- I’d forked out the hefty yen for the ticket to this Mos Def/DJ Shadow extravaganza, but I must admit I was apprehensive after receiving word from local music doyen Mikey Cahill that the latter had turned in an average effort at Splendor in the Grass, but wow (and shit), Josh Davis had certainly turned thing around in the five days since.
Having laughed and grooved with Mos Def at a screening of Dave Chappelle's ‘Block Party’, I was pretty keen to see him live, and his high energy and almost comedic stage presence was the perfect entrée for Shadow's delectable main course. His flavour of emceeing as well as his tributes to Aretha Franklin and Kanye remixes were well-received by a fun – and far from pretentious – Melbourne crowd.
The curtain then closed and the rank and file queued for VB cans (which were being pushed by bar staff as “the only way to keep the drink service fast”. Obviously venue management ain't heard of putting a few extra people behind the bar.) Anticipation built as Shadow's stage was revealed: nine massive screens hovered behind an elaborate riser laden with decks, laptop, drum machines and possibly some form of time machine. I didn't see a talking pie, admittedly.
What followed left any doubt about his Splendor bender (where he supposedly had issues with sound anyway) well and truly on the canvas floor. DJ Shadow started with his classic ‘Entroducing’, but as the set cranked up, he readily mixed tracks from his first LP with offerings from ‘The Private Press’ and his U.N.K.L.E collaboration ‘Psyence Fiction’, all in front of some of the most amazing visuals ever seen at a gig in this country. These were a true feast for the senses: mind-bending Tool-esque exoskeletal figures, depictions of war and George Bush’s head sinking and drowning in water – images that wouldn’t been out of place in a big-budget Hollywood film. The mixing was flawless, candy for the ears, and the shimmy of the electric crowd ensured the occasional body contact with those in the vicinity was sensual and sweaty to the touch.
The entry of Stateless vocalist Chris James on a couple of tracks mid-set was really the only time momentum was lost – it was just too great a shift from the hip-hop mash-up that themed the evening. Yet after the geezer exited Snagglepuss style, Shadow came roaring back, joined by David Banner for a killer version of ‘Seein’ Thangs’ complete with a larger-than-life video clips in the background. The rendition of ‘Mashin' On The Motorway’ was also ultra-fun, set to a Grand-Theft-Auto-on-speed video that was highly entertaining.
‘3 Freaks’ from the upcoming album ‘The Outsider’ also went down warmly, aided and abetted by Keak Da Sneak & Turftalk. Strangely, the video to 'Be There' from the U.N.K.L.E partnership played across a bunch of Shadow numbers. An artistic take on a boring old London Tube ride, it actually made me feel pangs for the Old Blighty I lived in for eighteen months.
The encore featured tracks from the U.N.K.L.E collaboration and Thom Yorke's ‘Rabbit in the Headlights’ vocals humming softly behind mashed up sounds from the underrated ‘Psyence Fiction’ LP. From the evidence tonight, his new album ‘The Outsider’ will be different to his back catalogue, but it’ll be a must-purchase (as would be a Davis video collection). While DJ Shadow might have slightly arrogant at times tonight, there is no doubt he backed it up with a performance that traveled new and exciting paths.