For a figure as revered as himself, crowds flock willingly to see his shows and tonight at The Leadmill, things are no different. The Northern Cheer ignites the air as The Roots Manuva Band take the stage, before Smith himself appears from behind the shadows like a ghost primed to haunt with ethereal hip-hop beats. As the bass rumbles of set-opener Join The Dots crawl beneath the floorboards the crowd wail with awe and the anticipation manifests itself in the form of wild and chaotic dancing.
Unfortunately, the sound proves to be muddy and distant and as much as they want to immerse themselves in it, soon peoples initial energy peters out, as a lacklustre performance unfolds on stage, killing any momentum. Recent single Too Cold should be a cause for celebration, but tonights down-tempo rendition fails to jump from the stage to the dancefloor, keeping rigidly to itself.
For the first half of the show its all a bit of a sorry shame and then, just as youre losing hope, like a divine intervention from the man himself, an engulfing, beat-heavy cover of Jimi Hendrixs All Along The Watchtower helps Roots Manuva find his muse, and suddenly the show shifts into top gear. Its followed by show-highlight, Witness, which prompts a mass sing-along, and in the short space of these two songs a complete turn around takes place. From hereon, Roots Manuva is unstoppable.
Awfully Deep and Colossal Insight manage to overcome the bad sound but, thankfully for the band, the crowd seem so desperate to have a good time theyd probably be OK dancing to the sound of someone playing a toy drum, regardless. Dreamy Days should be the shows peak, but unexplained sound interference and the ensuing confusion throws it off kilter.
Still, a rapturous encore, featuring a guest appearance from members of tonights support act, Banana Klan, wraps up the show in meticulous style. The evening has its highs and lows but, when considering the ramshackle nature of most hip-hop shows, ultimately its charms shine through. Judging by the ear splitting cheers that the crowd emit from start to finish, only a fool would judge Roots Manuva as anything but the greatest.
FUTURE GIGS
sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.