Knew Knowledge April 2012: Review

Hosted by BBC 1xtra’s CJ Beatz Tuesday night (10^th April) saw Knew Knowledge take over CAMP, Old Street with an array of the freshest in UK hip hop.

Knew Knowledge open mic winner Cynikal took to the stage with his band The Street Orchestra, setting the mood for the night with hits including ‘Hello’, ‘Losing My Balance’, ‘Please Don’t Wait’ and ‘Won’t Let You Down’. Cynikal took us on a personal journey with mean instrumentals and clever storytelling, something which makes him a memorable performer and was the perfect way to kick of the night.

R-tizt, Steph, JJ, Corey and Ella who all seem like artists in their own individual right make collective The Luminites. It was hard to focus attention on just one person as the stage overflowed with equal parts singing, rapping and beatboxing. The group harmoniously covered Rhianna and Jay Z’s ‘Talk That Talk’ but their talent shined collectively when they closed their set with their own hit ‘Light Up The Sky’.

*Chandler Bing voice* What did I just see? You literally cannot put into words what happened on stage. Just look at the insanity on stage. I am of course talking about The Astroid Boys. My ears legit started hurting at the sheer bass that echoed through the basement. The energy from the boys was on an ASBO level, and I’m going to guess that have experience in crowd surfing and/or moshing, but it was a very cool surprise to see everyone in the crowd enjoying and participating in the maniacal atmosphere The Astroid Boys created. Oh yeah, I love them.

Surprise special guest XO Man gave the front row especially, a very special performance of his latest track ‘Quag’. Inspired by everyone’s favourite Family Guy character, with its very own dance move (that oddly resembles the DX crotch chop!), ‘Quag’ was an unexpected treat for those in attendance.

Having recently supported fellow British act Ed Sheeran, the eccentric and dapper Mikill Pane closed the show with crowd favourites including ‘Little Lady’ and ‘You Don’t Know Me’.  Mikill brought XO Man back on stage for their hit ‘Follow Fashion’ much to the delight of the crowd. With fans in attendance all the way from Australia, Mikill’s fan base is no doubt loyal to good music.

Knew Knowledge is a great night for real music lovers. The acts were top notch, the music was great, resident DJ The Last Skeptik spinning bangers; all the ingredients you need for a great night out, and an even better showcase for UK up and coming talent.

Whispers In The Night: Review

Hostess with the mostess Diahann McEwan was everything delightfully entertaining as she welcomed a full house to Whispers In The Night at Stratford Circus on Friday 17^th February. In celebration of being Valentines week, the night was a mixture of spoken word, poetry and live music all in the name of love.

Singer Jordan King set the tone for the evening as he serenaded the audience with that powerful yet oh so sultry voice of his. ‘Hood Love’ and ‘Unborn Child’ showcased Jordan as a song writer as well as a vocalist and finishing off with a Trey Songz medley, Jordan created the perfect mood for the first part of the show aptly entitled ‘First Attraction’. Tomas Adejumo’s spoken word piece ‘Black Sambuca’ and Rudeen’s poem in dedication to his Valentine asking her ‘Can I Borrow a Feeling’ continued the theme and Miss McEwan set the stage alight with ‘My Man Is’, my favourite piece of hers which is one part smooth, one part sensual, all parts sexy.

With the untimely passing of legends Etta James and Whitney Houston, Amy Heasman honoured the divas with her rendition of ‘Sunday Kind of Love’. The woes of being ‘In a Relationship’ also known as part two of the show, poet Dylema’s piece ‘Pedestrian’ was an earthy piece rooted deeper than the affects of “not having a car”. Taking inspiration from the Bible and giving the verse a female perspective ‘Proverbs 31 Man’, Dylema gave us balance in expressing exactly what she wanted in a partner.  Rapper Enaiyo’s ‘Whenever’ lyrically portrayed that special someone, someone who he would be there for no matter what. Colourfully reciting his own adventure with love Charlie Dupre animatedly performed his piece entitled ‘Love’ as he closed out the second part of the show.

The lovely Chimene Suleyman tweeted earlier in the day “Tonight I’m performing at Whispers In The Night, at Stratford Circus. It is a night of love poems. I will be reading about heartbreak. Come.” Performing ‘I am Lost’, Chimene who we as Fly Penguin have had the honour of having perform for our shows, graced the stage performing what was almost an open letter to her past, to the heartbreak and it was amazing. Closing the final segment ‘The Breakup’ and the show: Mr Tshaka Campbell. I don’t even know what to write. Diahann couldn’t find the words that would do him justice as she introduced him on stage. And now I can’t even find the words to form a coherent sentence that will make you feel what I felt when I heard Mr Campbell speak. I wish I could bottle his passion when he speaks so you can understand just how life changing it is to see him perform. ‘Illusions of Khem’, ‘Ceylon’, ‘Days Like This’, ‘Woman’; “It’s in your nature to create worlds”, my favourite line ever. And when he told us the story of the courtship between him and his wife, the letters, the love; it made me believe in love. Like anything was possible. It made me want to feel that way for someone, have someone feel that way for me.

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed. – Carl Jung

Yooo let me find someone I can speak Mandarin-Patois with.

Dead Wrestlers Society: Review

I was asked by friends what I’d be doing for my birthday and I told them all the same thing: not much, dinner with my folks. But what I didn’t tell them was that I would be making the 3 hour trip from London to Portsmouth for I Luv Dust’s Dead Wrestlers Society art exhibition; not because I was trying to hide it but I just knew it would be too hard to explain.

Wrestling has been a very big part of my life, a part that 99.9% of those who know me are not really involved with. Memories of scarily huge wrestlers in rainbow bright ring attire filled my young days; scandalous storylines and exciting TV filled my adolescence; and nowadays it is the ice breaker in making friends through various forums on social networking platforms.  So when I saw an exhibition that combined my two favourites interests I was all over it like white on rice.

The exhibition although small was held in the very cool and creative Aspex Gallery, attracting hipsters and wrestling fans alike from all over the UK. Cleverly detailed in design and colour; whimsical and striking, the art work made for a great trip down memory lane: the laughs; the catch up gossip after a pay-per-view event; the heartbreak at not being able to go to a live event because we couldn’t afford it; the unforgettable people who share this unexplainable passion, who have become my friends. It’s so much more than you will ever know.  A lot of people will look at these art pieces and think it looks cool or the colours are nice and it’s almost a reflex action in me wanting them to recognise it’s more than that. It’s the blood, sweat and tears that these extraordinary people have put into the creation of their dreams, coming alive as real life superheroes. I Love Dust did an amazing job bringing these immortal characters to life through insane details and ingenious designs. I would have loved to seen portraits of Owen Hart, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and many more influential wrestlers all of whom have created legacies and left their respective mark in the world of wrestling. I really hope this collection grows.

I still feel the same about wrestling (or sports entertainment as it’s known as now) as I did almost 15 years ago. If anything I’m more passionate about it now; maybe more so for it as a brand and product (because studying marketing for 7 years will do that to a person), but nonetheless I still get excited about it, it still fascinates me, I’m still in awe with it, sometimes scared by it but I’ll always love it. Dead Wrestlers Society was the perfect homage to the legends who paved the way for modern sports entertainment.

It was the perfect homage to my childhood.

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