大象传媒

It's wet and miserable outside as I'm walking quickly along the street drawn to the venue by the inexplicable sound of hip-hop beats. "Mmm, the sound must be turned waaaaaaayyyyy up if you can hear it from the street", thinks I, until rounding the corner it all becomes clear as I'm confronted by the surreal sight of a set of decks outside in the downpour. Take me rapping in the rain rather than dancing naked. I think this goes to show that outdoor DJ-ing is (in this country) a summer sport.

Opening the show are Olympic Lifts, old school hip-hop entertainers, mostly down to their jack-in-the-box rappers and the on-going abuse between them and their band-mates on guitar and bass, the live instrumentation adding an organic feel to the often sterile pre-recorded world of hip-hop. The obvious comparison is with 'Paul's Boutique' era Beastie Boys, with the overlapping, interlocking vocals and soul, funk and disco rhythms. 'Get Down' is an easy-rolling disco tinged invitation to dance while highlight 'Future Comes Alive' is infectious in a guilty pleasure eurodisco boyband way, 'Curse El Diablo' is a twisted brit-pop-punk interpretation of hip-hop, which is in itself reflects how we're from a world of guitars rather than Philly Soul or Motown.

Headlining this early show are southern invaders Messiah J & The Expert, although these two comprise only part of the outfit that take the stage as they too bring the live music as well as the beats. It starts off like DJ Format, a fast flow over retro soul/funk flavoured rhythms, while 'Keep The Noise Down' is a Latin jazz-tinged 'Fight For Your Right To Party' warning us not to turn into our parents. Anchoring and leading this party is Messiah J, who leads us to the beach party of 'Turn The Magic' on before shifting direction to delivering messages, and become more introspective on 'All The Other Girls', dedicated to the important girl, in a style reminiscent of Scroobius Pip, with the same repetition to drive the point home on the political 'It's That Time Again', and delivering the old drunk's warning not waste our chances. The lighter elements are brought back in the bass heavy 'The Boys Have Had Enough', a thick funky put down of lesser artists. The aptly catchy simple 'Play The One That Goes...' warns of being trapped by the success of only one song, before closer 'Jean Is Planning An Escape' lets Expert take us on a French disco-house trip to the dance floor.

Maybe not the Messiah but definitely not a naughty boy.

William Johnston