Review by Luke Matthews
Machine Gun Kelly has been loved and hated. Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Arena, it was all love.
From the start of the show, the theme was clear.
“They’ve got me in some kind of box,” MGK said from a pre-recorded intro which had him inside of a cardboard box amidst packing peanuts. MGK has been put in many boxes throughout his career. So much so that his tour pokes fun at the haters by dubbing it the “Mainstream Sellout Tour.” But MGK isn’t about living inside of boxes, he’s the new contemporary. He’s the new wave who happens to be no stranger to Des Moines.
“I’ve been playing Des Moines for 10 or 11 years, so I’m really happy to be back here playing a full house,” he declared to much applause inside a not-quite-full Wells Fargo Arena. 7.500 fans came out to take part in a tour and show that had a little bit of everything: pyrotechnics, confetti, a giant inflatable demon dubbed “the Internet” looming over the stage, and even a helicopter that not only provided spotlights for the show but also was the transportation that brought MGK to the stage from the back of the arena in one of the most rock star moments ever seen at Wells Fargo Arena.
MGK’s style has a steady balance of hip-hop, punk, and hard rock. One thing it isn’t is slow. Just when you think he’s going to take a break to talk to the crowd, he’s launched into another song. The best example of this was MGK asking a member of the crowd to think of three numbers and he would guess them. Everyone should have seen it coming a mile away that the numbers would be “Two, three, five!” As he launched into another infectious number.
Songs like “maybe,” “mainstream sellout,” and the pop-punky “emo girl” were among the most fun moments of the night.
Joining MGK on stage was an impressive array of musicians who were all given a moment to shine during the show. For as over-the-top as all of the visuals are during the show, the mechanics and the musicianship of the production is very polished. Despite being the last week of the tour, this band is so in sync that they could perform for many more months. This is a talented group of musicians. Of special note is Sophie Lloyd on the guitar. Not to mention “Rook” and his blistering drumming.
“When I drink wine here, I call it ‘Dey Monet,’” joked the singer as he told a story about getting really drunk the night before and playing laser tag in Des Moines.
When MGK portrayed Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee in the band’s biopic “The Dirt” on Netflix, one might say that MGK is the new Tommy Lee. A guy who is clearly loving what he’s doing, truly living the rock n’ roll lifestyle and blocking out the hate when it’s (in some cases literally) thrown at him. MGK has fun being a rock/rap star. His fans love him for it. They love singing along, watching him chain smoke throughout, and even giving fans in the crowd a hard time including a woman who was on her way to get a drink before she was called out from the stage by MGK himself.
Opener Willow Smith’s opened the show with a 25-minute set that was mostly uninspired. The soft-spoken singer would launch into hard rocking pop-punk tunes that sometimes seemed to last barely over 90 seconds. Willow’s performance never seemed to connect with the crowd until she performed “Meet Me In Our Spot,” the song on which she joins THE ANXIETY and Tyler Cole followed by “Wait a Minute!”
Even if you didn’t know much of Machine Gun Kelly’s catalog prior to the show, he easily made you a fan of at least a handful of songs. He puts on a full rock show with all the fun, musicianship, profanity, and ridiculousness that makes rock… well, rock.
