Machine Gun Kelly – Back In The Pink In Northern Return

Machine Gun Kelly is one of the biggest musical artists to have emerged in the past few years. His transition from Rap to Punk has seen him in some quarters to be a saviour of the genre.

His music is heavily influenced by groups such as Blink 182, Sum 41 and to a lesser extent Green Day. Anyone 30+ will probably heard it all before, but I am sure to a teenager it will have sounded fresh and exciting.

He arrived on stage suspended on a rope ladder from a pink helicopter, one of the many props used throughout a blistering two-hour set; at times it felt like being at an Iron Maiden concert with all the special effects.

Kelly knows his audience well and what they want: "Does anyone out there feel lonely?” he asked by way of an introduction to Die in California. Backed by a tight band, they utilised every rock pose cliché you could ever want; guitars held high in the air, a drummer who displayed his new tattoos on his head and Kelly making it feel like it was your best buddy up there on stage.

When he asked for a light for his cigarette, he gets one – from a flamethrower. At another point he levitated into the air as if by magic in what was in reality good old-fashioned entertainment wrapped up around a rock show.

The subject of feeling isolated was never far from his lips: "If you ever feel lonely, just press play and I’m right here" he offered, making the gesture sound sincere. Making the vast Leeds Arena seem intimate is no easy task, for Kelly, he made it feel we were in a small club. However, his ambitions stretch much further: “We want to headline Leeds Festival“ he acclaimed, which looking at the evidence tonight should be within easy reach.

Stopping Title Track half-way through due to an incident in the crowd he restarted as the mosh pit continued with the energy coming from the stage. It felt like a punk gig in 1977 – if you were old enough to have been there.

Emo Girl has one of the best choruses you could imagine in a rock song, it led into Glass House and Lonely, the latter being introduced with a swipe at the internet which appeared at odds with the massive social media following Kelly has.

“We want to return even bigger – this is just the beginning” he attested.

After the spectacular Leeds gig it felt hard not to believe him.