My review of Talib Kweli (+ very special guest) @ The Jazz Cafe London 21st June

[On The Edge of Insanity]

I arrived at the venue at around 8ish, just chilled and had some drinks while the DJ played a good mix of jazz, soul, funk and hiphop.

At around 8:40 some dude called Athletic came on with some other guy and played like 5 or 6 tracks. They didn't really impress me to begin with, a little too much of a ragga style accent going on, but their songs got progressively better, and the last track was actually really dope.

After a break of about 10 minutes, Beans (formerly of Anti-Pop Consortium) came on for his set, pint in hand. Having not heard any of his stuff before, I have to say seeing him live was certainly an experience. Even though I wasn't really feeling most of his stuff, you couldn't fault him for the pure effort and obvious love of the music he was performing. He really did seem to be in his own world whilst performing and it really was very exciting to watch.

Beans's energy had certainly got the crowd amped, and about 15 minutes later Kweli finally walked down the stairs onto the stage, with DJ Chaps, Noelle and some other female singer. He opened with Revolution from the Beautful Stuggle advance, and then went straight into Respiration, one of my favourite tracks ever. The crowd were already real hyped by this point, but nothing could have prepared us for the amazingness which was about to happen. Out of nowhere Mos Def suddenly appeared on stage, and the whole crowd went completly mad, everyone bustling to get near to the stage. For such a big Black Star fan like myself it really was a dream come true, and I actually managed to gain a couple of rows in the madness surrounding Mos's arrival. Before anyone had even got over Mos arriving they went straight into Definition with Mos holding the "Lord of Mercy" note for ages before singing reggae style over the beat before the DJ brought it back and we got the real track, which was just as dope as expected. Talib (and Mos)proceeded to go through every track you could ever have wanted them to have done together, apart from of course the lack of Mos on Respiration earlier in the concert. Mos dropped two dope acapellas, one aimed at all the haters, ending with the bars he spit on the Dave Chappelle show (check my sig). Kweli played a great mix of old and new tracks, particular highlights being The Blast (how could it not be?), I Try (which got a great reception despite only being released on the Beautiful Struggle bootleg), and the brilliance of putting Get By and Move Somethin back to back. Kweli got the crowd to make a circle and allowed people to show off their breakdancing skills to Planet Rock, which once again got the crowd real amped. After an encore, Kweli finished off the evening with Lonely People and him and Mos left to Not Just Knee Deep by Funkadelic.

Overall an amazing night, if you ever get the chance to see Kweli or Mos (or both together) then definitely don't miss it cause they put on one hell of a show.

[phoneix66]

I arrived at the venue at around 8ish, just chilled and had some drinks while the DJ played a good mix of jazz, soul, funk and hiphop.

At around 8:40 some dude called Athletic came on with some other guy and played like 5 or 6 tracks. They didn't really impress me to begin with, a little too much of a ragga style accent going on, but their songs got progressively better, and the last track was actually really dope.

After a break of about 10 minutes, Beans (formerly of Anti-Pop Consortium) came on for his set, pint in hand. Having not heard any of his stuff before, I have to say seeing him live was certainly an experience. Even though I wasn't really feeling most of his stuff, you couldn't fault him for the pure effort and obvious love of the music he was performing. He really did seem to be in his own world whilst performing and it really was very exciting to watch.

Beans's energy had certainly got the crowd amped, and about 15 minutes later Kweli finally walked down the stairs onto the stage, with DJ Chaps, Noelle and some other female singer. He opened with Revolution from the Beautful Stuggle advance, and then went straight into Respiration, one of my favourite tracks ever. The crowd were already real hyped by this point, but nothing could have prepared us for the amazingness which was about to happen. Out of nowhere Mos Def suddenly appeared on stage, and the whole crowd went completly mad, everyone bustling to get near to the stage. For such a big Black Star fan like myself it really was a dream come true, and I actually managed to gain a couple of rows in the madness surrounding Mos's arrival. Before anyone had even got over Mos arriving they went straight into Definition with Mos holding the "Lord of Mercy" note for ages before singing reggae style over the beat before the DJ brought it back and we got the real track, which was just as dope as expected. Talib (and Mos)proceeded to go through every track you could ever have wanted them to have done together, apart from of course the lack of Mos on Respiration earlier in the concert. Mos dropped two dope acapellas, one aimed at all the haters, ending with the bars he spit on the Dave Chappelle show (check my sig). Kweli played a great mix of old and new tracks, particular highlights being The Blast (how could it not be?), I Try (which got a great reception despite only being released on the Beautiful Struggle bootleg), and the brilliance of putting Get By and Move Somethin back to back. Kweli got the crowd to make a circle and allowed people to show off their breakdancing skills to Planet Rock, which once again got the crowd real amped. After an encore, Kweli finished off the evening with Lonely People and him and Mos left to Not Just Knee Deep by Funkadelic.

