Iggy Azalea – Shepherds Bush Empire, London 17/09/14

23 September 2014, 10:30 | Written by Gen Williams

(Live)

(Iggy Azalea)

Shepherds Bush Empire probably isn't the venue you'd expect Iggy Azalea to be playing when you consider its capacity of just 2,000. Despite only releasing her debut album in April 2014 after a few delays, it’s fair to say that the Australian rapper/singer has a more than decent roster of hits under her belt. If anything you'd more than likely envisage her playing somewhere like Brixton Academy by now, a venue twice the capacity. Mind you, this didn't stop her from putting on a spectacle of a show.

Not having an official support act was a minor blip in the works. It wasn't until 9:15 when DJ Wizz Kidd finally came on stage and livened up what was, only moments before, a seemingly tame crowd. Playing the likes of TLC’s “No Scrubs” and Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” meant that of course by the time Azalea came on stage everyone was more than pumped.

Kicking things off with “Fuck Love”, Iggy comes on stage looking like a real, full on pop star, greeted by a young and enthusiastic audience. The stage is set with dynamic visuals in the background - she even has backing dancers and later a pole makes a brief appearance – and it really feels like you’re watching a superstar in the making. Although announcing that she’d had a bad week, she goes on to tells her fans “London, seeing all your beautiful faces, it’s an amazing end to an awful week” – and her crappy prior seven days didn’t deter her performance, even if she did take a slight fall at the beginning of her set.

With “Bounce”, things really start to pick up, and “PU$$Y” ably showcases Iggy’s fun side - the dinner scene from the 90’s movie Boomerang is played before the track comes in, and she walks back on stage owning it. Hit “Change Your Life” is another that gets the audience frenzied, with almost everyone joining in with the chorus as Iggy raps through the verses. Next up comes a not so surprising surprise (if you noticed all of the posters as you walked in or around the venue, you’ll have probably have guessed what was to come) as Rita Ora joins Azalea on stage and they perform the incredible pop of “Black Widow”, with Ora’s vocals achingly on point.

Towards the night’s end Iggy builds up the show bringing out a kind of medley featuring the iconic raps from other people’s songs she features on; those that would have been just wrong to have left out – e.g. TI’s “No Mediocre” and “Problem”, the Ariana Grande track. After treating fans to a fierce performance of “Murda Bizness”, it’s time for mega tune “Work”, followed by “Fancy”, which even without Charli XCX there to support her was still a big, big moment. In fact, the audience seem to do a solid job of filling in for XCX with everyone claiming how “fancay” they are.

The night ended with a preview of new track “Beg For It”, again featuring Charli, which will be featured on the re-release of The New Classic. It’s clearly a hugely exciting time for Azalea, with her global success set to continue growing unabated.