Covered In Bees

Lethal Bizzle + Bashy + Blah Blah Blah, Leeds Rio’s, 29/04/08

It’s always fun reading back the little notes I drunkenly text myself during gigs. Here’s my summary of Blah Blah Blah:

“New wave Housemartins. Young Knives but black. Jamiroquai but not a cunt. Then it hit me – Ian Dury. The accent, the rhymes, a mild funk”

Not quite sure where Jamiroquai came from, but BBB (it was an evening of bees) were a great little opener. Songs that criticise London twats have been done a million times and often descend into lame self-parody, but this collection of tunes were bloody catchy. Death To The Indie Disco has one of the best uses of “wankers” in any song you’ll ever hear.

Bashy was there to warm up the crowd, and we were fucking boiling by the end. I read a review elsewhere on the net that dismissed him for shouting over 30 second clips of random songs...this person clearly wouldn’t know gig atmosphere if it bit him on the arse. Bashy was starting up a riot. Down amongst the crowd, inspiring dance-offs and singalongs, it got us buzzing for the main event.

Bizzle is a charmer. The crowd (young, mixed, Skins) were his before he stormed the stage. The beats were immense, his flow unstoppable. Every track was a hands-in-the-air highlight. Police On My Back, Bizzle Bizzle, Pow, Uh-Oh, Fire...he was full of love for the people and we gave plenty back. Another set that went way too quickly.

And a set that is hard to describe, because Bizzle transcends the genres. A tight live show that could match any rock gig for levels of intensity, displaying bucketloads of charm and accessibility that is often lacking from live hip hop acts. He was constantly on the verge of diving into the crowd, who were equally close to spilling on to the stage. Bizzle is one of the UK’s best showmen who compromises nothing. Potentially life-changing.

Kebab Watch – best chips and cheese in Yorkshire, hands down.