Just wanted to post some impressions of this show, which happened Monday at IndependentSF. It was my first chance to catch these two and was definitely worth $15.
When we got there DJ Wonder's set was already happening. It wasn't sold out but there was pretty good San Francisco hipster turnout. People were even dancing. It was that kind of weird vibe though where the DJ is up on the stage and everybody's facing forward staring at him even though relatively little is going on. It was cool that people were dancing but do they all have to face the same way? There was a dancer-hype-man up there, so maybe they were digging his dance moves. "Hype man" seems like a pretty good gig to me.
Wonder said he was playing a chronological set, history of grime. I recognized a few of the tunes (like that one where the guy says "don't make me practice my tai-bo", which always makes me laugh) but most of it was new to me. It was faster and more dancey than I expected. After he finished the grime set he asked the crowd what the other big influence was for his type of music... some people shouted "skynard" and I guessed "kraut rock" but then he dropped some drum n bass tunes, which I guess wasn't such a surprise. Among other things, he played "original nuttah," which I hadn't heard in forever. It made me reminesce about the days when drum n bass was still big-- Ed Rush & Optical came to SF a few years ago for the virus tour and even though they played at a truck stop (really) at the edge of town, the place was RAMMED and everybody went mental. It's hard to imagine that happening these days.
After Wonder finished, Dizzee came out. What can I say, the kid (and he is a KID; he looked so young!) really delivered the goods. You could feel his enthusiasm & hunger, and there was something very sweet about his obvious joy at being there. Some funny moments too...
Dizzee: All the fellas in the house make some noise! (noise)
Dizzee: Now all the ladies in the house make some noise! (noise)
Dizzee (disappointed): More fellas, then.
One beef I have with a lot of hip hop shows is that the sound tends to be shit... bass is up way too high, distorting everything, and you can't make out the vocals in the mix. This wasn't a problem when Dizzee spit. It might also be that he's pitched higher and he has an alien sound. This has probably already been mentioned, but a lot of grimey mcs I've heard are hard for me to understand. They're rapping too fast and I can't get through the accents. Kano, Sway (?) and Dizzee are all easier to follow, which maybe means they're more likely to cross over (I think SF/J made this point in the New Yorker.) Plus Dizzee just has such a great flow. He went acapella a few times and the crowd was eating it up. After working through most of Showtime & a few from Boy in the Corner, he did some verses over "(It's Bigger Than) Hip-Hop", which I suspect a lot of people in the crowd first heard on the M.I.A./Diplo mix. Also dropped this song "Jezebel," which I liked even if I didn't quite follow.
I think Wonder should come back and do a set in a proper club. DJ booth instead of a stage. The audience is here! Although San Francisco hipsters are a fickle lot. I know I am. Sorry Ed Rush... sorry Optical...
When we got there DJ Wonder's set was already happening. It wasn't sold out but there was pretty good San Francisco hipster turnout. People were even dancing. It was that kind of weird vibe though where the DJ is up on the stage and everybody's facing forward staring at him even though relatively little is going on. It was cool that people were dancing but do they all have to face the same way? There was a dancer-hype-man up there, so maybe they were digging his dance moves. "Hype man" seems like a pretty good gig to me.
Wonder said he was playing a chronological set, history of grime. I recognized a few of the tunes (like that one where the guy says "don't make me practice my tai-bo", which always makes me laugh) but most of it was new to me. It was faster and more dancey than I expected. After he finished the grime set he asked the crowd what the other big influence was for his type of music... some people shouted "skynard" and I guessed "kraut rock" but then he dropped some drum n bass tunes, which I guess wasn't such a surprise. Among other things, he played "original nuttah," which I hadn't heard in forever. It made me reminesce about the days when drum n bass was still big-- Ed Rush & Optical came to SF a few years ago for the virus tour and even though they played at a truck stop (really) at the edge of town, the place was RAMMED and everybody went mental. It's hard to imagine that happening these days.
After Wonder finished, Dizzee came out. What can I say, the kid (and he is a KID; he looked so young!) really delivered the goods. You could feel his enthusiasm & hunger, and there was something very sweet about his obvious joy at being there. Some funny moments too...
Dizzee: All the fellas in the house make some noise! (noise)
Dizzee: Now all the ladies in the house make some noise! (noise)
Dizzee (disappointed): More fellas, then.
One beef I have with a lot of hip hop shows is that the sound tends to be shit... bass is up way too high, distorting everything, and you can't make out the vocals in the mix. This wasn't a problem when Dizzee spit. It might also be that he's pitched higher and he has an alien sound. This has probably already been mentioned, but a lot of grimey mcs I've heard are hard for me to understand. They're rapping too fast and I can't get through the accents. Kano, Sway (?) and Dizzee are all easier to follow, which maybe means they're more likely to cross over (I think SF/J made this point in the New Yorker.) Plus Dizzee just has such a great flow. He went acapella a few times and the crowd was eating it up. After working through most of Showtime & a few from Boy in the Corner, he did some verses over "(It's Bigger Than) Hip-Hop", which I suspect a lot of people in the crowd first heard on the M.I.A./Diplo mix. Also dropped this song "Jezebel," which I liked even if I didn't quite follow.
I think Wonder should come back and do a set in a proper club. DJ booth instead of a stage. The audience is here! Although San Francisco hipsters are a fickle lot. I know I am. Sorry Ed Rush... sorry Optical...