Stanton Sessions featuring Jeru Da Damaga and The Beatnuts Fabric Live
I last saw Jeru the Damaja at Mass in Brixton over 4 years ago, and to my knowledge he has not played in London since then. I was very impressed back then, and so couldn't pass up the chance to see The Prophet rock London once again. Jeru was joined by The Beatnuts, Stanton Warriors, Deekline, Roots Manuva (DJ set), The Nextmen and a smattering of the finest dnb talent (including Pendulum, Adam F and Fresh), for the first Stanton Sessions at Fabric live, one of London’s best and most successful hip hop, dnb and breaks night, held at the infamous Farringdon-based club. Together Jeru and the Beatnuts combined forces to bring live US hip hop to the Room 1 live stage.
I got to Fabric around 12:30, after stopping for a few drinks at the great 'Appreciate' night in Shoreditch (plug plug). Just in time to witness the start of Jeru’s set, as it was all running late. He was just how I remembered him, a very good MC. In my opinion, a good MC on wax does not equal a good live showman, and I was not in anyway surprised to discover that Jeru delivers strongly on both accounts. Classics such as 'Come Clean', 'Frustrated Nigga' and 'My Mind Spray' were intertwined with new unreleased material, and I'm looking forward to hearing the new album when it drops.
The Beatnuts took to the stage after Jeru, and oh my word! Jeru was good but the 'nuts stepped it up a level. JuJu and Psycho Les, along with their DJ (who could have been another MC, as he was rhyming along with the duo) smashed Fabric to pieces. 100% energy from the three of them kept me dancing like a madman, as well as singing along with almost every track they played. They performed a ton of tracks from the Street Level LP and Intoxicated Demons ('No Equal' was the highlight for me) as well as new, unreleased stuff. Everyone was dancing, the floor was so crowded you couldn't move, and the audience seemed to be feeling the set 100%. The best hip hop cliche was also fulfilled, as they called a number of women to the stage to grind and shake their butts for their last track ('Off The Books') while JuJu and Les did pretty much the same. Very entertaining!
The rest of the night is a big haze due to the amount of Stella I consumed, though I remember catching Pendulum in the second room, where VIPs of 'Another Planet' and 'Vault' were getting rinsed, respect! Meanwhile Roots Manuva was rocking the 3rd room with The Nextmen. Needless to say with a line-up like that I was not dissapointed!
A class night was had, and I recommend seeing both Jeru and the 'nuts when you can in the future and going to experience the one and only Fabric Live nights for yourself, as they firmly continue to hold the spot as London’s finest jams when it comes to all things break-related.
Sconeboy
- K-Per
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