Extenuating circumstances meant that there was nowhere I would rather be than getting to this gig straight away on time, so I was at the front of what turned into a massive queue for the De La Soul gig on an early January Thursday evening. Whilst doors were eventually opened 45 mins later, I was entertained in the queue by your not so typical Canberra hip hop crowd that was amassing all the way down to the bus interchange whilst the guys inside tried their darnedest to get the sound right.
And by the time myself and my betrothed got inside (both taking massive pride on getting the lovely door girl to look for our names on bits of paper), it was great to grab a beer and hear the awesome D’Opus playing his favourite records with aplomb… Keeping it classic and true to the real hip hop vibe that resonated strongly all night, he played interesting, funky hip hop tunes including the insanely dope Spinbad remix of KRS One’s Real Hip Hop…
Shortly (probably due to the late opening) the Down Under Beats crew stepped up. A 2 MC, 2 DJ quartet, their rhymes were tight, confident and somewhat appealing, even if their production didn’t quite hit me in the same way that all the classic beats that D’Opus before them had been dropping. What was good though was that the crowd was there and into it. When the DUB boys asked the crowd to cheer, they did, way louder than say for the excellent and popular Bliss and Esso supporting Ugly Duckling a few months ago. The vibe of the now sold-out-on-the-door room was electric – a mixture of alcohol, summertime bliss and anticipation for the main act had patrons really up for it, and that fed to the performances of all the supports.
Following on from the Aussie live act, DJ Danielsan stepped up to the plates and rocked the party… Playing appropriate warm-up tracks (a little light of the scratching, maybe because of the inexplicable delay on the fader of the super mixer they have in the booth at Acads) the pit was full of wiggling bodies that seemed to know their stuff – a cheer ran up when Danielsan dropped Koolism’s Adrenaline, and another noted to me that our great ARIA award speech giver was playing the radio edit of Ultramagnetic MC’s Give The Drummer Some (there is like on word different in the whole thing, albeit a noticeable one to familiar ears). I was impressed at the spotting, but also by the relative brilliance of the attractiveness of the crowd – mostly well dressed and up to scratch with their personal hygine, which is something that is sorely missed in some of the more bogan infested hip hop gigs that spring up in this fair capital of ours…
It was late, but it was almost too soon when DJ Maseo (the man responsible for the Clash sampling beat of the year contender in Mos Def’s Magnificent) came out, boomed a greeting to the crowd over his mic, and started warming us up with some Native Tongues tracks (lots of A Tribe Called Quest) and hyping the crowd to the point where the screams as Posdenuos and Trugoy came out and broke into the first track, the new banger Verbal Clap were true, loud and not out of place…
And from the get go they had the crowd in their grasp – ripping through a lot of their back catalogue in a well honed stage show that was tight in performance, not boring in the slightest, and really showing the depth and talent these guys have that have got them this far. Highlights of the first portion of the show were definitely the classics Me Myself & I and the fantastic crowd participatory Stakes Is High. Knowing full well most people might not know their new stuff (as all great touring bands to – from Less Than Jake to Sleater Kinney to Kool Kieth) they took time to introduce most new material, launching into blistering title track to The Grind Date, which despite not translating as well live as it does on record, still rocked the house entirely. Going through more back catalogue brilliance, the crowd got vocal during (It Aint) All Good, the perennial favourite A Rollerskating Jam Named Saturdays, and ending with what to me sounded like Breakadawn (but others say it was Baby Phat) and Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey), it served as notice about just how impressive this long standing hip hop crew are. Their new stuff is no fall off in quality at all, and their show is tight, entertaining and full of talent. They are clear across the mic, interact with the crowd with respect, and really do show the appreciation of their fans.
The best part of a De La gig in this town however, is when they talk about representing for true hip hop culture (see Stakes Is High), Canberra crowds really do seem to respond in kind. This was a Canberra hip hop crowd of the likes seen at the Latyrx show a few years ago, at some of Blackalicious’ aprearances or Lyrics Born’s gigs. This night there was no violence, no dirty poska wielding boys hiding in corners, and blokes posturing about how much weed they smoke ad nauseum. There was just a sold out Academy, full of punters enjoying a show put on by those that made hip hop great in the first place. No matter what the hip pop of today has become, there is a realness and quality in both music and sentiment of De La Soul that makes them popular without having to resort to cheap overproduced populist rubbish like so many of the new rap superstars. If there was anything wrong with this gig it was peripheral. They didn’t play Eye Know. There was a slight feedback problem for a little bit. We had to line up for a while to get in. But I doubt anyone walked away from that gig unhappy.
Next time they come to town, check them out. They aren’t getting too old for this at all.
