Yes, there was a long build up to this event, as we booked our tickets three months before the man in the mask arrived to London town. And it seems we weren't the only ones, as the queues outside Brixton Academy were far bigger than what we imagined...an eccentric mix of bboys, bgirls, honeyz and indie/emo dudes. But that's Doom, he's a character who knows how to create anticipation and intrigue around what he does, his following goes beyond hip hop and of course, he can spit abstract concepts in rhyme like no one else.
The set kicked off with The Herbaliser as the opening act. The guys are talented musicians and they gave a great performance - and that's not easy when you're opening for someone like Doom. But, sound quality was not the best, bit too bassy...but we just thought it was the nature of Herbaliser's music and kept sipping our beers waiting for the big moment.
Eventually a timer appeared on the screen behind the stage with 57:19 on it...we initially thought it had a 'deeper' meaning, but as soon as the mask appeared it became evident that it was a timer for the performance, as it started counting down.
The show was good. Doom was accompanied by a Fat Man Scoop sound a like who worked hard to hype up the crowd at every possible opportunity. The crowd responded, this was a big event afterall and tracks from Madvillain, Operation Doomsday, King Geedorah and Dangerdoom were all present.
However, the bassy problems continued and showed no sign of improvement after Herbaliser. Bit of a shame, as Doom's lyrics are what set him apart, and completely missing them because of a badly tuned sound system defeats the purpose of a live show. Also, the show was cool, but after reading about the impostor from the last gig in London, and this being Doom, we were expecting some sort of stunt or surprise...but nothing unfortunately. The timer reached zero, Doom walked out, Fat Man Scoop clone did his hyping up thing again, crowd shouted, Doom came back, did one more track, and that was that. Not a major criticism, but you come to expect something out of the norm from an emcee that is definitely out of the norm...
So, overall great venue, good performances, but nothing memorable for us to take away with us. We're waiting for the next one...
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