Review: Professor Green at the Garden Court

Refreshers’ Week kicked off on Monday as Pro Green stepped into the Garden Court. Emma Beesley, who along with a friend bagged a meet and greet with the man himself, reviews the night for us.

Upon arrival we caught a couple of songs by the first support act Prose, who were a little ‘grimey’, but were sweet as they handed around flyers.

The time came for the meet and greet. Professor Green was late but apologetic, polite, sincere, smiley; not what you’d expect of an artist who identifies himself as a ‘grime rapper’ and whose stage name derives from the fact he used to sell weed.

After bagging a selfie, we went back to watch support act Mikell Pain.

Offering up a cover of the original rap version of Ed Sheeran’s ‘A-Team’, Mikell spat out the controversial lyrics with striking ease and managed to hold the attention of the crowd despite the lack of background music.

Ever the perfectionist, however, at the end of the song he ridiculed a girl in the front row for being “selfish” and talking throughout, which he claimed made him forget his lyrics.

He finished his set with one of his own songs, a mixture of loud, angry teenage rock with harsh grime lyrics spat over the top, all delivered by a man with a cheeky grin and kind of ‘preppy, English gentleman’ style that isn’t very stereotypical.

Us, dizzy from the ‘meeting and greeting’, and other crowd members dizzy from alcoholic beverages, warmly welcomed the highlight of the night on stage as his infamous scar gleamed in the spotlights, which he repeatedly asked to have turned down.

Playing a mix of both old and new songs, he flirted and charmed the crowd with his innuendo-filled comments.

Accompanied on stage by a talented backing singer and rapper who both assisted in ‘hyping’ up the crowd, Professor Green performed just like his tracks sound, an impressive feat for mainstream artists whose songs are heavily mixed.

Stand out tracks were golden oldies, ‘Jungle’ and ‘I Need You Tonight’, which prepared us for the heavy night at Jesters afterwards; while ‘Avalon’ had us growing bored.

Overall, though, I was impressed with his performance and slightly surprised at how much enjoyable it was even for someone with very different usual music preferences.

Did you go to the gig? What did you think of Pro Green’s performance? Let us know in the comments below!