Solesides Reunion - London Kings Cross Scala - 6/12/00
4/5
By: Toby L
The last time rockfeedback was at the Scala saw a stunning set from Godspeed You Black Emperor! and a low key performance from Aphex Twin. For tonight, it's hip-hop. Two very different kinds of music, housed in the same venue to be reviewed by someone that's witnessed both shows. This website may be called rockfeedback, but luckily, our outlook on music surpasses the mainstream.
And it's surprising that Solesides never really were a part of the mainstream when they first jumped on to the scene in the early 1990s, sporting jams as phat as anything the Hill or Dre have produced in chart-land. MCs Gift of Gab, Lateef and Lyrics Born as well as the dulcet-toned Joyo Velarde repress lack of animation onstage as they holler and yell the crowd into a frenzy, free-styling and rhyming with an intent to entertain. The audience, a mixture of dirty beatniks and trend-setters from the old skool, groove and bump their way through the lengthy set, which only shuts down just before midnight.
However, it really must be mentioned for those that still aren't excited about the return of these acts - it spawned the Mo Wax legends DJ Shadow and Blackalicious as well as the funk-meisters Latryx. Performing all onstage tonight - at the same time - sends shivers down your pelvis as the decks spin records of a thrilling nature: 'A2G', which even has the people in the Gods of the venue bopping and chanting, as well as the stomp of 'The Wreckoning'. It's like live instruments were never invented. Or needed.
The crowd participation should be noted too - never before have more 'bitches' and 'hustlers' 'hoe-d' their way through the night in the form of screams, claps and singalongs. It's cheesy and probably dated, but it doesn't prevent it from being pulse-racing. The beeps, the squeaks, the beats, the bleeps bounce against backdrops of bass and shoulder-shaking tunes designed to massage your dancing shoes. And now many of the on-stage magnets are known under the banner of Quannam - well, let's watch them quanquer the dancefloors from here to NY, NY all over again.
Artists in this article: Solesides Reunion
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