MC Lars + Guests @ The Soundhouse, Leicester – 15th May 2014
The Soundhouse, Leicester – a small pub venue hosting four performers for a night of rap.
Puffin’ Ethics was the first to perform and, with a very short introduction, he got straight to it (he had started slightly late, not that i had noticed). Though he was clearly in his element whilst performing, he seemed a little out of his comfort zone when it came to interacting with his audience, however this didn’t affect the performance and I did quite enjoy listening to him. Sounding very similar to the likes of The Skints and Resolution 242, with a bit more practice he could do rather well for himself.
Next up was Malibu Shark Attack. This trans- Atlantic group amazingly had only met up in person for the first time the day of this gig but you couldn’t tell. They obviously clicked as a group and they worked really well together. Tribe One was upfront and he was clearly at home on the stage as he interacted with the audience, making them laugh and getting them involved in the performance. Also in the group is Rocky O’Rourke who was previously in indie group Oppenheimer, Bee Mick See (a Dublin rapper) and finally on the synthesizer and bringing a unique sound to the group with her singing was Yellow Bridge. To me they were something a little bit different and I was definitely entertained by them.
After Malibu Shark Attack, Bee Mick See played his own set with Yellow Bridge. They were extremely good at getting the audience involved from the word go. They started by getting everybody into a circle and then they began their set in the middle of the audience. Bee Mick See was full of energy and was definitely good at performing but their sound was a little more “mainstream” which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s just not my personal taste in music.
Last but most definitely not least was MC Lars and of course he had no trouble getting everybody excited. Some of his songs ran straight into the next as he was pushed for time from the late start but this didn’t take away from the performance. The crowd sang along to all of the songs bar the brand new ones that had never been performed before. He managed to play many classics including I Generation, Download This Song, Signing Emo, Hipster Girl, Hurricane Fresh, Ahab, Mr. Raven and Space Game, to name but a few. We were kept entertained between songs with banter and jokes; ‘My ex was an air hostess, I had to split up with her though as she had too much baggage!’ (lame jokes but funny all the same). At one point, MC Lars was joined by Tribe One and they performed a few songs together and, after that, Bee Mick See joined him to perform a few songs. A personal highlight of mine was when he went on to freestyle using random items from the pockets of his fans as inspiration, it was funny and (in my opinion) amazing, I was most impressed. The set ended with This Gigantic Robot Kills where MC Lars pulled some fans up onstage to show the crowd how to skank, it was alot of fun!
Overall, I had a fantastic night and coming from somebody who doesn’t generally listen to rap, these guys are clearly doing something right! If you are attending the Slam Dunk festival, he is definitely an act to check out.
Photos/Video – Shaz Rafferty
Review – Gemma Bywater