Jay Prince @ The Green Door Store, Brighton

Long time favourite of AVSJ Jay Prince took to The Green Door Store in Brighton on Tuesday night as part of his Wonder tour, promoting and performing from his most recent project of the same name. Jay’s frequent release of content means he is often performing live and this was maybe the fifth show of his I attended, all of which have followed the release of a new EP. The last show I saw of his was in the summer of 2018 at Corsica Studios in South London which was very impressive, but at the same time missing that special ingredient to make it a top tier spectacle. Jay seemed to lack any chemistry with his DJ, who I had never seen at any of his other events, and entered the stage with the claim from his hype man as the ‘most underrated rapper in the UK’ still echoing when the music started; it seemed to me that Jay was somewhat indignant at the progression of his career and that maybe he did not get the credit he probably deserved. Fast forward to now and the release of Wonder, a project filled with self-reflection and honest tales of fears about his future, Jay no longer seems to show this dissatisfaction but now embraces the loyal fanbase he does have, which was exhibited nowhere more than in Brighton.

The Green Door Store is a very intimate venue in the centre of Brighton, with a capacity of around 200 people. From his Instagram story I knew the headline act was set to come on at 9pm, so I got to the venue half an hour or so prior to catch some of the support act. After getting a drink at the bar I made my way into a half-filled room to see Renz closing what looked like a barnstorming set, something I was quite frustrated I did not get to watch. The DJ announced that Jay would be on shortly after a small interlude, which would feature no actual DJing because he had ‘eaten too much fish and chips’. Instead a playlist featuring the likes of Anderson Paak, Kaytranada, and J. Cole came on to keep the crowd enthused. 9pm came and the room was still far from capacity and part of me started to think the small crowd would perhaps fuel the irritations I presumed Jay to have at Corsica, but suddenly people piled in and the show was set to take place.

Jay Prince has a large catalogue of projects but as this was the Wonder tour it was understandable that this one got the most play-time. Whilst Wonder was not my favourite Jay Prince release, I really enjoyed it upon its launch and gave it a 7/10 in a review on the website. However, many others (AVSJ co-writer Aaron and number one fan Joe in particular) did not take well to the new sonic direction Jay had delved into, labelling it somewhat lazy. I could not disagree more and my fidelity to the cause was emphasised by the live show, demonstrating to myself - and Joe watching Leeds - that this EP is fantastic and even better live. The production on songs such as ‘BEAMLIGHT’ and ‘BLESSED NOW’ already lend their vibe to heavy sound-systems and their combination with the small space of The Green Door Store made Jay’s message heard how it should be.

Whilst the setlist contained all of the 24-minute Wonder, it threw in a lot of last year’s EP Cherish and the classics from earlier projects to intertwine the old and new in excellent fashion. An early rendition of ‘Mandem’ that was dropped during some crowd participation was brilliant from Jay and exhibited a well-planned routine that went down very well. On stage was a keyboard that at one point Jay stepped up to, waiting for complete silence before delivering a powerful number that slowly turned into his earliest hit ‘Polaroids’, as well as an electric guitar that was used for the Mahalia-featured ‘With U’ and ‘I Believe In You’, albeit malfunctioning for the former and not actually being amplified while the song was playing. The difference between Corsica Jay and Brighton Jay was exemplified during this electrical fault, as he quickly fixed the problem with his DJ and then came back to do a solo with a beaming smile, quite literally laughing in the face of adversity. The front row had a section of die-hard fans, grooving during ‘In The Morning’ and bouncing for the title-tack ‘Wonder’ amongst many other of his songs and they alone seemed to bring out a lot of energy from their idol and in turn the rest of the crowd.

As the end of the show approached, Jay took a short exit to the side whilst Yolanda Adam’s gospel track ‘The Battle Is The Lord's’ rang through the speakers. It became apparent that this was the sample for Jay Prince’s biggest hit ‘Father, Father’, slowly transforming into the version that the crowd and myself know and love as the main man of the night rocked back onto the stage to flawlessly deliver his masterpiece. As the second verse came to its closure and the final chorus was about to punch through the speakers like a heavyweight boxer, Jay’s entire team of photographers, DJs and support acts stormed the stage for the huge climax of the night, where for one moment it felt like all the stars had perfectly aligned, world peace had been solved and Tottenham had won the Champions League; all I could do was stand in amazement and smile as the hard work and determination of this artist who I had tracked for years culminated in this one incredible moment. The power of the moment perhaps had an effect on Jay Prince as he then decided to repeat the song not once but twice, resulting in a ten minute performance of the song, somewhat dampening the show’s peak as Jay’s emotions maybe got the better of him. The performance was closed with the aforementioned ‘I Believe In You’, as Jay wound down the hype with a beautiful guitar part and message of love, before support act Renz came onto the stage to tell the crowd that this had been the best show on the tour.

This show was definitely an improvement from Jay Prince’s date at Corsica. The barrier between distant performer and a creative artist who I have long admired was obliterated and became a much more personal experience, helped by the intimacy of the small venue. Jay’s routine is still somewhat raw and mistakes need to be ironed out, such as missing his cue for his opener ‘RUN IT DOWN’ and the previously mentioned faulty guitar. Yet these turned out to be minor blips in an incredible performance by a humble young man, willing enough to stick around and chat to fans afterwards - myself included. For the second concert review running, I highly recommend seeing Jay Prince when you next get a chance but, once again, the tour is finished, however I suspect he will be back sooner rather than later with a new list of scintillating songs to bring to the stage.

8/10