Yeat review – US rapper brings exploding, sweat-drenched pandemonium

Depot Mayfield, Manchester
Filled with chaotic sounds and infectious melodies, there’s a ferocious pace to the mysterious figure’s first European headline – a ribcage-reverberating success

Drinks are flying, items of clothing are whizzing through the air, smoke cannons are billowing and the bass is thunderous. “It’s fucking mental in there, I had to get out,” says one sweat-drenched man, crawling out of the crowd. He’s only two songs into his first ever solo headline show in Europe but Yeat, the hugely successful 24-year-old US rapper, who is racking up streams in the billions, has already turned the crowd into a frenzy.

The fact that he rips straight into IDGAF, the 2023 Drake track he guested on, certainly helps. It’s a 14+ show, and this very young, very shirtless, very hyped crowd bounce in unison with its sputtering beats and jittery groove. On top, Yeat delivers his distinct flow, one that glides between a rich, resonant, almost malevolent rap and glistening Auto-Tune-coated hooks. It sets the pace for an evening that is as full of off-centre rhythms and chaotic sounds as it is subtly infectious melodies.