Music
At the Sydney Opera House, Genesis Owusu delivered a show like no other
As part of Red Bull Symphonic, the boundary-pushing artist performed alongside the 40-piece Sydney Symphony Orchestra. It was an unforgettable night.
On stage at the Sydney Opera House, Genesis Owusu told the audience about an old Facebook status he’d had pop up that morning. It was ten years ago today, the post reminded him, since he played his first ever gig. “And now we’re here with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra,” he beamed.
He may be playing bigger venues now than when he first started out, but even in his early days Kofi Owusu-Ansah operated on another plane. It’s not just the talent – which he has in droves as a rapper, singer, dancer and performer – but the vision. Owusu has always pushed the bounds with the visual spectacle he builds in his videos and at his shows, the motifs and messages he weaves through his work, and the way he is not afraid to go bigger, bolder and braver than anyone else. So taking the grand stage of the Sydney Opera House seemed like a natural evolution for an artist who has always been in a league of their own.
Genesis Owusu with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for Red Bull Symphonic.
© Tristan Stefan Edouard / Red Bull Content Pool
Of course, it wasn’t just the venue that made this show so momentous. Helmed as part of the Red Bull Symphonic, it saw Owusu perform together with the 40-piece Sydney Symphony Orchestra, who reimagined his biggest hits as they’d never been heard before – a collaborative process that began months out from show night. And coming as he wraps up the busy two years of touring that followed his critically-acclaimed debut album, the 24-year-old has said this show felt like a celebration of the songs he’s shared so far, before a new era of Genesis Owusu begins. It was a one-off, never-to-be-repeated gig, and unsurprisingly sold out almost as soon as it went on sale.
The plan for Red Bull Symphonic, Owusu said, was to deliver drama, theatre and grandeur. And sure enough, the theatrics were there from the moment he first stepped on stage – carried by his ‘Goon Club’ of back-up dancers, who hid underneath a long black gown before bursting out onto the stage. Throughout his hour-long set, he was the consummate showman, ripping off his gown for a dramatic costume change and dripping with confidence and charisma every time he addressed the crowd. At one point, Owusu grabbed the conductor’s batons and used them to direct the applause of the audience; later he asked us all to hold up our phones with the flashlight on, creating a sea of digital autoluminescence. Like a preacher at the podium, he was effortlessly in command of every moment.
Genesis Owusu for Red Bull Symphonic.
© Tristan Stefan Edouard / Red Bull Content Pool
By the second song, his enduring 2019 favourite WUTD, Owusu had the entire crowd on their feet and dancing (no surprises from an artist who literally broke the floor of the Enmore Theatre at one of his previous Sydney shows). Every track in the hour-long set was precision crafted to deliver maximum impact, from the suckerpunch opening of The Other Black Dog to the cameo appearance from his collaborator Kirin J Callinan on their track Drown and the chest-swelling, sing-a-long moments of A Song About Fishing and No Looking Back. But it was his 2022 single GTFO that captivated like no other, rendered chilling by the strings of the orchestra while Owusu was lifted towards the sky by his Goons.
Before capping off his set with Good Times, Owusu addressed the crowd to let us know he was about to bow out. “And when I say one last song I mean one last song. We ain’t doing any fake encore shit – it takes these people 20 mins to get off the stage,” he said, gesturing at the orchestra behind him. After a show unlike any other, it was a typical moment of realness from an artist who pulls no punches.