For me, this one was personal. After missing out on his previous tour, more specifically the show in Budapest Park, there was nothing keeping me away from Machine Gun Kelly’s final show in the Irish capital. Lucky.
The final European stop of MGK’s Lost Americana tour landed in the 3Arena in Dublin, and it felt like one of those nights where everything just came together: the crowd, the setlist, the energy. From the very beginning, you could tell the crowd felt easy, every generation found its home. The kids and the adult had fun, just like the teenagers and young adults dancing around with their beers. There was no slow build-up, we were in it immediately.
The standing section barely stood still, and by the time the bigger songs came on, it turned into one massive singalong.
Visually, the stage was easily the most impressive part of the show. It wasn’t just the background, with the constant moving, it felt like we are watching a theatrical show ina very lively environment. If you were able to take your eyes off MGK, sure as hell you found something to look at on the stage. There was a cigarette element built into the stage, and at one point a separate lighter-like piece actually “lit” it. It sounds simple, but live it looked insane. MGK even mentioned during the show how much they love the stage and it feels homely to the whole crew, and honestly, it showed. This was the kind of setup that can carry a whole performance.
The setlist had a really good range. It moved naturally between slower, more emotional songs and full-on party tracks. MGK switching between rock, country and rap live just works. It doesn’t feel forced, it actually keeps the whole vibe going and did not break the atmosphere at all. The biggest hits were clearly the crowd favourites, those were the loudest moments of the night.
One of the highlights for me was when the beginning of “Rap Devil” played.
Not the full track, but even that short moment got a huge reaction. You could feel how much people still the appreciate MGK’s old sound.
What made it even more impressive was that he performed with a broken finger. He mentioned it in the beginning, that thanks to shooting a video the previous day his finger gave up for the concert, but based on his energy and performance, you wouldn’t have guessed it. He was running around, engaging with the crowd, fully in it the whole time.
There were also some more touching, personal moments. At one point, he stopped to talk and dance with a little girl in the crowd, which felt very natural, showing his softer, girl dad side. And of course, we did not go home without the essential “bringing fans on stage” part, which always adds something extra to his shows.
After the concert, reality hit: getting a taxi was nearly impossible. So we ended up hopping into a tuk-tuk and heading to the nearest bar, where we closed the night with some proper Irish music. It was the perfect, slightly chaotic ending to an already unforgettable Dublin night.
