I went to I LUV LIVE last Monday night (16 January) and boy was it a good night. Gutted that I couldn't make Eskimo Dance at Proud 2 the Saturday before, I was adamant not to miss this!! I LUV LIVE is a bi-weekly event that takes place in London with established British artists, up &coming talents and an open mic session at the end. On Monday 16 January Kano and Mikey J curated an evening of musical talent and sheer madness!!
I arrived at about 20:30 entering the busy live music venue XOYO in London's Old Street, a basement venue hidden amidst a mish mash of the old East End and recently renovated warehouses home to the trendy elite of Shoreditch. I walked in to a good male-female ratio crowd with a good vibe & surprisingly no attitude. The dress code was relaxed, fashionable street wear - obviously you had your ladies who were dressed up just in case they should get the chance to meet Kano.
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| Ruby Ann Patterson |
As my friend and I arrived to the DJ playing background music we tried to settle in and find a good spot within the audience. Ras Kwame, host for the evening, was a good choice as he is cheeky and keen to invite the crowd to get lively. Despite Ras Kwame's efforts people are still arriving and the crowd not warmed up yet. About 5 minutes in, selected by Kano, nineteen year old musician
Ruby Ann Patterson from Manchester takes to the stage as one of the warm up acts. Ruby Ann Patterson, a pretty female musician with a nice soulful voice displays her musical talent by playing the piano throughout her 3 track performance including a comical song she wrote entitled 'Good Bye' dedicated to her Ex. Not a bad start to the night, by the end of Ruby Ann's performance the crowd starts to fill up with the dressed up ladies beginning to make their way up to the front of the floor towards the stage.
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| Roses Gabor |
DJ Jay Diamond steps in to fill the gap again before
Roses Gabor comes to grace the stage. Roses Gabor, a female rapper and singer, has good interaction and banter with the crowd which helps to warm us up slightly. Having toured with artists such as the Gorillaz Roses Gabor glides through her 3 track performance which includes the popular 'Stupid' produced by Redlight. Roses Gabor has a mixtape coming out on 31 January, I'll be sure to look out for that.
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| Ghetts |
After a slightly painful 10 minutes of DJ Jay Diamond spinning or should I say skipping tracks, (a little embarrassing - bless her) I begin to anticipate the arrival of
Ghetts, one of the most underrated MC's in the game, who you either love or not sure about. Ghetts, one of the heavyweights of grime appears on the stage starting the party with the uptempo 'She Likes To'. I saw Ghetts last live about 3 years ago and ever since rated him highly as the amount of energy this man brings to the stage is incredible and this is when the night really gets started . Then one of the most controversial tracks of last year 'Who's On The Panel' kicks in but the crowd are fully warmed up by the 3rd adn 4th tracks 'Artillery' and 'Red Pill'. You can download Ghetts' latest mixtape 'Momentum' released on Christmas Day
here
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| Ghetts & Mercston |
It was a slow start but with the crowd now fully warmed up Ghetts finishes his set cue for Kano to come out next. The DJ comes back out having resolved the jumping tracks issue and Ras Kwame assures the audience that Kano will not come out until he can hear us chanting his name and so the crowd participates 'Kano, Kano' we start to chant. This is it, the climax to the evening,
Kano charges on to the stage spitting 'East London Madness' to the track 'Random Antics' into a vintage style vocal microphone. After a few pleasantries Kano's aim is clear, he is here to showcase the 'Not for the A List' mixtape, so with no more messing about it's straight on to the 2nd track 'Alien'. At this point I catch Ras Kwame arms folded, bopping his head in the corner - jeez talk about more more cool than Samuel L Jackson. After 'Alien' Kano goes on to explain that the latest mixtape 'Not for the A-List' is a project not made for radio but instead about having fun and taking it back. This is when Ghetts comes back onto the stage to perform 'House of Pain' a duet from the mixtape, through which, the pair remain seated. The performance gets a little emotional and you really can feel the pain coming from these two as they perform 'House of 'Pain'. It's clear that Ghetts and Kano have a special musical chemistry and should the day come where these two make a mixtape, it would be crazy for sure.
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| Kano & Ras Kwame |
After this I lost track of what was going on as the crowd went crazy for Wretch 32 who made a special guest appearance for the track 'ET'. Feeding upon the hype within the audience Kano and crew finished the night off by having fun spitting over old grime beats taking us back to the early noughties when grime veterans where just starting out. Over all I LUV LIVE was a memorable and great night out - not bad for a £10 ticket. I will definitely try to make the next one.
After this I lost track of what was going on as the crowd went crazy for Wretch 32 who made a special guest appearance for the track 'ET'. Feeding upon the hype within the audience Kano and crew finished the night off by having fun spitting over old grime beats taking us back to the early noughties when grime veterans where just starting out. Over all I LUV LIVE was a memorable and great night out - not bad for a £10 ticket. I will definitely try to make the next one.
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