Caught in the Crossfire

Astoria
04/02/06

Metal detectors, extensive bag and pocket searches and security and police everywhere you looked.

Was I in an American airport with an Iraqi passport? Was this the introduction for a new series of the Krypton Factor?

Or maybe this was an elaborate Government plan to rid the country of hooded young ‘uns? In fact, all this was just to make sure Kano didn’t have to cancel another show due to the threat from outside of firearms. A shame that this sort of thing has to happen, especially to someone as amiable as Kano, but still, once in, it mattered not.

Kano strode on to Home Sweet Home and from the very first beat, it was clear that he was here to take over, to have a good time and to show everyone that nothing was going to stop him performing. After the mobile phones had returned back to pockets, Kano decided to mix things up a little right from the off and threw in The Mitchell Brother’s Routine Check, which he has a guest verse on, and turned it into a karaoke show with the crowd rapping the chorus over and over whilst he filled in the verse. His part in the remix of The Streets’ Fit But You Know It was a definite crowd favourite too but it was the track sandwiched in between these two, his truly grimy anthem Boys Luv Girls, which cranked the Astoria into the cruising gears.

Davinche’s ear drum splitting bassline of Ps & Qs raised the already skyline reaching roof as hands pumped the air and Kano strode confidently around the stage, as if he were a different man to the one that had to grow into his role only a few weeks back at the Carling New Kings show in Islington. After the garage infused Nobody Don’t Dance No More, Kano brought out Dangermouse, Demon and Ghetto to add the next dimension of the show as the beat to the awesome grime compilation Run The Road 2’s first track, Get Set, blasted out, pouring sonic frenzy over the audience.

All 3 newcomers bring something different to the stage, Dangermouse’s low but head snapping delivery, Ghetto’s schizophrenic spitting and dancing and Demon’s almost screeching rhymes and Demon set it alight when he dropped his verse from Lethal Bizzle’s underground anthem Forward Riddim before flowing with his opening rhymes to Gangster Toyz.

After Demon had unveiled a new track in which both Rio Ferdinand and Alex Ferguson were name checked, the guest MCs disappeared, to be replaced by Leo The Lion as Kano delivered Nite Nite. He made the show more personal during this part of his set, talking to the crowd, going down along the front row and allowing himself to be at one with his fans whilst Leo sang the chorus to his last single

When the guitar-led Typical Me was played, it meant a return for the 3 henchmen, which signalled the start for Ghetto to really show what he can do. His final verse on Typical Me pulled no punches before Mic Check played out and his near-epileptic stage presence brought out multiple cheers and screams from the people in the pit.

Throughout the good natured set, when it was thought that nothing could top what was just heard, Kano pulled out anthem after anthem, none more apparent that the Ps & Qs remix of Damian Marley’s Welcome To Jamrock which got the one finger skanking hype and the booties shaking. After crowd favourite Ghetto Kid and Reload It, Kane told the crowd it was time to wrap it up because of the security curfew, and asked if we wanted him to be arrested like [Ms] Dynamite, to delighted whoops.

The encore was a more laid back affair with a track lifted from his recent mixtape Beats And Bars and the chilled out Brown Eyes. But his set was anything but laid back and chilled over all, he was great on the mic throughout the entire show and he was backed up not just by other MCs who were friends of his, but 3 MCs who each had their own personality and gave something to the show instead of just cluttering the stage. Curfews or not, this was a hot show, and the diversity of the set list made it even more enjoyable, instead of just relying on the material that made him big. He gave it back to the old school fans and kept it as grime as he could. Spot on.

For more info on Kano, go to www.ka-no.com

Abjekt

Mean Fiddler
24/01/06

Having formed a few years ago in their native Canada, it was only last year that Bedouin Soundclash made themselves known on this side of the pond, providing the soundtrack to last summer with the excellent reggae-rock stylings of the Sounding A Mosaic album. Following a successful support slot with the Ordinary Boys back in October, they’ve returned to London for the last night of a sold-out headline tour, and the level of anticipation is almost tangible.

Credit to the band for bringing along a genuine reggae legend as support; Vernon Maytone, formerly of 70s reggae duo the Maytones, whose song Money Worries was covered by the Soundclash on Sounding A Mosaic. So who better than the boys themselves to play as his backing band? Ever the charismatic performer, Vernon leads them through renditions of classics such as Hurry Up and Mr. Postman, clearly winning a few new fans in the process.

Half an hour later, Bedouin Soundclash return to play their own material; and great songs they are, too, with the Mean Fiddler’s unusually excellent sound accentuating the band’s highly danceable rhythms. A shame, then, that the majority of the crowd remain statuesque throughout the set, although the late airing of previous single When The Night Feels My Songhelps to get people moving. The set is culled mainly from Sounding A Mosaic, but also features a couple of promising new tracks, as well as a few choice covers (most notably, a welcome snippet of The Clash’s Guns Of Brixton‘ and U2’s New Year’s Day)

The real treat, however, is saved for the encore, when Vernon Maytone returns to help out with vocals on the aforementioned Money Worries; complete with loud crowd participation and a funky, improvised coda. It’s a great finale to a superb performance, from one of Canada’s most promising new bands. If you missed out this time, then watch out for future tour dates – because on this form, Bedouin Soundclash won’t be playing intimate venues for much longer, especially when the new album drops this year featuring guests such as Money Mark.

www.bedouinsoundclash.com

Alex Gosman

Jazz Café
01/02/06

When you go to a Killa Kela show, you know you’re in for a treat. The beatboxer extraordinaire was on form at this Camden show which was played out in front of a sold out crowd, including Madness front man Suggs, who seemed to be enjoying himself throughout.

After a couple of opening numbers, Kela brought out the crowd pleasing beatbox and after the crowd were hyped enough, he brought out his backing group, Spit Kingdom, and introduced the small orchestra to his left, which included some very pronounced and effective violin players. A smooth rendition of Rave Of The Future followed by Supergrass showcased Kela’s talent as a singer rather than just be known as a beatboxer.

The Spit Kingdom’s vocalists both came into the fore throughout certain songs, MC Trip hyping the main man to good effect and the female vocals were especially good when Kela was providing a vocal rendition of track’s percussion. Standing In The Rain was a definite crowd pleaser with a nice reggae vibe bouncing along as the crowd got increasingly into the sung stuff, but it was what followed that really made the show a belter.

Kela started off by battling the drums on the stage, mimicking and improving on what the real kit was playing, and then broke out some human scratching. After Secrets, the first single from his album Elocution, the real beatboxing extravaganza came out. So sure was Kela of the greatness of this part of the show, he told people to get out their mobiles and record the whole thing! Mixed in with double time drums and feeding off shouts from MC Trip to do snares, then bass, then kicks, the reloads, were renditions of Kelis’ Milkshake, J-Lo, Jay Z, Kanye West and Snoop before Trip reeled off his own little spiel which included the golden line “I’ve got more rhymes than Kate Moss has had lines”.

The set finished with Jawbreaker which built up a bassy beat before finally exploding into a Drum n Bass backing as everyone on the stage got hyped and this passed out onto the crowd, all of whom were bouncing along quickly to the beat. This was a great ending to a good set, but it was a little disappointing that the set only lasted about 35 minutes, especially since there had been no support on the night. Still, Kela certainly has talent, an abnormally high voiced talent, but a talent nonetheless.

You know the drill, go to www.killakela.com for all the official jazzmatazz.

Abjekt