Wednesday 22nd August Off The Road Poetry Performance Music Adelphi Club(2/4)

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

Photograph Gallery   Barnes Gallery,   Cracktown Gallery,   James Dean Syndrome Gallery,   Jim Sorrow Gallery,   Joe Hakim Gallery,   Scarlet Lights Gallery,   Yol Gallery,   People Gallery.

A murder amongst thieves? Perhaps an unwanted abandoned baby whose spirit is looking for someone to recognise their existence? Purely conjecture but with no explanation from the performers that's all you have left. 575 leaves you with no signposts, no help whatsoever, just a powerful feeling of incomprehension. Dark twisted and uncompromising.

Next on tonight's extraordinarily yet hugely popular mixed bill was the acclaimed award winning poet Joe Hakim (Joint Winner Poetry Idol 2007) On a night when England were locked in a titanic struggle with their rivals Germany it was encouraging to see so many people had turned out to witness this talented group of artists and performers. Joe has gone from writing poetry on thisisull.com, to pioneering the art form in Hull, to now, one year later becoming one of the best amongst the countries emerging talent. Having blown away audiences at the Sesh night on numerous occasions he now regularly plays spoken word nights around the country.

He delivers hard hitting original verse with Northern charm and wit. After such a rapid rise to prominence his on stage presence glows with great confidence and conviction.

He brings the verse to life incorporating different voices. His well aimed local chav vernacular goes down well during Two Cops In A Subaru. Where as the attack on modern life and convenience for Available On Demand although funny and entertaining is very true. You can send texts, take and make calls, watch tv, listen to the radio, download music, watch video, send video, go online and detonate bombs all using that wonder of the technological age, the mobile phone.

But it's not just the subject matters within the work, it's the delivery. The poem Albert Hoffmans Bicycle engages the listener with an increasingly complicated rhyming pattern quickening in pace that is as brilliant as it is abstract. Psychological concepts, metaphysical ideas all cascade in a waterfall of carefully chosen lexical items. Joe Hakim should be inspiration to us all. He continues pushing the Spoken Word genre encouraging others to get out there and do it. Joe's modest demeanour when fans of his work come up to him afterwards is example to us all.

Recently his tale of drunkenness and decrepitude (I Got Those) Special Brew Blues was taken up by prolific remix artist Supercharge and given a back beat and samples to lend something new to his work. With spoken word artists such as Dan Le Sac V Scroobius Pip getting airtime on BBC Radio 1 as well as internet based media and sharing bills with bands and artists like Franz Ferdinand and Kate Nash it won't be too long before this genre will get saturated with dross, over commercialized and be killed off. Catch it now on the ground floor while the real quality still rises to the top.

Continued...Next Page (3/4)

Photograph Gallery   Barnes Gallery,   Cracktown Gallery,   James Dean Syndrome Gallery,   Jim Sorrow Gallery,   Joe Hakim Gallery,   Scarlet Lights Gallery,   Yol Gallery,   People Gallery.

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