Live Review: MGK brings Lost Americana tour to Birmingham's Utilita Arena

So what do you do when even walking down a set of steps or appearing silhouetted on a platform is ‘old hat’? Well, MGK’s entrance at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham last week will take some beating.

The Cleveland singer-songwriter, rapper, pop-punk revivalist, genre-hopper and cigarette obsessive, was in town on the latest leg of his Lost Americana tour.

And when he did appear, it was so overblown and magnificent you couldn’t help but smile and admire it.

Dominating the stage of the Utilita was the head of the Statue of Liberty, half sunk into the stage complete with nose rings and glowing eyes, with one arm stretching up to the roof of the arena - her familiar torch replaced with a cigarette (more on that later).

As MGK (FKA Machine Gun Kelly)’s opening track Outlaw Overture kicked in, the star rose out of Liberty’s mouth while his guitar was lowered down from above to meet him.

It was a move that’d make even an 80s rock fan smile – while at the same time no doubt moaning MGK had just nicked something Kiss probably did once.

Anyway, what followed was a mammoth 31-song set and it was impossible to take your eyes off him from start to finish.

The following two-hours plus featured a good chunk of pyro, a mic stand designed to resemble a cigarette, fans (carefully) on stage, a few acoustic songs on a B-Stage and a touching tribute to Brummie icon Ozzy.

Walking into the arena, dozens of fans were decked out in various recreations of the ‘Marlboro Reds’ leather jacket which features on the cover of MGK’s latest album which he wore when he took to the stage but was quickly flung off. Even a non-smoker could lament how such an iconic design has been lost to generic standardised packaging.

So what of the music? 2020’s Tickets To My Downfall saw MGK heavily pivot from rap into pop-punk with last year’s Lost Americana broadening things somewhat into alt-rock and even a bit of country.

Unsurprisingly, it’s the latter two which are the driving force of his set.

Flanked by at least half a dozen musicians – who were all given their time to shine on the Utilita’s stage extension – MGK spent all set switching between the role of singer and guitarist – frequently throwing his guitar to his right where it was caught by a crew member.

He was on chatty form, early on commenting on Birmingham’s ‘greyness’ and comparing it to his hometown. (“Your city is as grey as mine”.)

As Katy Perry learned at the same venue a few months back, there’s huge plaudits to be won for the correct pronunciation of Birmingham which MGK nailed perfectly.

The start of MGK’s set concentrated on new tracks from Lost Americana - with Don’t Wait Run Fast among the highlights and Maybe pulling in every pop punk songwriting trope out there.

MGK then switched genres back to his rap roots for the likes of El Diablo which saw him bounding around the stage, bathed in red light, posturing with a hand clamped to his forehead, fingers displaying ‘devil horns’.

Amid all the fun, there were interludes where a ‘faux-influencer’ ranted about MGK before succumbing to his music.

For I Think I’m OK, MGK re-appeared high up on top of Liberty’s hand, with a giant ‘Zippo’ style lighter hoisted up to light her cigarette.

It’d be easy to take affront at Liberty’s switch from a torch to cigarette, but given she was a gift from the French, she’d probably have been a smoker anyway.

Over on the now ‘arena-obligatory’ B-Stage, MGK treated fans to stripped back segments of both Dreamer and Crazy Train, referring to Ozzy as the legend who helped him escape his own hard times.

The covers continued back on the main stage, with a full band version of the Goo Goo Dolls’ global hit Iris which saw support act Julia Wolf return to perform with MGK who described the track as,“One of the greatest songs ever written,”. Other opinions of this song are available – but MGK executed it with aplomb.

As MGK’s set powered towards its conclusion, there were more stage antics which included the singer being hoisted onto a large platform above the stage, more ‘influencer’ interludes, an attempt to get a circle pit going and stories about trying Class A drugs on a previous visit to Birmingham.

One of the biggest cheers and screams of the night came when MGK discarded his t-shirt, revealing his heavily tattooed torso to the thousands inside the Utilita.

There was still time for more surprises as sparks shot from the headstock of his guitar during Papercuts while fans sporting cowboy hats were put on the large screens for his country crossover smash, Lonely Road – an interpolation of John Denver’s 1970s classic Take Me Home, Country Roads.

MGK bought his set to a close with Vampire Diary and left the stage after an emotional thanks to all inside.

It’s no secret MGK is a bit divisive and seemingly constantly under the glare of the celeb spotlight, it’s something he’s very aware of and frequently plays off.

However, he’s arguably done more to breathe new life into the pop-punk genre than any of his contemporaries and live, has got a show that backs that up perfectly.

MGK Played:

Main Stage:

Outlaw Overture

Starman

Dont Wait Run Fast

Maybe / Wild Boy / El Diablo

Ay!

F*** You, Goodbye

Miss Sunshine

Goddamn

I Think I'm Okay

Title Track

Drunk Face

Bloody Valentine

Forget Me Too

B-Stage:

Glass House

Times Of My Life

Dreamer / Crazy Train (Tribute To Ozzy Osbourne)

Main Stage:

Why Are You Here

Iris (Goo Goo Dolls Cover with Julia Wolf)

Treading Water

Daywalker

Concert For Aliens

My Ex's Best Friend

Jawbreaker

Nothing Inside

Twin Flame

Play This When I'm Gone

Papercuts

Lonely Road

Cliché

Sweet Coraline

Vampire Diaries