Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, tour review: Strange mix of profound and preposterous

Cartoon-drawing and cookie-dispensing rubbed up next to nine-minute monologues about white privilege
Not your stereotypical MC: Macklemore
Rex
Rick Pearson28 April 2016

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are not your stereotypical hip hop duo. Two white Seattleites, the former has rapped previously about his medium-sized member and poor chat-up technique, while their biggest hit — Thrift Shop — tells of the unblingy charms of shopping for secondhand clobber. Things take a turn for the serious on their recent second album, This Unruly Mess I’ve Made, which tackles the subjects of fatherhood, racism and same-sex marriage.

Consequently last night’s show — the final night of their European tour — was a strange mix of the preposterous and profound, where cartoon-drawing and cookie-dispensing rubbed up next to nine-minute monologues about white privilege.

With Lewis primarily on drums and the occasional background croon, the spotlight was firmly on Macklemore (real name Ben Haggerty). Early signs were not good when, on set opener Light Tunnels, he chose as his subject matter the notoriously arduous task that is being awarded a Grammy.

Yet this was no woe-is-me fest. Wing$ was an empowering anti-consumer anthem while Growing Up (Sloane’s Song) was an uplifting ode to Haggerty’s young daughter.

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Their ambitions outstripped their talents on the sprawling White Privilege II, which was epic only in length, but they were on safer ground when lampooning dieting culture on Let’s Eat and insisting that Brad Pitt is a blood relation on Brad Pitt’s Cousin.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis can’t pimp a butterfly, but they can put on an entertaining show.

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