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Gigs - Hip-Hop vs Indie...

Published by Warren Dell under on Tuesday, October 24, 2006
I love my Hip-Hop, Grime and R'n'B as much as the next man, but last week I went to see the Klaxons play as part of the Club NME tour with an Indie loving mate. It was a big eye opener for me compared to any Hip-Hop gigs I've been too, the two environments are worlds apart. To reflect this I've compared the two below with the following important catagories that define any night. So here goes...

Price

For the price of getting into your average club I had three bands all put in performances of great length. If I'm going to a Hip-Hop gig you're easily looking at £25 to £30 for an American act and some sub-standard UK acts you've never heard of outside Channel U. LL Cool J at Brixton recently was £30 plus but I guess it's an unfair comparison - someone whose career spans 20 years while the acts at the Club NME tour were less than 20 months. Average price for a UK gig I would put at the £6/7 mark which is alright. But if you include the American acts and average the price then I'd say indie wins this one.

Winner -Indie

Girls


Like I've said before you rarely get many girls at any UK Hip-Hop gigs, there is an abundance of sweaty blokes in hoodies but little in the way of gash. However since a local fashionable bar started putting on gigs there has been an upsurge in female attendance. The Club NME night seemed to have a great door policy and meant the whole night was spent watching what was happening on stage with one eye and what was around us with the other.

Winner - Indie

Atmosphere


Glowsticks should be taken out at every clubbing opportunity. The next Hip-Hop gig I'll be there with my b-boy moves and waving those flurescent sticks around like i'm in the Prodigy. Everyone was up for a good time and really apreciated the music. For people who love Hip-Hop so much when it comes to a gig there seems to be little emotion and people standing still. The fact that you can have people pushing and shoving around in excitement of a song without anyone getting rowdy at the indie night was a sight to be seen. So was being in my first mosh pit experience. My mate and more experienced man of the mosh said that it was a little on the tame side - despite the fact that he chipped his tooth and a girl got knocked onto the floor Friday style during one song. I thought it was going to be tears before bedtime but she jumped up, smiled and threw herself back in. Committment. Something quite sexy about that...erm...

Winner - Indie

People


There was no attitude or what you looking at I'll murk you at ten paces stares. If you bumped into anyone people were quick to apologise rather than start trouble. While at the bar people would just strike up random conversations with you and were all very friendly. When I saw Kano in Bournemouth a group of guys got over zealous and pushed a few of us, after pushing back they said they would all murk me outside. Still qued for my Subway though.

Winner - Indie

Performance


This one is difficult as apart from seeing The Ordinary Boys twice the Klaxons was the only other time I've been at an indie gig. All three groups were full of energy despite being the last night of the tour. On the other hand I've seen some great performances this year alone from Yungun, Sway, Kano, Klashnekoff and David Banner to name a few. This one's a tough call as I've seen plenty of US acts turn up and fart out a performance but as Indie seems to be trouncing Hip-Hop here I'm going to have to give them a helping hand and say Hip-Hop takes this one.

Winner - Hip-Hop

Bouncers


No ass grabbing/belt pulling/borderline raping from bouncers who make you feel like a criminal going on at the indie night. Although as threatening a weapon you could have found on anyone would have been a glowstick. All it took was a simple hello and name check on the guys clipboard (because of a mistake in sending out tickets, not cos we roll VIP) and we were in. Bouncers were clearly picked on at school and now they have size on their side they are determined to annoy everyone that passes through. At Hip-Hop gigs in London the treatment is disgusting, like being judged on entry. So many hoops to jump through.

Winner - Indie

Overall


Sad to say but my big indie night out just proved to me that Hip-Hop gigs on the whole are rubbish and a waste of money. It won't stop me from going but I'll be having a note of caution attached the next time I find out about a gig. The less big name American acts I see the better I feel about going to Hip-Hop gigs and if they could just incorporate a few things from what I experienced at the indie night then the nights would be a lot better on the whole. Still, De La Soul are playing in Southampton tomorrow and you know that will not disappoint. Review and pics to come.

3 comments:

Anonymous said... @ 3:09 AM

Can see ur point with all of this

BUT you cant beat dance slash hiphop gigs (saw scratch perverts last weekend, they were fucking siiiiiiiick)... they have all the atmosphere and general brilliance of the indie one u just described but with the added bonus of far, far better music!

dont get me wrong, indie (esp the klaxons) is sound. but at the end of the day a decent bit of hiphop can kick its ass any day!

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