ABORT Magazine™

Live Review: DJ Muggs with Guests, February 23rd 2012, The Rickshaw Theatre – Vancouver B.C.

(CLICK TO ENLARGE | Photos – Chris McKibbin)
(Top: DJ Muggs – Bottom: Friends with the Help)

Live Review – DJ Muggs with Friends with the Help, Snak the Ripper, Feat DJ’s K-Rec and D-Rec
Thursday February 23nd, 2012
The Rickshaw Theatre, Vancouver, B.C

The Rickshaw can be a cavernous venue without a large crowd, and by 10:00 it was still mostly empty with nothing but Nicky Ninefingers’ terrible “shoes in the dryer” stylings on the laptop to distract. Have no fear though, for as soon as K-Rec put his hands on the vinyl it was on, and a tour de force demonstration of True School turntablism ensued, from frantic polyrhythmic scratches to uncannily matched beat juggles, all composed of a continuous collage of classic tracks subtly dissected and resurrected. K-Rec’s “Fun Time” stylings bely his absolute seriousness on the decks, and it was like he set out to show and prove what a real DJ do…and murder the tracks!

Warmed to motion by K-Rec’s Boom Bap mix, a crowd of Vancouver’s loyal Hip Hop heads slowly coalesced out of the rain to fill the greater part of the floor, and Young Nige and Low Lux of Friends With The Help took the stage to drop their signature brand of thoughtful, upbeat, lyrical party rock. Hot on the heels of their recent release “Confidence” (available for free download on their website), the Friends owned The Rickshaw’s vast stage like they were already stadium status, moving as fluidly as their words. With their video single “East Van Shit” repping hard for their local fans, and new tracks like “Chickens” with their self-deprecating humour, Friends With The Help are reminiscent of early De La Soul, with K-Rec’s productions recalling a more optimistic time in Hip Hop.

Vancouver veteran and Surrey staple Snak the Ripper came on like an aluminum bat to the head, with co-conspirators D-Rec on the wheels and Merkules hyping it up with his terrifying girth. With a voice like a wino drinking battery acid and a flow so accurate it could split hairs, Snak has grown into his style like a rap Tom Waits, painting pictures of white trash desolation and Lower Mainland desperation through the eyes of a venomous everyman. Spitting classics like “What’s Street” with gusto, Snak and co. repped for a Vancouver that has endured the wash of weak indie rock and dance music.

When the evening’s main contender, Cypress Hill’s own Grandmaster, Dj Muggs took over, the crowd was likely anticipating a more traditional set of West Coast Hip Hop tracks, but Muggs seemed intent on the unexpected, bombarding the crowd with ever more punishing waves of dubstep laced with relentless scratch routines that tore up the mind like PCP. At times danceable and more often brutalizing, Muggs’ sound was in stark contrast to the rest of the night, and left some scratching their heads, perplexed.

While the evening was a mixed bag and sometimes incoherent, it had the casual vibe of an Old School rap night, more for the heads than the casual listener. Vancity’s talent was definitely shining bright, and showed that we have high calibre artists ready to take on the world – and it’s only a matter of time until people take notice.

DJ Muggs

By Dave “Corvid” McCallum

WANT MORE LIVE REVIEWS? CLICK HERE

Copyright © 2004-2012 ABORT Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication, in whole or in part, in any form or medium without express written permission from Abort Media Publishing Corporation (AMP Corp.) is prohibited. All use is subject to our Terms of Use.

Comments are closed.