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By AJJ, Thursday 7th December 2006 08.53pm (1945 views)
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Chibuku @ Nation, Liverpool
Date: 2nd December 2006
Support: Guests
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Trust Chibuku to pull off a line up like this. God thanks to the immigration people for delaying the Qbert performance for two weeks; purely selfish reasons. It woulda been bumper without him but to add it pushed the lineup over the edge. Did a line up ever get too good? 20 quid to see DJ Shadow alone puts this into perspective when Shake Shake offers a fifteen-man bill and the opportunity to wander the hallowed halls of a steamy Nation until 6am for two pounds the less.
Nation is a hole in the blight of the city. In an attempt to raise the filth from the ground of Wolstenholme Square they erected seven or eight blobs on legs that represent all the colors and if War of the Worlds ever comes true then this is where the aliens will emerge from. The ideal setting for the venue for tonights monolithic bonanza of galactic proportions.
The Chibuku line up included none other than Grand Master Flash of furious five, adventures on the wheels of steel fame. A dying breed, a vision of the past and a walking, talking, scratching piece of history. What defines a living legend? These day and times definitions are vague and the boundaries are shifting. One thing that stays the same is Grand Master Flash. Doing the same thing today he has been for thirty years. Back in 1973 there were Block parties in the five boroughs powered by sabotaged street lamps. Cables hijacked from posts to power generators in the streets. It’s easy to fantasize but if you asked Flash he’d tell you exactly how it was. Sugar Hill Gang set up one end of the Bronx and Flash, before the furious five, at the other end. Scenes straight out of West Side Story. The hoods and the rats; the Sharks and the Jets. Dare you ask him who came first and you are in for a treat. The backdrop in Nation tonight reminds us regularly that Flash is the self-proclaimed first! Numero uno, it was his idea and no ones gonna even try and take that away from him now. According to the legend, its not who does it better, bigger or faster it’s about who did it first. It’s hard to say who the first pop-group were or who came up with heavy metal or who was the first R’n’B artist but ask who was the first turntablist and most people (right or wrong) will tell you its Grand Master Flash.
Now operating almost entirely as a radio DJ, Flash and DJ Demo drop at least thirty of the finest hip hop tunes, covering the last thirty years. It’s like the history and back catalogue of the whole damn genre in one mans record box. Missing out nothing: The story of Hip Hop according to Grand Master Flash. From the Sugar Hill Gang and Afrika Baambaataa to MOP, OPP, through to Dizzie Rascal and 50 Cent.
Three quarters of the way through the set he descends the stage and starts a B-Boy pit in front of the stage. Only Flash and the first few rows of people were able to see what went down in there and can say whether Liverpool’s finest B-Boys were up to it.
Johnny One Move opened for Flash and warmed the crowd ready for the old man to blow the thermometers apart.
Francois K’s acid house raged for four hours in the annexe to the devoted and the hardcore. Girls in bikinis and sweat covering every inch of the multitudes of soft and supple mid-sections. Mmmm Mmm.
Groove Armada rammed the main room to the rafters with their awesome sound system blasting out across the hordes.
Qbert – the cheetah, the fastest fiddliest flawless 5-time world champion almost stopped the show. Many stood aghast, hands on heads as the lil’ philipino lookin’ scratched the vocal melody of rappers delight over the bassline. Something many people had not witnessed anything close to before. We had seen him from the DMC finals on videos and learned about the legacy through Doug Pray’s Scratch but this was the real deal and it was unreal.
As the rain ceased inside the courtyard and the protective umbrellas were folded we were in luck as almost immediately on came Krafty Kuts who, in truth, blew both Qbert and GMF away. No contest whose sound was the bigger and the room filled as he took the stage alone. The Chibuku regular was on form and the room was rocking again.
Unable to last the course, our only regret for the night was not being in the hall to see DJ Marky one of the finest D’n’B DJs around, but without a head full of drugs on a total mindf**k bender that would’ve wiped this whole goddamn night from my memory, there was no way that I was able to keep my shuffling feet going any longer without, as I am afraid to say, an armchair to rest in whilst listening to the pure Brazilian D’n’B, and after all tomorrow is another day and there’s more to come. See you New Years Eve.
For more information you can visit: http://www.chibuku.com
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