N.E.R.D. Sydney 2011

Following a string of insane performances at the Summadayze festivals N.E.R.D. helped thousands of us fans kick start the festival season in style. Always the true crowd pleasers, N.E.R.D. chose to get back on stage along with Tinie Tempah, Chromeo and Boyz Noize for a couple of final concerts, that not surprisingly sold out in record time.

I was thrilled to see them perform their unique and passionate genre-crossing sound, live at the Hordern Pavillion in Sydney.

The festival atmosphere definitely carried through to the concert, and by 7.00pm the place was packed and the crowd was buzzing. Tinie Tempah took to stage, and as expected, showed us why he is fast becoming a household name. Although a lot of his set featured covers of popular tracks, it was just what the crowd needed to get into party mode.

Chromeo came next and were the surprise package of the night. The pop duo seemed to be just what the crowd were waiting for. The 80s inspired electro-pop took the energy levels sky high. Not having seen them perform live before, I was pleasantly surprised and couldn’t help but join their enormous group of fans.

Next in line was Boyz Noize. For me, the popular European DJ dropped the ball a little. While some of the crowd were totally into the set, there was a dip in energy despite an increase in volume. I was now ready for the reason why I was really there for.

When N.E.R.D. finally took the stage, as expected, the packed out arena went insane. Pharell’s aura and stage presence was captivating as he sauntered around the stage, seducing and motivating the crowd. He even selected an ecstatic male fan whose crazy dance moves kept the audience laughing!

N*E*R*D’s unique ability to traverse across genres of hip hop, funk, rnb and rock, both within the one track and from song to song, somehow works to make a schizophrenic fusion of beats which literally made people jump from their seats and head to the floor!

I was filled with awe and adrenalin at the first bars of crowd favorites such as She Wants to Move (containing my all time favourite lyric “her ass is a spaceship I want to ride"), and Rock Star (containing second favourite lyric “I’m rhyming on the top of a cop car!") came on. And for want of no better way to say it, they...WENT OFF!

N*E*R*D’s passion for music and commitment to entertaining and praising their fans, makes for an almost religious experience, especially when they dabble in motivational speach and inspire the crowd to embrace their individuality.

Overall the concert was everything I expected and more. At the end no one cared about having to wait 4 hours to see the headlining act. N.E.R.D. delivered such an enigmatic performance that this is definitely a contender for one of my best concert experiences ever.