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Firstly Id like to say ‘Hello, Swedger here! Bringing you a review of a wicked nite in Scotland . I was asked by Mr J Smiff of ukhh.com if I might do something for a gig or two up here and I louped at the opportunity, but, this is my first ever review of anything , so be patient with me...Also get right back at me with any criticisms, let me know your thoughts on this review’ - cheers. The Arches, 30 Midland St, Glasgow. Underground underground. If I were creating a hip-hop venue from scratch, I think this is what it would look like. The high red brick arches of the old bus garage, epitomizes the look and feel, for me, of an underground music scene. And what better a genre to squeeze in, than UK hip-hop. On the 27th of February in the year 2000, the Arches became host to 4 of the most prominent figures in up and coming UK hip-hop today. Russian born DJ Vadim, accompanied by Mr Thing of The Scratch Perverts, Killa Kela ( also a recent addition to S.P. ) and Blu Rum 13 . Individually, each artist can display vast talent in his field. Whether it be Mr Thing scribbling away on the decks, Vadim chopping and changing beats, Kela or BluRum emceeing, we were guaranteed a nite to remember. The nite kicked off when the doors opened at 9pm. Funnily enough it was £8.50 for a ticket and £7 on the door. As I entered the first arch through a stage curtain, I was hit by a bass line so low people were taking shelter in doorframes and under tables! The sweet smell of ganja was drifting through the humid atmosphere in the club, and there was an almost tropical twinge in the air. The Freak Maneuvers were serving up our appetizers in the form of Snoop and High & Mighty instrumentals among other things. Courtesy of the Tablists Lounge @ 13th Note on King St., the Freak Maneuvers are Dema, Nice, Bunty, Tablemannerz and Richie Rufftone. There was a bit of madness surrounding the warm up set. Heartbeats were stopped and restarted, breathing was restricted to the same BPM of the record spinning - the bass was thru the roof! Before long people were getting scared and then......KKRRRR...KKRRR..KKKRR... the top left speaker of the sound system went kaput! This was to be of no consequence later in the night as the speaker was turned down and the tunes were overwhelming, but at that moment I thought ‘Nooooo!, the show must go on!’ And so it did. Next up were the headliners, Vadim of Jazz Fudge, who played a wicked set of old school beats and breaks varying from James Brown to Apache, was joined at the desk by none other than Scratch Pervert’s Mr Thing . Together creating new tunes through the practiced art of ‘recycling a la turntable’.This was about a half hour set before the emcees came out, then the show really got started! We were introduced to everyone on stage by Blu Rum 13 and Kela - shout outs slowly gave way to some freestyling and as soon as the record caught the groove - BANG! We were into the show - Russian Revolution. Mid way thru the nite, our entertainers decided a change of pace would set us off. Bwoy, were they right! Vadim starts pitching a tone up and down in hypnotic fashion. Mr Thing is scratchin` so fast you think he`s gonna lose it any second, the only thing keeping him on the ground being the concrete slabs under the decks ! Beats are provided with no tools or instruments other than fresh air and epidermis, Kela is beatboxing . Slowly at first, bringing in more variation to the beats and crashes, then imitating an unknown scratchmeister, with unbelievable noises coming from the man himself. Meanwhile Blu Rum 13 has been spittin wicked rhymes on the mic for about 25 minutes now - and the man still aint givin up. Rhymes are tight and the flow is sharp as scalpels. Headz are reelin everywhere - I turn round to see people lookin` at each other, mouthing ‘f*cking hell! D`ye hear that?’ I don`t think a lot of people knew that they were going to be subjected to such raw original hiphop . As only the first arch is open the place seems packed out, but as you head for the bar the crowd disperses and you can see the fun going on up on stage. These guys are doing this for the love. You can see them laughing to each other as Kela sings Soul II Soul's ‘ Back to Life’ into the mic - then lays down beats on top of that with his mouth......I can remember thinking “he must be breathin` thru his ears!?” The atmosphere is amazing in the Arches by this point - shout outs are going to Vadim - it’s the mans birthday and the crowd is goin mad for him!! He seems a little bit shy by all of this and continues to rip up the tables after a quick wave and a bow. At the end of the show, Vadim, Kela and Blu Rum leave the stage in the capable hands of Mr Thing who has a set prepared consisting of Das EFX, Funkdoobiest and Gangstarr to name but a few... meanwhile I took a wee trip backstage to get a coupla pics of my boyz minglin in the corridor with Kela & Blu Rum, also Riz aka Eastborne - publisher of hiphop magazine, The Message. Needless to say I purchased a copy and got on my merry hip-hoppity way.....back thru the front to finish the party, getting it down to Mr Things unbelievable scratching prowess! Altogether the night was one of the best I have been to in a while and I`m looking forward to the next events coming up in Glasgow... You can check out the Freak Maneuvers at the 13th Note Club on King St. on the following dates: Sat 22nd Apr, 20th May . Doors open 9pm, entry = £2. Check flyers for Woody, Plus One, Extra, Handroids, Mixologists and Steel Devilz
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Russian Percussion Tour The Arches, Glasgow 