Very grateful to have received a reviewers pass for the Birmingham leg of Post Malone’s ‘Twelve Carat’ tour. Even though I was unable to gain a photo pass for the event, I was able to watch the show and write a review for We Plug Good Music.
The Grammy Award-nominated artist whose newest album Twelve Carat Toothache went platinum after only four days, was performing at a sold-out Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, with brothers and rap duo Rae Sremmurd opening for Malone.
As the support act for this tour, the sibling rap duo brought an energetic performance to open up the show in Birmingham. The brothers, Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee, performed many hits including “No Flex Zone”, “Come Get Her”, “No Type”, and much more.
Post Malone’s set kicked off at 8:30pm, he started his set with “Reputation” from the newest album which was released in June 2022. This was shortly followed by the 2019 hit “Wow”. The main stage had three adjacent stages attached to it with walkways leading to the b-stages which allowed Post to get closer to his fans.
Malone spent a lot of time on the centre b-stage, which had fans in the VIP golden circle surrounding him on the main arena floor, but regularly ventured onto the other stages to perform nearer to fans seated on each side of the arena. Post Malone made sure he interacted and got up close with more fans than I have seen at previous shows.
A big moment in most Post Malone shows is when he performs the song “Stay”. When he does this, he often brings a fan on stage to perform the song with him and this night was no different. The lucky fan this evening was Jack, a 17-year old guitar player from Heath Hayes, just north of Birmingham.
I spoke to Jack to get his thoughts on performing with the man himself and this is what Jack had to say about his experience at the gig. “I remember thinking omg this is really happening, I’m going to meet Post Malone and play a song with him. I told Post personally that I loved him and that his music changed my life. He told me he loves me too, asked for my name and took me to the main stage in the centre of the arena.
When on stage, he gave me the chance to talk to the audience and my friends who were also in the crowd. This moment was the most incredible five minutes or so of my life, after I played the first bit for him, he hyped me up and there was obviously no turning back, not that I was going too anyway. I was a bit shakey during the song but I think it was the amount of adrenaline flowing through me and that 15,000+ people were watching.
Looking up and seeing all those people and having Post encourage and sing to me was an experience I will never forget for the rest of my life. After the song ended he thanked me for coming on stage with him and said he loved me again, he was going to give me a beer but didn’t when he found out I was 17”.
Towards the final 20 minutes of the show, Post Malone performed “Sunflower”, accompanied by Swae Lee, who not only features on the song, but also opened up the arena show as part of the rap duo Rae Sremmurd. This performance had fans throwing not only sunflowers on stage, but glasses and even a sunflower headband. which Post Malone wore during the song.
Post Malone closed his set with “White Iverson”, which was not only his debut single, but a song that has gone platinum five times over. Following this performance, Malone spoke to the crowd of 15,000 people about how grateful he was for their support.
He thanked the audience for spending the time to come and see his show, saying, “Thank you for making me believe in a world where there is so much love and I am not scared to raise my daughter & I appreciate you guys more than I could ever say”. He referred to himself as the “luckiest man in the world” to have the devoted and loving fan base he has.
Post Malone then stayed for an extra 30 minutes following the performance to meet, take pictures with, and receive gifts from his fans. Birmingham marked the 13th show of this European tour. With four shows left, I have no doubt that Post Malone will continue to sell out shows for many years to come.
Words by Nick Brooker // Photography by Dan Rose
