rideside.net

05/01/07 Middle East Cambridge MA

EL-P
Hangar 18
Mr. Dibbs and the Mighty Quin
Slow Suicide Stimulus
Yak Ballz
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<a href="http://store.definitivejux.net/store/artist_hangar_18.html">Hangar 18</a> et. al. were ok -I hadn't heard any of the opening acts before, and the sound was less than stellar both vocally and from the DJ's. H18 took a move from the Faith No More playbook - they named their 2004 Def Jux album <i>The Multiplatinum Debut Album</i> similar to FNM's 1997 album <i>Album Of The Year</i>. H18's style seemed to be that of vocal Hot Potato from the dual MC's with servicable and solid beats, but nothing that overwhelmed me. They had one track that had a fun sped up Guns N Roses loop which I enjoyed.

After being introduced to the stage by his greying ponytailed (mellow California looking dude wearing a vest)father,EL-P came out in an orange jumpsuit with bruise makeup and fake blood to run with the "I'll Sleep When You're Dead" motif.

EL-Producto ripped right into 'Tasmanian Pain Coaster' with a quick 1-2 punch into one of his biggest 'hits' amongst fans: 'Deep Space 9mm' from 2002's <i>Fantastic Damage</i>

Aside from the bandana-masked dj in fatigues at the back of the stage, EL-P was accompanied by a tall mc sidekick in olive drab fatigues (I didn't catch his name and I haven't consulted any 'hip-hop head' kids to confirm his identity -sorry)

EL-P knew his audience well and there was a lot of frenzied and active crowd participation - call and response segments - both to his more 'classic' repretoire as well as to the majority of the selections played off of <i>I'll Sleep</i>....

I found this verbal interaction impressive because on EL-P's records the vocals are buried in a morass of sonic shrapnel, so most of these kids in the audience (yep I am so totally not age appropriate for this shit anymore) have either been doing their headphone homework or have dorked out on the album's included lyric sheet. (BTW: included lyric sheets on Hip-Hop albums are such a rare but welcomed treat for me when I get them - you usually have to guess at what folks are saying)

After the first 3 or 4 songs, there was a breakdown for the DJ which included some turntable interplay which used Radiohead's <i>National Anthem</i> as a foundation. The DJ segment was quickly halted, however as there were to be mondo sound problems for the DJ from this point on in the show.

I think I read somewhere off of Def Jux's site that EL-P was rehearsing with a band for some of these gigs, so honestly I was a tad disappointed to just see a single folding banquet table laden with a bunch of turntables, AKAIS / samplers, crossfaders, mixers and hard-drives loaded with beats, but it was still a great show because of the command EL-P et. al had over the audience.

B / B+