I had a great time - not surprisingly :), but the vibe was really
interesting. Last time I heard ninja tune on tour was in NY at a
large warehouse venue, the Roxy. There was a lot of space and people
really worked the floor. The troubadour on the other hand is a much
smaller venue (the size of SOBs in NY for example). One advantage was
that the djs were right up close creating a much more intimate setting.
We got there at around 10:30pm and missed DJ Vadim's set. I didn't
realise things would get off to such an early start. But
the rest of the night slammed. Kid Koala man, that boy is
amazing. Never even touched a pair of headphones. He was definitely
the most nimble with his hands. The crowd went crazy for him!
THe format was the Kid for 30min, on of the guys from the Herbaliser
for an hour, the Kid returned for another 30 min then 1/2 of DJ
Food for 45 min with all three boys on the decks for the final 45
minutes or so. Yeah, I know it didn;t even go past two.
The main vibe was hip hop, with phat beats and lots of samples and
scratches worked in. At times it felt like a dj battle event
with Kid Koala just going nuts. The herbaliser brought in some
funk but stayed with the old skool theme. The crowd really started
getting into it - at least most of them. Then after another scratch
fest DJ Food stepped up. He introed with a sample of some guy
telling you how to treat people who have difficulty hearing. They
use it a lot - I think I remember it from the beginning of
Cold Krush Cuts. He then started playing some abstract experimental
stuff. Screeches and whistles and crazy beats. Think squarepusher
and T-power! At this point the crowd noticeably thinned! I guess
they were the hard of hearing that the sample referred to :).
After about 20 minutes the other two guys stepped up and the
rhythm started to flow more with all 5 decks working on and off.
That was a lot of fun. They mainly chopped and changed the tracks
but all of Jeru tha Damaja's Mind Spray came through. At one
point they had a roll of duct tape on the decks with a record on top and
the needle upside down. Can you say SDRAWKCAB!!
I was interested how they what's going on with all the beats
and samples mixed up. They didn't seem to talk that much - and
people seemed to bring in scratches and rhythms without synching
with each other off the decks. They had caps and it was mainly a
heads-down affair. Apart from Kid, who always had a smile for the
crowd. He obviously enjoyed himself.
It ended abruptly, and a friend said that they weren't as smooth as
when he caught Stealth at the Blue Note in London. I was disappointed
that only half of DJ Food and the Herbaliser showed. That may explain
a couple of near misses on the decks. I picked up Kid Koala's mix tape
didn't recognise a single track on the listing! I'll pass on the
details for comment later.
Like i said, it'd be interesting to hear how they show works in other
towns. Sorry for being so long-winded!
bijan