Vince Staples with Flume at Shrine Expo Hall

One night with Flume at the Shrine Expo Hall was not enough. Neither was two, nor three nights—but four (sold-out) nights with Flume seemed to be the lucky number that appeased Los Angeles. The young Australian producer’s second performance of his four-show-run at the Shrine popped off last night with none other than Los Angeles’ Vince Staples. Together, the two gave a slamming performance.

But before the evening’s main event, Hwls, from Perth Australia, warmed us up the Shrine Expo Hall with some vivid sounds off his self titled EP. The trappy beats had the crowd moving a bit, but people seemed to be saving their energy for the bigger acts to come.

A few minutes after Hwls, Vince Staples made his entrance running out to the stage as he kicked off the set with “Lift me Up” from his latest album Summertime ’06. Staples was a cyclone of energy, darting left to right and hopping around. But shortly after his big entrance, the energy fizzled and he kind of just stood behind his mic not moving much for the remainder of his set. It was a shame that the majority of the crowd weren’t connecting with Staples or his music. It was clear that most of them were here to experience Flume. Nonetheless, Staples put on an incredible show. He played all the favorites from “Blue Suede,” to “Norf Norf,” and he delivered with slick lyricism and style.

Flume at Shrine Expo Hall

As Staples’ set came to a close, the crowd started to intensely move closer to the front of the stage for Flume. The lights eventually dimmed, and Flume’s dramatic ambient music played for about 10 minutes. As the anticipation grew thick, the curtains slowly rose and revealed Flume’s elaborate stage setup. He immediately had the crowd drawn to his sounds and stimulating visuals.

Flume showcased a lot of his work from his new album Skin and then took us back playing songs from his self titled debut. Midway through his set, we heard the familiar chimes of “Never Be like You.” The crowd instantly fell in a euphoric trance. Towards the end of the heartbreaking hit he transitioned into “Smoke and Retribution.” Resurrected to the stage, Vince Staples’ silhouette slowly moved across the floor. As the beat dropped, Staples come out from the dark and brought the fire we had been waiting for.

Flume then went on to pleasure fans with songs such as “Insane,” “You and Me,” and “Say it”. It was quite the spectacle of incredible lights, beats and non-stop movement. Fans couldn’t get enough of Flume.

Words & Photography: Andrew Gomez