Peace Not War Festival Ocean, Hackney
Friday the 13th. Unlucky for some, but not for UK hip hoppers or peace lovers. This was the second night of a four-night festival celebrating February 15th last year when over 10 million people participated in protests against war. War, huh. What is it good for? I’m sure we all know the answer to that one.
Looking around the main arena as I came in, I was surprised at the amount, well, actually lack of, of people. Maybe it was the size of the room, but there really didn’t appear to be the turn out one might expect for such a worthy and star-filled night. It had even been suggested to get tickets well in advance as it was thought it would be a sell out. Unfortunately not for both the cause and the artists, but there was still a significant amount of people there to show their love for hip hop and/or peace.
The excitement level was noticeably high when I got there but you could definitely feel it build more when the compere came on to ‘warn’ us of Jehst’s imminent arrival. Just before he did, the impossibly young DJ IQ treated us all to a show of technical wizardry on the decks, followed soon after by Asaviour who worked the crowd well to get us hyped up for Jehst. Not that he needed to, every time Asaviour’s partner in rhyme’s name had been mentioned before, it was greeted with a huge roar, and the reception was no different when the man himself walked on in what should be, if it isn’t already, his trademark hat. Pacing the stage, working the mic, and bigging up peace all seemed extremely natural to Jehst. And every second he was on stage was lapped up by the crowd, especially the rousing rendition of People Under The Weather. However, Jehst was on stage too long; you could see the slight shock when he turned round at one point and noticed someone backstage giving him that universal sign to finish, the vertical hand swept across the neck. He apologised and slinked off stage but no one in the crowd was happy to see the back of him, his name was chanted for quite some time afterwards. The compere even had to come on to ask the crowd to quieten down and stop asking for more, as there were so many more acts yet to grace the stage!
Mark Thomas, the socialist/comedian/wind up merchant, was meant to be up next, but instead they brought on an unadvertised act. It was the spoken word poet, Paradox, who was there to perform a piece about something “rhyming with wankers and beginning with b.” For the next 3 to 5 minutes, Paradox’s words floated off stage, yet hit with the force of a speeding train. Here is one guy who certainly sees what is going on. After leaving us with the words “time is money, that’s daylight robbery” still ringing true in my ears, it was time for the MP bothering Mr Thomas, who walked on stage in a flak jacket. He went straight into it, talking about the people who broke into airfields and smashed air force planes with bricks, or informing us on how to get supermarket trolley’s to lock. He also suggested everyone petition the Booker Prize to get the Hutton Report on the list as a work of fiction. He even ventured into the world of impressions, doing a passable take off of ol’ George Dubya in the driving seat of the world (“Israel, are you in Palestine’s seat?”). A short but sweet set that left people wanting much more, as he could not provide much of a rhetoric in such a short space of time.
A veteran of the UK hip hop scene graced us with his presence next. Blade had been billed as the top artist, and was the only name on the ticket, so it was rather strange to see him on stage with more acts still to come, but I guessed that as the night was running for so long it would be rather silly to leave him until 3 or 4 in the morning. So, what can we expect from a man with over 20 years service in the hip hop world? An excellent show, that’s what, and tonight was no exception. And I had thought Jehst was comfortable on stage. When Blade was treading the boards, it was like he could have been in his own front room. He treated us to some classics, and even pulled out a new number for his fans, the lead off single from his next album. With the title ‘Pop Idol’, we didn’t need to be told what the concept was, but Blade let us in on the secret just in case we’d missed the televisually marketed pop star phenomenon. Halfway through Blade’s set; the focus was then put on to the DJ, First Rate. He needed to produce something special if he was going to be able to complement Blade. And how special it was, his set culminating in him picking up one of his decks, placing it on top of his head, and then scratching like that! As for Blade, well, unfortunately, considering his stature in the UK hip hop world, he wasn’t accorded quite the same response as Jehst had received, but he still got mad love from everyone, which is the least he deserves.
As the night wore on, so did the strength in my legs. However, there wasn’t a chance of me sitting down, as up next was another favourite of everyone’s, Skinnyman. Maybe it was the lateness of the night, maybe it was Jehst overrunning his slot, maybe it was just time flying when having fun, Skinny was on stage for a lot less longer than everyone else. That didn’t deter him from pulling out all the stops though, even giving us all a nice freestyle, dropping the knowledge on us through this that whilst it costs “two pounds to save the life of a child, it cost’s three pounds to save a dog or a kitten, we need to fix up how we are living in Britain.” After Skinny’s short set was over, it was time for everyone’s beloved Rastas, Phi Life Cypher to wow us with their skills. The highlight of their set, other than Life’s impressively long freestyle towards the end, had to be when they decided to get a bit of crowd participation. First they asked the question that so many people there were gonna answer yes to, “Does anyone smoke weed?” - the amount of blue smoke and that sweet smell were testament to the resounding cheer from the stoned spectators. The next question though obviously confused a small contingent of the crowd, when Life (or was it Si Philli? I can’t remember now) enquired as to whether there was anyone out there who smoked crack. Maybe the few kids at the front who answered yes were just trying to look cool, maybe they really did hit that pipe, but the look of shock on both members of Phi Life’s faces and the amazement in their voices was easily apparent. “You smoke crack?” was the incredulous statement from stage. So they had to launch into their hit (pun intended), ‘Never Be A Crackhead’, which I think showed up the little ‘uns at the front even more. Oh well, maybe they’ll learn one day that you’re not supposed to answer yes to every question that comes at you off stage.
The last set of the night (for me anyway) was approaching, as it was getting on for 3am. But what a way to finish. After the last four sets of the age old “mc and a dj” performances (don’t get me wrong, I loved every second of those sets too), it was gonna be an experience to see another act try something a little different. And Task Force were certainly up for the job, with the addition of the Rawdog band on stage to mix it up a little bit. What an amazing band they were too, kind of like two different set ups, with the rhythm section of the band (drums, bass, and guitar) in a close knit group in the middle of te stage, and with the keyboards/sax/melodica players a bit more out on their own. The performance could not be faulted, the rhythm section were extremely tight throughout, and when Task Force had finished on the mics, Rawdog performed one last song which was basically a mix of a load of hip hop tunes including Biggie’s ‘Kick In The Door’ and Dr Dre’s ‘Fuck You’. There was a substantial amount of tunes played in a short space of time, and it all flowed together as smooth as silk. What a way to end a night, a proper culmination of the whole evening in my view, and if you ever get a chance to see Rawdog, don’t miss out.
- Gurumike
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