Just shy of a full year after taking the stage at St Kilda’s Prince Bandroom, Korean R&B singer Jimmy Brown has returned to Melbourne for the 2024 Love II Tour. Taking over Fitzroy’s The Night Cat, Brown was once again supported by up-and-coming singer-rapper Ineffa Lucas, promoting his latest solo album Wotecomb.
As I arrived at The Night Cat, I was drawn to the dedicated fans sitting outside the venue, crocheting floral corsages and making beaded friendship bracelets. Jimmy Brown and Ineffa Lucas, they tell me, spoke to them before soundcheck, with Lucas asking for the fans to make him a bracelet to wear during the show which they were, at the time, working on. They chatted with me excitedly about the evening yet to come, showing me the bracelets they had made for the artists.
Inside, The Night Cat was set up with a large stage in the centre of the room, giving fans a 360-degree view for the performances ahead. Just like the last tour, VIP fans were given early access to the venue for an exclusive photo-op with Jimmy Brown – I joined the queue myself, showing Brown a photo of us taken at his last tour, one of my favourite memories to date – before gathering around the stage for a short Q&A session. After the Q&A session ended, the artists retreated to the green room and the remainder of Brown and Lucas’ fans entered the venue, surrounding the stage to secure the optimal view.
Opening for the night, Ineffa Lucas hit the ground running with the aggressive rap track ‘Get Paid’. The Korean-born singer, based primarily out of New Zealand, has a naturally fluent grasp of English and Korean that he takes full advantage of on stage and in his music. Showing off his small but versatile discography, Lucas performed a string of tracks from his album Wotecomb including ‘Just For You’ (a track originally featuring Korean rapper Hash Swan) and ‘I Want To’. Lucas seamlessly flipped between both languages, proving that he has an innate skill for his craft and performing. From raspy rap verses to smooth vocals while raw and vulnerable in a room full of strangers, Lucas was rightfully confident.
When it came time for the headlining act to take to the stage, the floor was crowded. Jimmy Brown was welcomed with a roar from the Melbourne audience, walking out into the throng to the sound of futuristic instrumentals. Much like his previous time touring Melbourne, Brown spent a lot of the night interacting with the crowd, taking song requests and singing acapella snippets of his hits like ‘Irene’, ‘Skintight’, ‘Gone Blank‘, and ‘Show Me‘, two of which he performed in full as the night drew on.
With his silky falsettos, smooth runs on the beat, and rich, honey vocal tone, Brown also performed crowd-pleasers like ‘Arms Around Me’, ‘Wet Everywhere’, and ‘Whatever She Wants’ from his albums Love and Love II. In the middle of his set, Brown brought Lucas back on stage to perform their newly released duet ‘Crybaby’ from Lucas’ Wotecomb album, plus a freshly written track called ‘7 Seconds’ slated to be released by the end of the year. Together, their voices are a fantastic match, with Brown’s soft tone and Lucas’ raspy bars settling comfortably together over the instrumentals.
Throughout the night, Brown played a fantasy bracket game with crowd members where he had them choose between R&B singers, with a song from the winning artist eventually being covered. In the process, Brown covered a slate of artists including Tyla, Chris Brown, and Frank Ocean. In an effort to connect with his fans, Brown invited a member of the crowd, the delightfully funny Justin, on stage to sing with him. Despite Justin hilariously claiming, “I can’t speak Korean, bro” the duo instantly gelled, lighting up the stage and venue with their warm and joyful personalities.
Unlike the Between Your Thighs Tour, the Love II Tour was far superior and seemed like it was managed almost exclusively by the artists; both Lucas and Brown had full control of their setlists with a laptop on stage. This set up inevitably led to some technical issues, with Brown’s final song cutting out right as he was about to sing. Despite this, the Melbourne audience was completely unbothered and more than happy to wait patiently for him to troubleshoot the issue, so that he could begin again. To further show their appreciation for all those in the venue, both Jimmy Brown and Ineffa Lucas hung back after the show to sign merch and take pictures with adoring fans.
In spite of the small technical blips toward the end of the evening, both Jimmy Brown and Ineffa Lucas put on what can only be described as a fabulous show. Overflowing with talent and potential, it was a joy to see both these artists take the stage in Melbourne again, and together. After seeing them perform twice, it’s my sincere hope that the next time I see them live, it will be bigger, better, and the discography just as incredible.
Jimmy Brown’s Love II Tour, proudly presented by 198 Entertainment, had its Melbourne show take place on Thursday the 7th of November at The Night Cat before heading to Sydney’s Oxford Art Factory on Sunday November 10th to conclude the two-city 2024 Australian tour.
For more information, visit:
https://www.instagram.com/198ent
https://www.instagram.com/jimmybrownxx
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5YPCpDIPOY4WqY9Bqdw4Uc
https://www.instagram.com/ineffalucas
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2kdOlGp0XThQpwGzo8PInN
Photography by Grant Alexander.
