21 April 2023 – Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne – words by Eloise Coomber – pictures by Sara Regan
Margaret Court Arena is buzzing from the doors open, with the crowd generally on the younger side as they stream into the venue in excitement. Tonight, is Ruel’s arena debut show, and his internet-made popularity is evident with the fans chatting and rush around to their seats. This is the 4th Wall tour, a debut album that peppers surveillance references and themes of watching each other throughout its track-list. The venue in Melbourne only seems fitting for the 20-year-old’s meteoric rise since his debut single Golden Years in 2017.
Forest Claudette opens the night, with a soulful Frank Ocean sound mixed with Amine’s excitement. The Triple J Unearthed High alum remains relatively static onstage but commands his chosen spot well, moving along with the crowd. Gleaming in a bold set of emerald wide-leg pants, Claudette is all smiles, waving at the enamoured lookers-on and grooving to ‘Mess Around’, with beats reminiscent of Tyler the Creator’s Flowerboy era.
The tonality of the tracks is flawless, with the 24-year-old gliding seamlessly between low punchy lyrics to soaring falsetto in ‘Gone Without a Trace’. It would not be surprising if the audience were there to just see him, his curling and rolling vocals already at the level of a seasoned performer. Claudette captures the crowd well in his short set, closing out with a Moses Sumeny cover to sparkling phone lights.
From there, it is evident how well Ruel knows his audience. The anticipation is built through an expertly tuned pre-show track list of Wet Leg, Interplanetary Criminal and Five Seconds of Summer. The barrier is bursting before the lights go down, cutting to black as the rising sirens and spotlight of the “4th Wall authority” searches for the missing popstar. Ruel emerges from the dark, energetic from the get-go with ‘YOU AGAINST YOURSELF’.
The stage is designed well, with different levels and props throughout for the performer to interact with. Following the of theme surveillance on the album, there are cameramen on stage seemingly recording everything the 20-year-old does. His age waxes and wanes in noticeability; at some points, his sentences will crack on certain words, but the depths of his emotional-driven lyrics are easily beyond his years. Ruel has often been compared to the king of vulnerable pop, Harry Styles, and it is clear where Ruel sets himself apart from the English superstar. There are similar self-effacing and surprisingly bashful quips after each song, including simply stating “That’s the song” after the gut-wrencher ‘must be nice’.
Though throughout the set there seems to be an edge of awkwardness to the Sydney-raised singer, a lapse where the grandiosity of the arena and his control of the stage doesn’t seem to quite line up. Though the crowd are eager to double what he deals out to them regardless, squealing, and roaring wherever they can. The setlist is impressive, dotted with One Direction and JVKE covers, and nods to his earlier work. In particular, ‘Free Time’ fully embraces the big-band capabilities of Ruel’s accompanying musicians. There are plenty of sing-along moments and bursts of rock-landed energy. ‘Younger’ brings together the 7,500 fans with ease.
Overall, Ruel puts on a great performance, though it seems he may still have to find his show-legs – something that will come with time. Margaret Court Arena will be the first of many large-scale shows as the slicked, sunny kid continues to rise through the charts.
