It had to pour. Not even meteorologically, it’s just in Stormzy’s makeup at this point. There was his historic BRITs performance that called out the government’s response to the Grenfell tragedy, performed under a shower of water. Then there’s the references to the rain that permeate his music, from commanding it to fall on his enemies in ‘Rainfall’ to the Biblical allusions in ‘Give It To The Water’. So the fact the sky opened for Stormzy’s return to the stage was already predetermined.
Back when COVID decided to pull an Uno reverse card on the music industry, Stormzy had to push the tour around his second album ‘Heavy Is The Head’, first released in 2019, back three years. So when his latest record, the soulful and mellow ‘This is What I Mean’ came out last year, Stormzy announced he’d be doing a one-off UK show: This is What We Mean Day. The whole thing was a shake-up of usual festival protocol, with Stormzy curating the line-up himself in a move that played directly into his ethos of championing community.
It would’ve made sense then, for a side of stage fizzing with guests. From collaborators like Kehlani and Knucks literally onsite, to a ‘Toxic Trait’ appearance from Fredo or a visit from Dave, who’s already made surprise festival appearances for the likes of Central Cee this summer, Stormzy had the option to go hard on it. Instead, this was all about forging a deeper connection, and audacious staging, cheap thrills, and easy wins weren’t part of the plan.
Stormzy meets us on a set that resembles a church hall or school assembly room. Muted fabric tumbles down from the top of the stage with stripped back lighting as he opens with the introspective ‘Fire + Water’. And so sets the tone for the first hour of the show. Stormzy is sermon-like in his delivery as we’re submerged into the gospel of ‘This is What I Mean’.
“The word that always comes up when I think back on this time in my life is stillness,” he tells the crowd. “It was a beautiful thing to look at myself in the mirror and say: ‘This is me’. I pray that some of you take this stillness away.” There’s the sense that something has shifted in Stormzy. He seems to be a man at peace with himself, using his only UK show this year as a moment of pause and reflection with a loyal audience willing to drink it in, even if it means leaving people who aren’t fully converted behind.
Except wait. Halfway through the show the emotional purge of ‘Please’, a song that showcases his vulnerability and pleads for the strength to forgive his father, has given way to a stage plunged into darkness. The curtains are gone and have been replaced by levitating red lights and DJ Tiiny, signalling a home run of crowd-pleasers and a hard shot of energy. ‘Big For Your Boots’, ‘Cold’, ‘Wiley Flow’, ‘Shut Up’ and ‘Vossi Bop’ rattle across the crowd as the best unintentional prop of the night – the torrential rain – dutifully adds to the atmosphere. Stormzy casts his trainers aside to fully commit to his classic high knees dance in his socks, running back and forth across the sodden runway extending into the crowd, who are only too happy to match his energy.
This Is What We Mean Day is a strange beast. At times it feels like Stormzy is still figuring out what his next era will look like, an artist suspended between a newfound stillness and roots in inimitable likeable chaos. It’s a performance of highs and plateaus, but never lows. And that’s down to the tremendous heart that underpins everything. “I love you, I love you, I love you” he tells the crowd as the heavens open for ‘Blinded By Your Grace Pt 2’ in a perfect synchronicity that would have been corny if planned. When Stormzy says he’ll “never stop saying thank you”, this is what he means.
Stormzy played:
‘Fire + Water’
‘This Is What I Mean’
‘Firebabe’ (with Debbie)
‘Hide & Seek’
‘Crown’
‘Cigarettes & Cush’
‘Need You’
‘The Weekend’
‘Rainfall’
‘Give It to the Water ‘(with Debbie)
‘Please’
‘Big for Your Boots’
‘Own It’
‘Know Me From’
‘Cold’
‘Wiley Flow’
‘Toxic Trait’
‘Clash’
‘Shut Up’
‘Vossi Bop’
‘Holy Spirit’
‘Bad Blood’
‘I Got My Smile Back’
‘Blinded by Your Grace, Pt. 2’
‘My Presidents Are Black’
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