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This was supposed to be a night out but it started as a social experiment. Okay, picture this; I'm dressed as a chav, I have Reebok trainers, Adidas tracksuit bottoms, a fake puma tracksuit top (saying Peru instead of Puma, bought on a recent Latin American trip) and a peaked cap with my hair sprouting out. My friends are dressed similarly as chavs and faux rappers.
I look ridiculous and it should be blatantly obvious to anyone that we are in fancy dress but during the course of the evening we are stared down by real chavs, avoided by the general public, ID-ed (I'm 33!) and refused entry into a bar. I've never been treated so badly by the general public based on my appearance and I have dreadlocks!
We are off to see Goldie Lookin' Chain and dressed like this I suppose it is the journalistic equivalent of method acting. With my cap on sideways I am enjoying walking different and speaking poor English. I even stole a Cadbury's Cream Egg from Tesco but I don't think it will qualify me for an asbo.
Sauntering through Bristol we manage to find the venue without getting ourselves into a fight and squeeze ourselves into a jam packed Fleece n Firkin. If I'm honest I haven't got the highest of expectations for the event. I half expect a bunch guys, just going through the motions like parodies of themselves in order to generate some more income. Have I forgotten? GLC aren't just a bunch of guys, they are a bunch of friends being stupid, having a laugh, poking fun at themselves and hip hop.
The boys take to the stage sporting all manor of branded tracksuit except for Adam Hussain who it turns out is wearing a woman's multi-coloured tracksuit with gold chains actually on the print. They explode into life opening with 'Half Man, Half Machine'. The audience is looking highly amused by their antics but in terms of crowd movement things are a little slow hindered by the fact that the 400 capacity venue is stretched to its limit and we are all crammed shoulder to shoulder.
As the evening continues they begin to warm the crowd with a mixture of typical GLC banter and what is unsurprisingly, a selection of their best known anthems. Their infectious spirit and daft dancing are hard to resist and the sound quality is rather good. In fact I am shocked that I can actually understand what they say live. Over the years I have listened as multi-million selling rappers perform live and what is polished in the studio becomes unintelligible live.
With a forthcoming album due out they drop a few new ones into the set with a small introduction about each. Clearly very little has changed in their music. Their new music is high energy and if anything slightly more sophisticated in its production, although in fairness that still isn't very advanced. The new single 'By Any Means Necessary' is particularly good, fast, catchy and great for shouting along with the chorus.
The thing about a band of eight extroverts is they are always going to be fun to watch as at any given moment one of them will be doing something stupid or funny. For me personally I can watch Maggot's dancing all night as it reminds me of my uncle dancing at a wedding about a month after his stroke.
As I watch them all doing their various raps, jokes and dances I begin to think to myself – Will I be seeing these boys at Butlins when I am 70? I can't help but think that is a very real possibility and then I think – Is that really such a bad thought?
They finish with two classics 'Your Missus is a Nutter' and 'Your Mother's Got a Penis' and as they leave the stage it was as if they had never been away and it seems like they may be around for sometime longer.
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article by: Richard Potter
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| published: 30/03/2009 18:01 |
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