Cheltenham has never been known as a hotbed of thrilling live music. But that could be changing. Last night I was at the Town Hall to see trailblazing breaks/hip-hop duo Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip.
At around 10.15pm, DJ Dan 'Le Sac' Stephens - short, a little chubby, with searching, Gollum-esque eyes and classic farmer sideburns - strode onto the huge stage and, brilliantly, began remixing the theme tune from The Antiques Roadshow.
This set up a triumphant entrance for Dan's rabbi-bearded chum David Meads - aka Scroobius Pip - provoking a huge roar from the assembled throng, as the duo launched into The Beat That My Heart Skipped.
Rarely is live music such pure, unadulterated FUN. Playing a series of crowd-pleasing classics from debut album Angles, Dan and Pip showed why they're one of the most original and cutting-edge acts in British music today.
Fixed sees Dan take the unmistakable beats of Dizzee Rascal's Fix Up Look Sharp and smash them against each other at calamitous intervals, while Pip's polemic dismisses mainstream hip-hop, using Dizzee's 'pop hit' chorus to demand artists "don’t make another pop hit, be smart; take it back to the start...like KRS and Rakim use passion and heart".
Look For The Woman, an incisive ballad of romantic apathy, slows things down, with Pip remarking humorously on the ironic spectacle of couples in the crowd singing "Love you too much to leave, don't like you enough to stay" in unison.
Breakthrough hit Thou Shalt Always Kill is Dan and Pip's ultimate killer tune in a set of dangerous little numbers, and soon the majority of the Hall are dancing like happy idiots. The Radiohead-sampling single Letter From God To Man brings the house down and the show to a close.
Dan and Pip are a peerless example of how good urban music can be: the penetrating, euphoric, repetitive rhythms of breaks, drum and bass and techno, fused thrillingly with serious, hilarious, deeply affecting beat poetry.
Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - genius, from any angle.
At around 10.15pm, DJ Dan 'Le Sac' Stephens - short, a little chubby, with searching, Gollum-esque eyes and classic farmer sideburns - strode onto the huge stage and, brilliantly, began remixing the theme tune from The Antiques Roadshow.
This set up a triumphant entrance for Dan's rabbi-bearded chum David Meads - aka Scroobius Pip - provoking a huge roar from the assembled throng, as the duo launched into The Beat That My Heart Skipped.
Rarely is live music such pure, unadulterated FUN. Playing a series of crowd-pleasing classics from debut album Angles, Dan and Pip showed why they're one of the most original and cutting-edge acts in British music today.
Fixed sees Dan take the unmistakable beats of Dizzee Rascal's Fix Up Look Sharp and smash them against each other at calamitous intervals, while Pip's polemic dismisses mainstream hip-hop, using Dizzee's 'pop hit' chorus to demand artists "don’t make another pop hit, be smart; take it back to the start...like KRS and Rakim use passion and heart".
Look For The Woman, an incisive ballad of romantic apathy, slows things down, with Pip remarking humorously on the ironic spectacle of couples in the crowd singing "Love you too much to leave, don't like you enough to stay" in unison.
Breakthrough hit Thou Shalt Always Kill is Dan and Pip's ultimate killer tune in a set of dangerous little numbers, and soon the majority of the Hall are dancing like happy idiots. The Radiohead-sampling single Letter From God To Man brings the house down and the show to a close.
Dan and Pip are a peerless example of how good urban music can be: the penetrating, euphoric, repetitive rhythms of breaks, drum and bass and techno, fused thrillingly with serious, hilarious, deeply affecting beat poetry.
Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - genius, from any angle.
3 comments:
Ah I like this a lot Rich.
I particuarly giggled at the couples reference. It was a great gig considering it was Cheltenham Town Hall and you capture it well within the piece.
I really enjoy your writing voice too, keep it up. xXx
I'm a bit gutted that I didn't go to this, and a mixture of your description and listening to some of their stuff since has made me wish I'd popped along.
Thanks for a good read! x
You've captured the night well! It was a brilliant performance and your writing takes me back!
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