Blackalicious @Epic

Blackalicious! They did that track Alphabet Aerobics which Daniel  Radcliffe "covered" on some American TV show recently. Also the wonderful Deception. They have had several fine albums, set up Quannum Projects and have been going since the nineties, so that's good for a start. Epic has put tonight's gig in a smaller section of the bigger room, and as a result, people are packed in pretty tightly. Throughout the gig I wish that it was at the Arts Centre, where you can hear and see clearly even from the back of the room. Much of the the audience wear their coats and hats for most of the night, partly as it's pretty cold in the venue and partly because apart from the very front of the crowd, no one's moving much.

Blackalicious' set is strange. The second track of the night is their biggest hit, and their second biggest hit falls in the middle. People are a bit thrown by this. Gift of Gab seems to have lost any definition to his voice; his rapping is monotonous, garbled and looks like he either can't be bothered or is too knackered; indeed, he sits down on stage several times during the performance. He only seems to start to look like he's enjoying himself in the last half hour. The sound tonight is pretty disappointing; fuzzy, and at only half the volume it should have been at, perhaps due to the curtained walls and/or the small speakers. Vursatyl and Rev Shines, also known as Lifesavas (and they are tonight) are on stage the whole way through, bolstering up Gab, and they take on a large portion of the rapping responsibilities. Chief Xcel on the decks plays his part but there's not much showmanship from him. The audience is encouraged to join in through out, and they do, willing the performance along with enthusiasm. I just feel let down; compared to an act like De La Soul, who have been around the same amount of time, tonight's show doesn't really cut it for me.The fans here tonight came expecting something tight, tuned and lyrical, and we did not get that. However, having spoken to someone who was at the very front of the gig (I was halfway back), it seems he had a whole different experience.