It seems like an age ago that Scroobius Pip and Dan Le Sac teamed up to form the duo that has went on to churn out some of the best goddamn hip-hop I’ve heard in years. If you haven’t experienced their unique blend of alternative hip-hop that spans from gentle spoken word to a much heavier industrial sound, you need to. Apart from occasionally sounding (maybe just a little) preachy on his tracks, Scroobius Pip excels at putting across a lot of well thought out, socially conscious songs. In a way that never sounded so refreshing.
Using my friend as a sort of battering ram I was eventually able to battle my way to near the front of the press. That’s not to say I wasn’t jabbed in the ribs by more than one annoyed individual, but this is the price we pay for not being stuck behind some 7ft colossus for the duration of the concert. The first thing that hit me when we eventually stopped was the range of people attending the concert. To my right was what I’m pretty sure I can call an aging biker with more metal and leather attached to him than you could shake a stick at. To my left was a teenage girl that would periodically scream “SHUT THE **** UP” anytime Pip and Dan’s mid set banter strayed too far into the realms of sexism for her liking.
The concert was kicked off with Stunner, the lead single of the duos new album Repent, Replenish, Repeat. Having listened to the song a good ten times in the last couple of days in anticipation of the concert I can tell you now, I got down to that song, and seemingly so did everyone else in my vicinity. The momentum of headbanging and general moshing was carried on to the next song as the pair banged out The Beat That My Heart Skipped with an energy unparalleled by any album version I’ve ever heard.
As the intro to Porter washed over the crowd, the lights behind Pip and Dan rose and shone to create the eerie effect of having nothing but two black silhouettes appear on stage, pretty spot on for the tone of the song. While there was a noticeable dip in the enthusiasm of the mosh pit that I had by now been pushed into (a dip in enthusiasm generally carries with it a direct correlation to being elbowed in the face less, so I wasn’t overly upset) as Angles and Stiff Upper Lip were played, there was a definite shift in the mood as the feel good rhythms of Get Better came on. The song was accompanied with the whole crowd clapping to the beat and I do mean the whole crowd, as Pip took time out of the set to tell everyone not to bother clapping if you weren’t “going to finish the job.”
Before the inevitable encore after a good thirty seconds of angry Glaswegians screaming “ONE MORE TUNE, ONE MORE TUNE”, the jewel in the crown that was the setlist had to have been Thou Shalt Always Kill. The song was delivered as if the pair were kicking off the concert from from the start, and reminded me why it is that these two are at the forefront of UK hip-hop.
You can follow Jarlath on Twitter at @jarlathmulhern.
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