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As eager as I definitely was to attend Buck 65's first ever appearance in the UK, (traveling over 200 miles to do so), I tried to arrive at the venue as late as possible. This was not only to contradict my reputation for being unfashionably punctual but also because every time I think of the name "Andy Weatherall" I keep thinking (perhaps unfairly) of Kiss FM, Pete Tong and interminable "mixes" of generic Dance music… So anyhows, following a delicious kebab supper, Ladycook and I made it to the broom-cupboard sized basement lounge club at around 10:35pm. To my pleasant surprise, when he warped, stretched, blended, bended and otherwise manipulated already obscure breaks beyond recognition, Andy weatherall delivered a set which was as impressive as it was puzzling. The venue was, to say the least, Very intimate and when a couple members of the audience started peering over the counter to check out the identity of the records being mixed, this was no doubt a little too close for comfort for Mr Weatherall. Now without wishing to detract from the mesmeric charm of Weatherall's session, I can be transfixed back at home nodding my head out of a mixture of amusement and bemusement with my walkman on. I go to clubs to dance and to enjoy myself. And yes, Weatherall's set was excellent and I concede that it did pick up pace towards it's climax. However, I would have preferred to have heard Ante up or Graf da bus up to get me in the mood - that's as opposed to Weatherall's Somniferous grooves. Despite my fears on the train down to London, there was little chance of me getting anything other than a front-row view of the performance for which I was making this impromptu jaunt. Following a breif interval, on came Buck 65 to the sound of the rock-riff intro music of Synesthesia. Buck 65 began scratching whilst going "check…check.." down the mic and before even launching into a fully-fledged soundpiece, it became apparent that due to the lack of the necessary technical facilities (such as…hmmmm?…I dunno…a mic stand?) Buck would be unable to do that for which he is most well known, namely simultaneous emceeing and beat-juggling. For a moment, this change in plans threatened to mar the rest of the evening for ungrateful me. Thankfully, Buck65 appeared unperturbed as he casually set into motion a soundscape of pulsating bass, whirring samples and much use of echo and pan effects which promised to turn the show into a voyage around the decorous interior of Terfry's own sensational imagination. With one hand scratching away over his instrumentals and the other gripped around his mic, Stinkin' Rich soon established and then proceeded to play with his Rapport with the mostly enthralled (but occasionally nonplussed) jam-packed audience. As his performances of the songs from synesthesia concerned with vanity best testify, this marvelous character rapper made the most of his surroundings to not just recite, but to humourously enact and even become his creations.
So, here goes with a near track-by-track summary of the show (or preview of Square?). in the evident absence of a fixed playlist, the audience were blessed with a set which alternated at random between the comic and the tragic. I'm not sure how many folk attending Plastic People that night were familiar with his work but everyone loved his more conventional tracks like you know the science and pants on fire as much as some of his more adventurous pieces. When test-driving his most recent, and significantly more adventurous efforts than the aforementioned homages to deejays, highlights included: an anaphoric track about Try-hards, a catalog verse rap about the contents of his pantry a track which used the metaphor of shoe-care to represent his creative ethos and a tragic insight into the life of a junky who can move, but never extinguish, the misery plaguing his life. Of course, no Buck 65 set is complete without his unofficial signature track and so he performed the Drum & bass realisation of The centaur. The highlight of his set came with a strong candidate to inherit from The centaur the role of Buck's signature tune. This track was on the surface, a detailed account of the design for a all-action super hero action figure doomed to disappoint the evermore demanding consumer. However, check the interview for the author's own explanation… Maintaining the fluidity of the evening's proceedings, Buck 65's set segwayed into the next with a collaboration with the next artist on the line-up, multi-instrumentalist Boom Bip joined Buck 65 on stage (or should that be "inside the deejay booth"?) to unveil a song loosely based upon The Sixth Sense.
Verdict? The show wasn't exactly what I had expected but it more than exceeded my high hopes. If this performance was any indication of how the rest of the tour was to turn out, you folk who saw him in Norway, France and Glasgow were very-very lucky. I do not really want to taint this otherwise positive review with any negativity. However, before closing this review, I would like to send out a huge fuck you to the freakish woman who made her way to the front of the audience only to turn her back upon Buck 65 so that she could wave her hands in Ladycook's face like some retard with turrets syndrome.
Verbals: © Copyright 2002, CD Goldie.
Photos: © Copyright 2002, K Ferrie for ukhh.com
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Ever since Pip Skid sent me a tape recording of the CBC show "Fresh air" which broadcast a recording of a Buck 65 show, I've been longing to see my favourite hiphop artist in concert. In early April I read a rumour on a message board saying that Buck65 would be visiting "London." I initially disregarded this information thinking "Ah! They must mean London Ontario?" However, a few days later, I receive an email from buck65.com confirming the truth of the rumour so of course you know I had to be there for ukhh.com..
Early on in his show, he performed five dollar jesus, a track which takes a look into the life of a lonely wreck of a man. This, his solo track from Stig of the dump's Still alive at the veglia lounge ep is coincidentally, is likely to be the last time he and Sixtoo ever collaborate…
Indeed, speaking of the close of one chapter, given how he's got such an expansive back catalog, it would have been easy for him to take a retrospective approach to introducing himself to the UK. However, always the champion of the
unorthodox, given the way in which His set comprised a mixture of totally new tracks and the best of his past two albums, in many respects, this made it less an introductory gig and more a live listening party for his forthcoming Square LP.
Sporting a school tie over his sweatshirt, Cincinnati Electronica and leftfield hiphop beatsmith Boom Bip,
proceeded to play out the best of his solo compositions as well as a selection of his instrumentals for people like Dose One - it was all good but again, in the absence of adequate dance space (at this point, the already small venue was packed to standing room only) I wasn't really in the mood for Revenge of the fern or U R Here - plus I had an interview to do!!
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