Overall an amazing night, if you ever get the chance to see Kweli or Mos (or both together) then definitely don't miss it cause they put on one hell of a show.

Man I wish Mos Def would drop THE FUCKING ALBUM ALREADY.

Speech is my hammer, bang the world into shape
Now let it fall... (Hungh!!)
My restlessness is my nemesis
It's hard to really chill and sit still
Committed to page, I write rhymes
Sometimes won't finish for days

[Throwback]

sounds really really really dope, it prob. was

[We Fly High]

good shit dogg. long time waiting for this show. and a nice treat since mos cancelled his last show, and the last show for talib was also cancelled, so this is a good thing in return. im still waiting for mos def to come around this summer to LA, i need to see him headline a show himself. instead of just showing up for talib all the time.

[Leggy Hendrix]

props on the gig review...when i saw Mos coming down those steps, i knew the place was gonna fucking erupt!!! You were right, the Jazz Cafe is dope!! Only bad thing was i had to leave a bit early to catch the last connection to Sydenham, so missed Lonely People!!!

and those mos acapellas were fuckin dope...but anyway, it was a Kweli show, and he definitely didn't disappoint. All in all, a fantastic introduction to the Jazz Cafe...

p.s. i was pissing myself laughing when Beans was urging everyone to buy his album so he can pay his child support!!

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Where were u at man, in relation to the stage? Yeah, Beans made me laugh as well, he was a real funny dude. And the Jazz Cafe is for me the best venue in London, sofas to sit on before the gigs, dope music played throughout the night, you can get real close to the artists, and they don't seem to give a damn if you just sit there smoking weed throughout the entire concert.

[Leggy Hendrix]

i was standing just to the left of the bar directly opposite the stage...maybe 5-6 people from the front...did you take any pics? i forgot to take my camera with me  

and yeah we smoked a few joints and no-one bothered with us so it was all good

i didnt go in till about 9.30, was in Liberties until then for a few beers and watching the football

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Man, u must have been pretty close to where I was then I think, I was wearing a red Quiksilver t-shirt.

Did take my camera, but the thing is useless in the dark with movement unless you stand there and manually adjust the lighting, which I wasn't gonna do in the middle of such as dope concert, I was too busy getting hype.

[Leggy Hendrix]

i was wearing a Burberry shirt, was with a really tall dude with glasses, stands out in a crowd!!! i dont have a great memory of the faces so i probably saw you but dont really remember!!!

[Kill]

sounds dope

[Don Rizzle]

i thaught beatnuts were gonna be there too? i still wanna go tomorro nite but have no 1 to go with

[Leggy Hendrix]

the beatnuts are supporting on wednesday...prince po is supporting tonight...

[Darksider]

sounds dope

[CRAFTY]

Damn man...that really sounds like it was a very dope concert.
You know...Talib, Missy & Kelis were supposed to come to Belgium (Hip Hop Don't Stop tour) next Monday, but it got cancelled due to "technical reasons". God knows whatever that means (probably not enough tickets or something, I have no idea actually.)

Waitin For The DJ: how many people can go into Jazz Cafe?

[Leggy Hendrix]

Damn man...that really sounds like it was a very dope concert.
You know...Talib, Missy & Kelis were supposed to come to Belgium (Hip Hop Don't Stop tour) next Monday, but it got cancelled due to "technical reasons". God knows whatever that means (probably not enough tickets or something, I have no idea actually.)

Waitin For The DJ: how many people can go into Jazz Cafe?

i read somewhere that she had to cancel cos she didnt have enough transport for her entire entourage - poor fucking excuse really, considering how much shes probably worth!!!

the Jazz Cafe probably holds a couple of hundred people...real intimate