Killa Kela @ Higher Learning The Toucan Club This is the third time Kela and his ensemble Spit Kingdom have reared their heads in Cardiff City, with the previous two being frankly awesome. So there wasn’t much chance I was going to miss this one even if the tickets at first appeared somewhat pricey at £9. The usual run in of in-house deejays ensure the crowd get fed a healthy variety of tunes. What starts off being a small, lethargic group, soon swells into a large, energetic mob. The Uprock Addicts treat the crowd to a show of bboying, which certainly seems to go down well as the atmosphere builds. The crowd is now ready to roll, so out comes MC Trip to hype up everyone for Kela. Not my favourite bit of the whole show it’s got to be said, but nevertheless, it appears to have become a staple part of the show. Still, after the warm up Kela waddles out. It starts with Trip asking Kela for individual sounds, then steadily an oral orchestra is built. What comes next is 45 minutes of a guy making new, innovative noises. What always surprises me about Kela is how he seems to constantly come up with new things every time I’ve seen him. Some renditions of well known tracks, mixed in with his own material and some other things that can only be understood once you’ve seen them happen in front of your own eyes. The crowd participation is outstanding from beginning to end, with the whole show turning into a bit of a party jam afterwards. Rookwood & Spider J also of Spit Kingdom get involved to, not sure who the female vocalist was, but she certainly has a decent voice, which made even the hard rocks smile. They finish off by telling the crowd how live Cardiff is and how much they love coming here. This inevitably goes down like a storm, but on this showing I would be surprised if they’re was some genuine feeling behind those words. If Cardiff represented like that for all the Higher Learning’s, then it would indeed be Boogie Down Bute Town. The fact I didn’t see one disgruntled punter leaving the Toucan that night says it all, worth the £9 for sure… see you next year Spit Kingdom… - 2Hip | profile © ukhh.com 1999 - 2005