, the crowd’s giddiness was palpable in the few seconds before he walked on stage - a sense of excitement which was elevated by the bright blue lights and the countdown clock playing on the main screen.

After flash of white, LAROI jumped onto the stage. Evident with the first beat of opening track ‘SORRY’, his live performance mainly consists of bass-heavy versions of his studio-recorded tracks, bringing an energy that the rapper was effortlessly exhibiting by jumping and lapping around the stage - which was made look small by his massive presence.

He has a boldness to his demeanour that's reminiscent of a trap artist, aided by his blaring, raspy vocals and the heaviness of his live beats.

Like most artists who have hitherto never played in the capital, he jokingly mentioned that he’d been told about the “Dublin energy”, and that he was waiting to see if it was as crazy as he’d heard.  The crowd did not disappoint, shouting and dancing with each of the rapper’s spirited movements. Onlookers knew the songs so well that LAROI could stop and listen for multiple choruses, which is exactly what happened during his performance of ‘GO’.

The famous “Dublin energy” doesn’t come out of nowhere though, and it's thanks to LAROI’s impressive ability to nurture it that it was so visible. There was a good amount of crowd interaction, but  it never felt over the top. There's something pure and sweet about his relationship with his fans, showcased when he invited an audience member on stage to accompany him during ‘Thousand Miles’.

LAROI’s show has its more tender moments too, as he had the audience hanging onto his every word during the acoustic section of the show. While he sat on the ground and performed ‘TEAR ME APART’ and ‘BLEED’, it felt like sitting around a campfire with an old friend. An impressive feat in a venue as massive as 3Arena.

Sipping on a cup of tea for his few final songs, LAROI jokingly announced his “most underrated song” before playing the incredibly famous track ‘STAY’, originally recorded with Justin Bieber.

After a mosh-pit-inducing encore performance of ‘WHAT WENT WRONG???’, LAROI stepped off the stage – not before proclaiming, to the crowd's delight, that Dublin had been his favourite city of his The First Time Tour so far.