Fuck Hiphop shows. Seriously. I’m not going to any Hiphop shows any more.
The Clipse are the best Hiphop group out. Their album “Hell Hath No Fury” was the best Hiphop album of last year. By far. Seeing them live now ought to be comparable to seeing Public Enemy in 89 or Wu-Tang in 94.
Their show at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire last night was the worst concert I have ever been to.
The sound was terrible. Bad mic levels are a standard at Hiphop shows, they only really work if you know all the words already, because you’re not gonna catch them live. Malice shouted all of his rhymes, Pusha shouted all of his rhymes and most of Malice’s aswell.
Listen to a Clipse record. They don’t shout. Their whole persona is of dudes that don’t shout. They are inscrutably controlled and cold in their deliveries. Like Mobb Deep on “Shook Ones”, they do not make shouting music. I guess rap has to be shouted live, right? I mean everyone else does it, being the best group out shouldn’t mean you have to do things any different. Should it?
The music though…
The Empire has a decent sound system. I saw Ghostface there a few years ago and while the show was spoiled by the vocal interference of too many crew members, the sound was pretty good. All the beats sounded great.
With the Clipse we’re talking about impeccably engineered, sparser than sparse, Neptunes beats, played on vinyl over a sound system. We’re not talking about mic-ing up a thirty piece orchestra, they had Harry Love playing some instrumentals. It should have been easy. It sounded terrible.
About 20 minutes into the set I went off to have words with the soundman. I leaned over the booth until I got the dude’s attention and shouted “this sounds fucking shit” at him. He goes “Yeah I know, I’m just doing the lights” so I went round the other side to find the soundman. Rappers are forever berating the soundman, mostly to get their mics turned up (bad idea). Clipse didn’t mention the bad sound, they seemed oblivious. It would have been a bit rich if they had been blaming the soundman, since they didn’t turn up for a sound check. They apparently sent one dude (Ab Liva?) to do a mic check, for which he didn’t even come out on stage. Well done. The support, Kidz In The Hall, who did turn up for the sound check, had perfectly good sound, compounding the laziness of Clipse’s set.
Malice had a somewhat compelling intensity on stage but his brother seemed to be equal parts shouting and disinterest. Going through the motions of what must be a pretty long tour by now but trying to cover it by saying some words REALLY loud.
The arrival of “Keys Open Doors” managed to punch through my pissed off mood a bit. It is the best recent Hiphop song, from the best recent Hiphop album, from the best current Hiphop group. It ought to punch through a bad mood, but by the time Malice (the best rapper out, remember) got to his verse the energy had gone again. Too much bad sound for a group so polished on record (they had shitty feedback throughout two whole songs). Too little finesse from a group so careful in their writing and so calculating in their delivery.
I know “them crackers weren’t paying fair Jive” and the album tanked despite universal acclaim but if you’re going to tour for your money, you better tour a show worth seeing. Last night’s show was not.
The world of live music is thriving whilst the recorded music industry loses money. There are more and larger concerts, festivals and tours than ever but Hiphop is getting left behind. Most shows in London don’t sell out, regardless of the venue and this is not because Hiphop artists don’t sell here, it’s because everyone says Hiphop shows are shit. I’m done disagreeing with them.
Oh and Malice’s chain looks a lot like a Jim’ll Fix It medal:
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Yep. Terrible show…I would even stick my neck out to say its one of the worst shows I’ve ever been to (and I saw Toploader live once!).
Was a shame really cos ya man Malice was a good looking chap that just lacked the charisma, and for a short while I did think he was trying a bit. Pusha though was shouty and rubbish in my opinion,
Comment by Becca 22.06.07 @ 4:04 pmHip-hop stuff that I’ve been to seems to be a mixed bag, always dependant on how up for it the rappers are, as going through the motions blatantly isn’t enough.
I’ve seen Lyrics Born on two different Quannum nights at the Jazz Cafe and it was like seeing two different people – the first was a lazy slob, humiliated by Lateef onstage before him. The second a sleek machine, giving his all and putting on a great show. Baffling.
A while ago I went to see madlib at Koko for some Stones Throw thing which was Ok, but nothing to write home about…I’m going to another Stone’s Throw deal at Cargo on the 11th, and I’ve got no idea if it’s going to be a good night or a chore.
Nights out going to see hip-hop can seemingly go either way.
[...] Me old mucker beezer recently went to see Clipse. He posted it about on his new blog, 15 33 45 78 and gave me permission to repost it here. Make sure you check his blog as he has the theme to Grandstand on there too. Oh, and for those who didn’t know he also is one of the chief posters over at The Gat. [...]
Pingback by Altrap.com » ARTICLE: Clipse, Shepherds Bush Empire, London 24.06.07 @ 10:57 pmI had an equally upsetting Clipse concert experience in Los Angeles a few months ago…show began at 8pm and the bros. Thorton ambled in at midnight…the opening acts (who were curiously late) were unworthy of dung beetles, the DJ couldn’t keep a flow going btwn the audience and his selections, the sound was beyond wretched and the hype man would have been happier figuring short form tax documents (after 2.5 hours of lame crowd manipulation – i’d be rather bored too)
The sound got louder and crappier when the Clipse took the stage. It was to the point of ear damage….all shouting in vain over the bass cabinet and pacing the stage – no showmanship or enthusiasm apparent
I left after 4 songs….ears ringing –
what was worse was passing the Maybach Benz and assorted Range Rovers, Suburbans parked in front of the venue that obviously belonged to the headlining act…It was a kick in the face to this fan….I paid $30 USD for seeing crap I would curse and kick any bootlegger for trying to pass onto me for $5USD…
be about your business, Clipse!
Comment by misterchane 25.06.07 @ 5:36 pmReally good review well written. Really gives a flavor of the event and what it was like to be there rather than a boring overview of what you liked and didn’t like. This was apparently exactly what Danny Baker used to do back n the Seventies and became very influential doing it. Unfortunately his influence doesn’t seemed to have stretched to the modern era where they’re just boring overviews again. “Yeah I know, I’m just doing the lights†being my favourite bit. You should do stuff like this more often but I guess that requires seeing more shows first. Good stuff.
Comment by Nathaniel 26.06.07 @ 1:06 pmYeah, I heard that night was terrible. Strangely, I saw them in New York last year, also with Kidz, but also with Trae, and they were phenomenal. Crisp and clear sound, a small room, charisma to burn, and Ab Liva and Sandman on stage with them too doing the whole Reup gang shit. One of the best modern live shows I’ve seen. Lost in translation.
Comment by Drew Huge 30.09.07 @ 11:19 amLeave a comment