MF DOOM @ Independent 12/8/2005I arrived at the Independent a little late. "Don't worry the first of five DJ’s is still playing," said the bouncer. "The first of five?" I thought. MF Doom--one of the hottest rappers in the underground scene--was in town for two sold out shows and the crowd was buzzing with anticipation.Opener DJ Gaslamp was great...blending a mix of obscure 70s and 80s grooves from all over the world. It was difficult to tell if the crowd was more into his music or his ridiculously huge Afro, which bounced frantically and mechanically to the beat. He sang along to the music and was choreographed like a true a performer. The next two DJ's weren’t as good. The in-house DJ for Doom seemed frazzled, unprepared and better at rhyming than spinning wax, which felt odd. His needle broke and he didn’t have a replacement. But DJ Gaslamp scurried onstage to offer up one of his own, which the crowd appreciated. It was my first time at the Independent. Offering good sound, easy bar access, friendly staff and an intimate, wide-open space, the Indy is an awesome venue. One of the bouncers let me use his cell phone, and I’m not even a cute girl, but I am a pretty cute guy. Hmmm. Doom's two newest minions on his record label were okay, though they seemed annoyed that the crowd wasn't more into their stuff. I can understand playing that role once or twice to get the crowd going, but after the sixth bitch and moan that we weren't loud enough, the crowd groaned in boredom. I've noticed that a sense of entitlement from the performer usually meets resistance from the crowd. So they finally got the cheers they were looking for when they left the stage. Doom (aka Metalface) is an interesting cat, filled with mystery. He may be the only man to write a diss song to his own alias about getting with his girlfriend and later breaking up with his girlfriend because she fell for his tricks. By 11:30 Doom's DJ told the audience that we weren't making enough noise for Doom to perform. The DJ was still playing his set really loud and I didn't understand how the crowd could make enough noise for Doom's liking. He couldn’t hear us even if every one screamed into a megaphone. Ironically the DJ was apologizing for Doom taking so long. Everyone was confused. Unfortunately many hip hop shows come off like this, scattered and full of mistakes. Doom came out at 11:45 and ripped it. The crowd was jumping, especially to the tracks that he did with beat maker extraordinaire Madlib on 04's now classic Madvillainy. However, Doom seemed annoyed that the Madvillainy tracks were getting all the cheers and veered toward the obscure. He started going into tracks that maybe three people in the whole room had heard. The crowd began to bore and Doom played another Madvillainy track, but cut it short and said, "that's not for them" to his DJ. What nerve. He left shortly after. And the whole crowd was mysteriously motivated by his curt behavior and chanted "Dooo-ooom" for about ten minutes. The omnipotent in-house DJ finally said, "You know what? You guys weren't loud enough. We'll see you tomorrow night." I doubt it. For more information on MF Doom visit www.mfdoomsite.com
|
|
||||||||||||||
 |
  |
 |
 |
||
