The Kid LAROI Hypes Up Houston

The Kid LAROI made his first ever stop in Houston, Texas, at 713 Music Hall, for The End of the World Tour on Saturday, August 27th. The Kid LAROI is a nineteen year old rapper, singer, and songwriter from Australia with a massive fanbase embarking on his first ever headlining world tour. LAROI’s highly anticipated tour had a lot to live up to. Due to covid health concerns, the first half of the tour had to be rescheduled and fans were kept waiting for a few months. Regardless, the energy and excitement at 713 Music Hall was immense as eager fans waited to be let into the jam packed general admission area.

The entire stage was draped in a simple white backdrop with The Kid LAROI’s name tagged on it in black spray paint. The real magic happened when the house lights finally dimmed and purple and white strobe lights began to outline the silhouettes of The Kid LAROI and his crew going bonkers as they start to hype everyone up. As soon as the backdrop fell, the venue was flooded with a red hue as The Kid LAROI shouted “HOUSTON! WHAT THE FU** IS UP!” The energy that LAROI opened with became a constant interplay between him and the fans throughout night.

Immediately after his big entrance, LAROI opened up a mosh pit, one of many, front and center and shouted “You guys know the rules. Don’t close it until the count of three!” He would playfully count to two during his performance of ‘DIVA’, so that the mosh pit wouldn’t close. The mosh pit was huge and continuously became bigger as fans just fed off of each other’s thrashing. After he finally closed the pit, LAROI took a couple of seconds to rehydrate and said “So, I believe this is the first time I’ve ever performed in Houston. And if that’s any indication, I’m fu**ing excited for the rest of tonight man.”

What really made LAROI’s performance unique was how he really tried to be inclusive with his fans. LAROI did not come to just sing a few songs and leave. He made his fans a vital part of his performance. The show was filled with countless playful interactions with the audience. I honestly have to say this may be the most I have ever seen an artist interact with fans during a show. At some point a fan wanted to sing with LAROI. LAROI promised his fan that he would invite him to perform on stage with him. A few songs later, LAROI kept his word and had the young fan perform with him during ‘Not Sober.’ When the song came to an end, he put his mic down and had a few private words with his fan and took a selfie with him. At one point, LAROI asked fans if anyone had recently had their heart broken. A young female fan said she did, so he asked for the guys name and LAROI had the entire audience chanting “F**K LUIS! F**K LUIS! F**K LUIS!”. LAROI even played a game with the fans called “Guess That Song” where he would “badly” (his words, not mine) play his drum beats on the drum set or pick out a melody with the guitar and the audience had to guess what song he was trying to play.

One of the more heartfelt interactions happened before he performed, Go. In case you don’t know, LAROI was really good friends (more like family) with the legend Juice WRLD, who unfortunately passed away in 2019. LAROI asked the audience, “I have a question for you guys. Who here f**ks with Juice WRLD”. Of course everyone went wild and the entire venue was shouting “LONG LIVE JUICE!” LAROI then went on to perform ‘GO’, and when it got to Juice WRLD’s verse everyone sang along. This moment will forever be in my memory. It was so beautiful.

Just as I thought the show was over, LAROI gave us an amazing surprise. LAROI made my short person dreams a reality, and I’m sure other fellow shorties felt the same, as he made his way to the back balcony to perform his encore set literally right above the back row. Those of us in the back now had a front row view. LAROI stood on the railing and at some point stood on his security guards so everyone could see him. His encore set was up close and personal with everyone singing along as we looked up at him from the ground floor. LAROI closed the show with three songs, ‘Without You’, ‘Paris to Tokyo’, and ‘Hate the Other Side’ by Juice WRLD. His performance of ‘Hate the Other Side’ had all of us just straight up screaming every single verse. It was awesome. As his encore came to an end, LAROI left the crowd with this: “I just want you guys to know, there is no such thing as a fan of mine because everyone in this f**king building is family. And if no one on this planet has got you just know that LAROI(s) GOT YOU MOTHERF**KER!” LAROI disappeared into the crowd as ‘Lucid Dreams’ by Juice WRLD blared out of the speakers, as a cue that the show was at an end. A few fans stayed behind crying and singing along to Juice WRLD.

The End of the World Tour was definitely worth the anticipated wait. Everything about his performance was so unique and refreshing to see. Not only was the music great, but the experience was on another level. LAROI’s energy and the genuine love he has for his fans, his crew, and Juice WRLD is truly inspiring. Don’t forget to pick up The Kid LAROI’s first studio album, retitled Kids Are Growing Up, set to be released later this year. Long Live Juice!