DJ Shadow / Akala / Stateless

Stateless are the band of Chris James, Leeds friend of the Shadow. Mixing hip hop, dance and rock so that you are intrigued by their rock and electronica sound; they are a good start to the show, and should have been on after the next group.

Akala has a little bit of a bounce issue, repeatedly saying “Bounce, Leeds, Bounce!”. Overall it is a repetitive set, and everyone is really waiting for some première turntable and drum machine action.

DJ Shadow appears, wearing a t-shirt that forces him to explain that it says BAPE (no explanation as to what that means) when it looks much more like a worse word. The background visuals are in place, weird bearded babies and Bush with a chainsaw. This particular show does not have the sync'd visuals that trigger with the samples – as premièred by Shadow during an earlier tour. The man himself is hard to see on stage, appearing as his name suggests; as a shadow in front of bright dazzling animated images.



Leeds own Chris James receives a warm welcome from his hometown and gives it his all with a fantastic strong voice, prolonging over some mellow guitar melodies.

Lateef the Truth Speaker is the next guest to offer vocals from the new album ‘Outsider’, as he shows off his MC skills and works the crowd up as the music is stop start as the crowd scream “Break It Down!”

The set started with hits like ‘Six Days’ leading onto the new songs with his buddy vocals and then on to old classic re-workings of classics like ‘Number Song’ and ‘Organ Donor’.



After the show there is a chance to shake them famous scratching hands as Josh Davies meets the fans.

FUTURE GIGS