Kung Fu Kenny and Double "Humble": Five Surprises from Kendrick Lamar's "DAMN." Tour in Australia

Kendrick Lamar has returned Down Under for the first time since 2016, and yes, the wait was too DAMN long.

But West Australians had to wait even longer for the King’s return: the last time he came to our shores was in 2012.

No surprise K.Dot nearly sold out the 15,500 capacity Perth Arena last night (definitely a boost from the 1,000-person venue he played here six years ago). He next heads to Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on 13 July, Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide on 15 July and Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on 24 July. He’ll also play Splendour in the Grass in NSW the weekend prior to his standalone Sydney gig.

So, what are Aussies in for?

Well, we don’t want to spoil all the surprises Kendrick has in store. Then again, there is no possible way to spoil with mere words the electric performance of one of the world’s most incendiary and captivating live acts. With that in mind, here’s what we saw on the first stop of DAMN. tour.

Kung Fu Kenny's back, baby.

No, Kendrick Lamar didn’t suddenly become super-serious after winning the Pulitzer Prize. (Nor was he ever the entirely po-faced conscious rapper people make him out to be; remember "Backseat Freestyle"?) He kicks off his latest tour by resurrecting the character of Kung Fu Kenny in a goofy, funny, maybe-culture-appropriating short film, wherein Lamar’s martial artist Kenny seeks "the glow", finding it in a fairly unexpected location. Chunks of the short play throughout the show. You can watch a bit of it below.

(Coarse language warning.)

He’s joined on stage by a ninja. Kinda.

After the first short, the tour roars to life with "DNA" off DAMN., and we get our first glimpse of Charm La’Donna, a choreographer from Lamar’s hometown of Compton and the only dancer to share the stage with him throughout the evening. She’s introduced as a costumed ninja. It is radical. That's the only word for it.

Kendrick plays all the hits. Mostly.

Almost all 14 tracks from DAMN. get a guernsey—except, most notably, closer "Duckworth"—and he whips out plenty of classic tunes from breakout record good kid. M.A.A.D. city too, like the aforementioned "Backseat Freestyle", "B**** Don’t Kill My Vibe" and "Money Trees". However, first album Section 80 goes largely unrepresented—besides one short shout-out—and he opts against performing "i" off To Kill a Butterfly, despite the presence of a live band. (That’s how the song deserves to be heard!) And yet, those aren’t nearly the biggest omissions…

He avoids the biggest Black Panther cuts.

Earlier this year, Kendrick produced an inspired soundtrack to Black Panther, on which he appears in basically every track. But unless my ears were mistaking me, Lamar only took the audience to Wakanda once, with the Travis Scott joint "Big Shot" (really?), leaving out the most notable tunes, "All the Stars", "Pray for Me" and "King’s Dead". Then again, considering how collaborative those songs are—and the fact he, disappointingly, didn’t bring SZA in his suitcase—maybe avoiding them was for the best.

Kendrick makes us sing "Humble" once, then just does it himself.

Mercifully, Lamar didn’t pull any punters up on stage to accidentally drop the N-word, as he’s been doing in America. Instead, towards the end of the show, he lets the audience sing almost all of his biggest hit, "Humble". Sure, you may not have paid a couple hundred dollars to watch a largely white crowd perform an a cappella rendition of "Humble". But then, concerts are a communal experience and if you can’t enjoy 15.000 people singing "my left stroke just went viral" in unison, why did you even come?

(Coarse language warning.)

Header Image: YouTube.com/KendrickLamarVEVO & iStock.com/Logorilla