Monday 27th March 06 - Raw-UK Launch at The Welly (3/4) By Joe Hakim Photos by Darren Rogers

(1/4), (2/4), (3/4), (4/4).

Photograph Gallery   Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Gallery 3,   Gallery 4,   Gallery 5.

We're treated to the skills of Shlomo quite early on, when he does a little segment in between bands. He has a beat-boxing style that takes in samples of everything from The White Stripes to The Prodigy. It's impressive stuff. Then Kid Keneval and rapper Testament take to the stage, and proceed to not only blow it up, but smash it to smithereens. Testament moulds the crowd, involving them via the traditional hip-hop methods - Everybody say hoooooo! By the time Shlomo takes to the stage, everyone has been whipped up into a frenzy.

Testament and Shlomo then have a kind a beat-box duel, with Kid Keneval deftly cutting in with scratches and samples, and at some points it's hard to differentiate between what's coming off the vinyl and what's being generated by the rapper's voices. They are that good. It's funny really; a couple of years ago, I thought all British rap was a pale imitation of its American counterpoint, but I've had a complete turnaround of opinion lately and I've been listening to a lot of stuff like Plan B, Roots Manuva and even The Streets. In fact, I think that most of the stuff coming out of the USA is shite at the minute - stuff like the gun and jewel obsessed 50 Cent.

Acts like Testament and Shlomo are taking things back to their roots - it's all about social commentary, who's got the best skills with a microphone and who's got the best rhymes, rather than who's got the biggest guns and the most bitches. "Is this crowd fresh?" Testament asks after the set. You bet we fuckin' are. Fresher than eating a gob full of mints in a wind-tunnel while smothering yersen with Tiger balm, mate. I'm really going to have to check out more of this stuff, and I suggest you do too.

I'm a bit pissed by now, so I grab Mak from The Sesh and tell him that he has to book something or someone like Shlomo and Testament. "Imagine dropping something like that in between two indie bands on a Tuesday," I say. "Now that would really shake things up." Indie bands and acoustic folk playing alongside the best of UK hip-hop, right here in Hull? You heard it here first, folks. Emma Rugg plays a track in the lounge, but I'm having a well-earned slash at this point so I miss her song, but I meet her briefly and she seems like a nice enough lass. By this time I'm making inroads into the complimentary champagne. I'm not actually entitled to it, because I don't have a VIP wristband, but I steal some anyway, because no one else is drinking it. After a few glasses I realise why: it tastes like fizzy piss.

The night's capped off with a set from the Last People On Earth. I like this band, simply because they've eschewed the conventional indie set up of two guitars, bass and drums for something a bit more experimental. And boy does it fuckin' work. The songs are driven by Paddy's vocals and phenomenal growling, rib-rattling bass. The keyboard players and drums provide the depth that fills out the band's sound, illuminating the songs with some weird, trippy flourishes. There is, quite simply, no other band in Hull - or the country, for that matter - like them at the minute.

Continued .... Next Page (4/4)

Photographs courtesy and Copyright ©  Darren Rogers 2006

Photograph Gallery   Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Gallery 3,   Gallery 4,   Gallery 5.

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