Monday, November 25, 2002

Felt like posting this long-ass "review" for a show I was at a number of months ago. I was feeling kinda nostalgic. And now, after checking my use of slang, I'm feeling kinda queasy. The orignal and all the responses can be found at the Break Bread message board, part of the
Peanuts and Corn Records
site.

Hey y'all. I was surprised to see nothin' about this before I left to see it, but as they say..."it's all good". Anyway, if y'all missed the tour, Winnipeg was the last stop and it was one fuckin' awesome show!
Startin' things off were our Break Bread peoples: Gruf, Mister Pinkgitch, and the always busy DJ Hunnicutt. Knowing Break Bread was on the bill, a lot of people were expecting mcenroe and Pip to be there. They weren't, unfortunately, but the brothers on stage held it down regardless(in fact, they dropped an improptu ditty presumably called,"Where's Pip Skid and mcenroe?"). Gruf and Joey JoJo each dropped album tracks, including "Tooth and Nail", "The Plants", and "These @#$^%in' Gas Prices are Killing Me!" with the mighty Gumshoe Strut jumpin' on stage. Highlight of the night was Gruf doing his infamous "Weight of the World" routine, with Hunnicutt and John doing doo wop vocals. Both fun AND hilarious!

Ninja Tune's Bonobo was next dropping some downtempo/breakbeat-type shit. He defintely impressed me, and others judging by the asses shaking and whatnot. As usual, it takes Winnipeg time to heat up the dance floor. Many stood gawking. The beats he was dropping eventually won 'em over. Gonna have to pick up that album.

The illustrious Buck 65 then took the stage with a wave and a little scratch routine. As is the case with this dude, self-taught dance moves(my fave: The Dandruff Brush-Off), theatrical body gestures, and clever stage banter were on tap tonight. The most rabid of fans rhymed along with him on the familiar stuff(Centaur--with a sped-up beat!)and dropped some new jewels on us, including a joint he wrote that afternoon! I think he lost a few folks with the story he told about his old b-boy buddy that became a gangster, but it was entertaining nonetheless. He finished with his set with the ever-popular "Pants on Fire", which I fuckin' love. That bass makes me wanna cry.

I'll just say it right now...Anti-Pop Consortium RIPPED it. Minds were blown tonight, including mine. These dudes commanded the stage the moment they walked on it. APC makes atypical music, so naturally they had an atypical stage set-up. High Priest had a laptop and a small, multi-knobbed mixing console. Beans played one of those small, new wave-ish organs with the lever that distorts sound like a theremin(now that's something I'd like to see on a hip-hop album!). Sayyid represented wih a drum machine, playing it with his index fingers...with perfect timing, I might add. Together they opened the set with an other-worldly instrumental(one of many they played between songs), stunning the packed crowd. Once they started rhyming, the crowd was in their hands. All of them rocked it, without a doubt in my mind. It seems though that Beans was a real crowd fave...whenever he interjected with his mad bouncy flow, the crowd fuckin' ate it up! And say what you will about their odd instrumentation and production methods, their beats definitely had the muthafuckin' "nod factor" we all look for. Y'know...a lot of cats say it, so much so that it's a cliche, but APC is TRULY "on some other shit", dammit! I'm sayin', if Devo did hip-hop music, this would be it. If they're playin' in your town...RUN, DON'T WALK to the venue. These brothers'll knock yer fuckin' head off your shoulders...they're that good.

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