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Let’s be honest from the outset: I was slightly conned about last weekend’s gig. This particular DiSer is a dyed in the wool GUITAR-loving girl and, hand-on-heart, hadn’t heard a note of *Jurassic 5 *when asked to attend. However, being assured they were "like the Beastie Boys, only better", I thought I’d give it a whirl, having been known to throw some shapes to 'Sabotage' on occasions, and having, frankly, nothing better to do.
It was only on the tube down to Brixton when my date remarked,_ "I’m a bit nervous, going to a hip-hop gig in Brixton in the wake of all the shootings,"_ that doubts began to creep into my mind, being a weedy indie sort. But, as it turns out, they were completely unjustified. Far from being the gun-toting, beyatch-calling, booty-waggling sort of affair, this gig plays out like a piece of (musical) theatre, moreso even than The Rolling Stones' Bigger Bang Tour. Brilliant.
There is a sense of drama, choreography and props about Jurassic 5 that would be as camp as Westlife were it not being performed by hulking West Coasters, and it’s a revelation for one used to the angsty confines of indie._ “When I say Brixton, I want you guys to shout as loud as you can!”_ bellows Akil, and for the first time in my gig-going life, the audience does as commanded! All the way from the sweaty front to the still-down-with-it back, everyone single man, woman and member of Stereo MCs shouts as loud as they can. And it’s fantastic! To let yourself go and roar with wild abandon: Yes. There’s nowhere I’d rather be this Saturday night than B-R-I-X-T-O-N with Jurassic 5.
My date returns from a scramble to the bar to find me waving my hands in the air like I just don’t care during a sample that commands: "Hands in the air, fingers open, close". I'm a girl, converted. “You having a good time, then?” comes the question. I reply, with complete sincerity:_ “This is one of the most fun things I’ve seen this year.”_
“Thank you so much Brixton!” says Chali 2Na, looking genuinely pleased with the crowd's reaction. “Every time we come here you treat us like kings.” If this show is typical of their performances, it’s no surprise why they're so revered.
Jurassic 5
From the archive
In Photos: Beirut @ London Forum
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DiS' 20 Must-See Acts at Reading & Leeds 2009
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Share on FacebookSaw them at Brixton two or three years ago.
One of the best gigs of my life. Love them.
The word on the guys tshirt
in the above picture says it all:
PONY.
aye, i was at that show
not this one though.
new LP disappointed me, but live they're almost untouchable.
almost?
who can touch them?
PONY
in relation to what? Fiddy? Diddy?
J5 live are one of the most life-affirming things I've ever seen. In fact, I saw them in pretty much the same circumstances as this reviewer - a bit sceptical at Reading 98 - and by the end of the first song I found I had my own hands in the motherfucking air and was waving them around like I just didn't care. I saw them at Glasto the year after and that was pretty sweet too, though they were in the dance tent and I fucking hate the dance tent...
and
I love Chali 2Na.
who can touch j5???
please tell me this is some perverse joke based around the cliché that supposed free thinking indie kids think Jurassic 5 are the be all and end all of hip hop?
Because if it isn’t then you are either seriously misguided/misinformed.
jurassic 5 are to hiphop
what kaiser chiefs are to indie
Sorry
I meant pony as in 'pony and trap', you can complete the rhyme.
I dont like them. I like ghostface though.
many thanks
i needed someone to say something like this, just to return my sanity.
im not alone. thank god.
it's called
not being deluded
Ah, of course -
now you've pointed out that I'm actually just deluded, I've realised I don't like them at all. Well done.
as usual seymour
you miss the point
The point being what?
That they're liked by lots of people who don't generally like hip-hop so they're not "proper"? Or am I reading too much into your icy cold cynicism?
Christ
this hangover's making me grumpy.
exactly that
the same way you ridicule the 9-5, £50 man who knows nothing about good indie music for loving arctic monkeys and heralding them as the best indie band ever
it's the same thing. they're good. of course they're good. but so are kaiser chiefs and arctic monkeys. nothing special.
it doesn't mean you have to stop liking them or anything as pointedly reactionary as that
but spouting hyperbole about how they've changed your life... well, you sound like a £50 man is all
I didn't say they changed my life,
I just said that they were fucking fantastic when I saw them live and it made me feel all lovely inside. And I don't ridicule people who like the Arctic Monkeys, I actually like them. And the Kaiser Chiefs too, for that matter - they're good pop bands with good pop tunes. And I work 9-5 (well, 10-6), in an office, because if I didn't I wouldn't have any money and couldn't afford to break guitars. I love the way you can use terms like "9-5" and "£50 man" as though it actually means a fucking thing - like you can pigeonhole everyone that easily. We don't all get sent free review copies of records by excruciatingly hip new bands no-one else has heard of, y'know. I'm sorry if everyone else's ignorance and inability to hear that much new music offends you.
I don't hate Snow Patrol and Keane because the people who buy their records offend me - I hate them because they're shite, bland and totally lacking in thrills. I went through school with indie snobs who only liked bands when no-one else had heard of them, which to me translated as "I don't actually like music at all, I just like the IDEA of music and being cooler than everyone else" - which is surely a far worse "crime", and makes you far more of a sad, soulless cunt, than genuinely liking only a handful of "obvious" bands?
I do know what you're getting at. But you sound like a snob. And I genuinely really, really like Jurassic 5. And you like Papa Roach. And they REALLY suck. So nerrr.
Oooh,
it kind of sounded like I was calling you a cunt in that middle bit. Sorry, Raz.
what on earth are you babbling about
you agree with me, then you try and pick something or other apart
just go home
I am home.
I love the way you can be so snortingly derisive. It's actually alleviated my hangover. Thankyou.
it's ok
i just didn't get whether you were saying i was an indie snob or whether i like papa roach. or neither. or both.
do you know what you were trying to say?
I'm not sure -
I'll try and work it out later after another 6 cups of tea. :-)
cool
just lemme know yo
this is an almost offensively ignorant review
I'm all for having people review things who aren't greatly familiar with the genre or whatever, from a different perspective but is this taking the piss? The thing about shootings gives this all the credibility of a piece about myspace on Richard and Judy.
I'm actually shocked this was even published.
J5 disappoint me
I kinda like them on record, but live it's just a bit textureless. Saw them a few years ago, and was disappointed and bored.
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