Kano Live - Old Fire Station...
Published by Warren Dell under on Monday, March 20, 2006
Kano’s first tour ended in Bournemouth Saturday night at the tax dodging haven for students the Old Fire Station and left me very impressed with his performance. Part gig performance, part pirate radio set and 20 minute garage rave both the grime connoisseurs and people who know him just from his album output were left satisfied. And there was David Banner’s 30 minutes of crunk thrown in as well to warm things up!
With crunk often labelled as the US equivalent of grime it will be interesting to see if any collaborations come out with David Banner such was his enthusiasm and praise for Kano and Sway. The former who he’s been opening up for on this tour and the latter who he supported in London last week. The results would certainly be interesting and Banner more than warmed up the crowd running through hits Like A Pimp and Play. For a moment he turned it into a sea of head rockers with Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit and crowd surfing antics. That is one big guy so well done to the people who held him up for like a minute until he dropped to the floor, then appearing all over the venue and standing on the tables. Whether the conscious crunk of Banner is your thing or not, you can’t knock the guys performance and he really does make sure the billed act is on their toes not to be out done by his warming up.
While it would have been great to then hear some grime or garage to fill the time in between acts, apart from the Run The Road cd at the start it was understandable to hear some latest and classic Hip-Hop tracks more accessible to the crowd.
When Kano came out though to the album opener and title cut Home Sweet Home, it began a night where like Dizzee Rascal before him he would display the professionalism of someone who has graduated from pirate stations and raves to entertaining a widely ranging crowd.
P’s & Q’s hit the crowd early before Dangermouse and Demon (Ghetto was M.I.A) came on stage. The three in a nod to where they came from began spitting their well known bars over some of the biggest instrumentals from the past year like it was a pirate radio set. For Kano connoisseurs his own take on Damien Marleys Jamrock from the Beats and Bars mixtape and a new itunes downloadable track Buss That were received well from the first time listeners.
One of the biggest cheers of the night, mostly from the ladies in attendance was for Nite, Nite and new single Brown Eyes. They may not be your cuppa if you’re into your grime but they have attracted a new breed of fan that is needed for the eventual mainstream acceptance of the grime scene, and they’ve certainly helped Kano sell a few more numbers of his record.
The more grime led and favoured tracks of the album Mic Check and Signs In life had the crowd in its most frenzied and rock-like stage by moshing, I almost felt sorry for the flying elbow I gave someone (all in the name of music of course). It was surprising at how many people knew the track Boys Love Girls which was made when Kano was 16 and first put him onto peoples radars. The crowd were certainly going against the grain of what the track Nobody Don't Dance No More stood for with the four to the floor beats having the crowd skanking and perfectly set up for Kano's DJ to drop garage anthem after anthem. Hits from More Fire, Donaeo and even Pay As Go added another twist to the night which saw Kano bring girls up on stage and hold a mini rave, taking a back seat to the other major players in the scenes hits.
As an encore Kano, Dangermouse and Demon all spit bars over Mylo's Doctor Pressure giving it a nice twist. The instrumental has been crying out for some dubplate action. Then the Diplo produced Reload It capped what had been a very polished performance. Kano's constant energy and interaction with the crowd was that of someone who has been performing gigs for longer than he actually has, and he wasn't afraid to take a step back to let his cohorts Demon and Dangermouse take the centre stage, even stepping back while tracks by other artists were played. It's not often you can go to see an artist put on a show that combines tracks suited for live outings while still capturing that club feel of others. At times you felt you were at a Sidewinder rave rather than a gig, which is not a bad thing. Lethal Bizzle is down the Old Fire Station next and the bar was well and truly set on Saturday.
With crunk often labelled as the US equivalent of grime it will be interesting to see if any collaborations come out with David Banner such was his enthusiasm and praise for Kano and Sway. The former who he’s been opening up for on this tour and the latter who he supported in London last week. The results would certainly be interesting and Banner more than warmed up the crowd running through hits Like A Pimp and Play. For a moment he turned it into a sea of head rockers with Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit and crowd surfing antics. That is one big guy so well done to the people who held him up for like a minute until he dropped to the floor, then appearing all over the venue and standing on the tables. Whether the conscious crunk of Banner is your thing or not, you can’t knock the guys performance and he really does make sure the billed act is on their toes not to be out done by his warming up.
While it would have been great to then hear some grime or garage to fill the time in between acts, apart from the Run The Road cd at the start it was understandable to hear some latest and classic Hip-Hop tracks more accessible to the crowd.
When Kano came out though to the album opener and title cut Home Sweet Home, it began a night where like Dizzee Rascal before him he would display the professionalism of someone who has graduated from pirate stations and raves to entertaining a widely ranging crowd.
P’s & Q’s hit the crowd early before Dangermouse and Demon (Ghetto was M.I.A) came on stage. The three in a nod to where they came from began spitting their well known bars over some of the biggest instrumentals from the past year like it was a pirate radio set. For Kano connoisseurs his own take on Damien Marleys Jamrock from the Beats and Bars mixtape and a new itunes downloadable track Buss That were received well from the first time listeners.
One of the biggest cheers of the night, mostly from the ladies in attendance was for Nite, Nite and new single Brown Eyes. They may not be your cuppa if you’re into your grime but they have attracted a new breed of fan that is needed for the eventual mainstream acceptance of the grime scene, and they’ve certainly helped Kano sell a few more numbers of his record.
The more grime led and favoured tracks of the album Mic Check and Signs In life had the crowd in its most frenzied and rock-like stage by moshing, I almost felt sorry for the flying elbow I gave someone (all in the name of music of course). It was surprising at how many people knew the track Boys Love Girls which was made when Kano was 16 and first put him onto peoples radars. The crowd were certainly going against the grain of what the track Nobody Don't Dance No More stood for with the four to the floor beats having the crowd skanking and perfectly set up for Kano's DJ to drop garage anthem after anthem. Hits from More Fire, Donaeo and even Pay As Go added another twist to the night which saw Kano bring girls up on stage and hold a mini rave, taking a back seat to the other major players in the scenes hits.
As an encore Kano, Dangermouse and Demon all spit bars over Mylo's Doctor Pressure giving it a nice twist. The instrumental has been crying out for some dubplate action. Then the Diplo produced Reload It capped what had been a very polished performance. Kano's constant energy and interaction with the crowd was that of someone who has been performing gigs for longer than he actually has, and he wasn't afraid to take a step back to let his cohorts Demon and Dangermouse take the centre stage, even stepping back while tracks by other artists were played. It's not often you can go to see an artist put on a show that combines tracks suited for live outings while still capturing that club feel of others. At times you felt you were at a Sidewinder rave rather than a gig, which is not a bad thing. Lethal Bizzle is down the Old Fire Station next and the bar was well and truly set on Saturday.
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1 comments:
Sergio Mendes - The Frog
in #1????ffs brother.ffs..cool blog though.
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