Five months after the release of his debut mixtape, having played only a handful of dates in London, genre-bending musical enigma, Bakar, packed out a very sweaty Jimmy’s to clear any lingering Monday blues.

Having released a few singles through 2017 and early 2018, Badkid was met with critical acclaim upon release in May. Combining hip-hop, grunge, indie and electronic ideas, there are definite undertones of an angsty, teenage king krule, but Bakar has forged his own sound. Backed by a four-piece band, the Camden native put on as lively a show as I’d hoped for and gave backing to claims that he’s destined for bigger things and muchbigger venues.

With a sell out crowd filling the tiny basement of Jimmy’s Northern Quarter Bar, Bakar had a mission on his hands just getting to the stage from the artists area at the back of the venue. As soon as he reached the stage however, donned in a torn Nirvana t shirt and a pair of Nike trackpants, the energy in the place hit the roof, as did one or two pints.

With Bakar coming through with track after track of stomping, fast-paced guitar fuelled chaos, Jimmy’s turned very quickly into a mess of sweaty screaming twenty-somethings. It wasn’t long before Bakar himself was forced to strip down, before he climbed the PA system which flanked the stage to deliver fan favourite ‘All In,’ like some messiah preaching unto his loyal followers below, at one point halting the song to break up a scuffle at the back of the crowd - ‘It’s only love in here tonight…’

For a full hour, with rest breaks only for slightly calmer songs, Small Town Girl, WTF and Ctrl Alt Del, Bakar maintained a vibe of outrageous positive energy and perpetuated a sense of togetherness amongst those in the crowd; hopping into the mosh pits himself on a couple of occasions.

If it wasn’t clear before, then it certainly became clear over the course of the night, Bakar is a man with Big Dreams destined for big things. Venues like these seem to be what he’s made for, but, with support from some the biggest names in music and fashion (having recently walked in Virgil Abloh’s first Louis Vuitton show) I think he’s going to be popping up in much bigger venues in the near future. Last night he gave a performance that juxtaposed angst with charisma and provided me with one of the best Monday nights I’ve had in a long time.