Concert review: Nelly, BOB & Lupe Fiasco, Logan Campbell Centre

Hip-hop star Nelly.

Multiple sweatbands, songs dedicated entirely to vowel sounds and his inability to spell 'here' correctly. When it comes to rap star Nelly, there's plenty to laugh about.

The St Louis rapper found himself performing at a mini-fest of middle-tier hip-hop at Auckland's Logan Campbell Centre last night, headlining a bill that also featured the bratty antics of Chicago's Lupe Fiasco and clubby vibe of North Carolina's BOB.

Nelly peaked with his 2000 debut Country Grammar and has been an infrequent contributor to the charts since 2004's dual album release Sweat and Suit. Completing his slide, his seventh album MO was released in 2013 and has sold a reported 23,000 copies in the US.

But stats, jokes and facial plasters aside, here's the thing: it's highly likely the 1500-odd fans in attendance had a better time than whatever it was anyone else was doing on this balmy Wednesday night.

The night kicked off with Fiasco, who these days is doing his best to live up to his last name. His style is a confused mix of throwback rap, fiery social commentary and epic Eminem-esque pop showstoppers, delivered with egotistical sermons between each song.

It's easy to see why the rapper once described as a mini-Kanye West has stumbled since his days as a Big Day Out regular and frequent New Zealand visitor.

His unevenly paced set came with summery highs of Kick, Push and Go Go Gadget Flow, the grand statements of Battlescars and Superstar, and the dumb throwaway pop of Out of My Head.

He saved his best for songs from his new album Tetsuo & Youth, due out on January 20, so let's hope fantastic recent single Next To It - an upbeat commentary on sexism in advertising and the music industry - is the start of a turnaround.

BOB was the night's most current act, and it's no coincidence he's also the most accomplished rapper. He delivered a fast-paced set that felt like it was straight out of an Ibiza nightclub, thanks to up-tempo pop rap hits Magic, Don't Let Me Fall and Ray Bands backed by an eyeball-wincing light show.

He was a charismatic performer but over 40 minutes his style did start to feel repetitive, falling back on his charisma and tried-and-true hip-hop concert cliches. But it hardly matters when you've got a hit like Headband up your sleeve - BOB's best song that's so catchy you'll be whistling that damned hook for days.

Disappointingly, Nelly didn't emerge on stage with a plaster splashed across his cheek, nor was there a sweatband in sight. But he did bring all of those hits that made him a bonafide superstar in the early 2000s, like Ride Wit Me, a song that came with those handwaving singsong hooks of his, and EI, including a chorus that manages to cover off every vowel sound in the English language.

It was early hits like Country Grammar, with a risky but successful heavier reworking, and the terribly dated hook of Hot in Herre that really managed to make the venue feel like a time machine back to any nightclub at 2am circa 2002.

That was Nelly's expected climax, and it would have been impossible to find anyone in the venue not up on their feet, dancing and having the time of their lives.

But the night's real show-stopping moment came courtesy of a touchy-feely fan who, after being invited on stage to dance, couldn't keep her hands off the headliner, pawing at him relentlessly as he serenaded her with Over and Over, his awkward ballad with country crooner Tim McGraw.

Alongside all those that came with plasters stuck to their cheeks, she had everyone in hysterics, proving once and for all this really was a night just for the fans.

Nelly, BOB & Lupe Fiasco
Where: Logan Campbell Centre, Auckland
When: Wednesday, January 14