Review: N-Dubz – LG Arena

Tuesday 3rd May 2011, 2:36PM BST.

N-Dubz & Encore

LG Arena, Birmingham

by James Watkins

Chart hip-hoppers, N-Dubz, descended upon the West Midlands, bringing their Love.Live.Life. tour to the LG Arena. Young revellers were treated to a support slot from Professor Green with his chart topping tunes, alongside the fast rising three-piece of Encore, who raised some of the biggest screams of the night with their infectious street-pop sounds.

Encore have been rightly categorised as being a street-sounding contemporary of JLS, though their penchant for dub-step steers them into more interesting territory.

Raising the decibel levels with Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart and new single The One, Encore made a lasting impression on the crowd.

N-Dubz, meanwhile, made a dramatic entrance on motorbikes before playing through a greatest hits set.

Their show had plenty of pyrotechnic wow factor, with lasers, flames and an array of backing dancers adding extra pazazz to proceedings.

It wasn’t all plain sailing, however, and at times the band seemed to be too-reliant on the crowd.

Many songs weren’t clear to the ear and when Dappy, Tulisa and Fazer raised their microphones to the crowd, there were moments of embarrassing hush, as only the most hardcore sang the words.

Highlights included a stripped-back version of Love Sick, along with the chart hit Number 1. Morning Star and Playing With Fire were also notable tunes on a night when pop was the champion.