In a spectacular evening, one of the pioneers of hip hop, Grandmaster Flash graced Birmingham Town Hall with hip hop history.
Saturday 8 September 2018 saw the prestigious building come crackling alive in a nostalgic look back to the past thanks to Grandmaster Flash, Hip Hop, Places & Things – The Visual Experience.
Delta Autumn Impress
But first, the opening act, Delta Autumn are a jazz/hip hop band from Birmingham. They began their set with a strong performance and great rapport with the audience. However, sound issues let them down as it was difficult to hear their vocals.
In spite of a sole heckler, they were upbeat with a good range of songs. In a subtle change of pace, they gave fitting tributes to the passings of Mac Miller and Burt Reynolds.
A final special touch to their likeable performance was the introduction of a Birmingham MC to accompany them as they brought their time on the stage to a close.
Overall, you couldn’t help but enjoy their chilled, but confident outing with a notably good drummer.
Nevertheless, the main event was very much Grandmaster Flash dominating Town Hall with an unforgettable show.
Here Comes The Hip Hop History
Striding on stage, he immediately hyped up the audience. It’s tricky to establish the genre’s exact origins, but he kicked off the night exploring his own perspective.
He recalls his own father’s extensive record collection that he wasn’t meant to touch. But, of course, he did and in hindsight, everyone is incredibly glad he did. Following these early experiences, he referenced his place as one of the main DJs.
It was striking to hear how he sought to innovate in spite of the technological limitations of the time. He spoke of powering his tech for block parties by rigging up his equipment to a nearby lamppost.
Hip hop novices and aficionados alike won a stellar musical education thanks to his position as a leader in cutting, scratching and mixing. In fact, Flash demonstrated his quick-mix theory to extend the break.
Usually showing the original sleeves of tunes, the huge screen behind him was particularly useful here. Instead, it then displayed a close up look at his technique on the turntables.
During this first interactive and visual history of the block party, it was a unique treat to receive such a lesson from one of its greatest talents.
Paying Tribute
Engagingly, he talked about his favourite early records of hip hop history. Importantly Flash highlighted how the factors influencing the success of these hits took no heed of race.
Regardless of background, everyone had the possibility of releasing the hottest tune or as Flash aptly summarises:
“Music has no colour”.
Continuing from this, Grandmaster Flash is particularly skilled at respecting the other great influencers of music. The show included a touching memorial to the ‘gone but never forgotten’ faces of hip hop and other genres.
Introducing this with the recent passing of the great Aretha Franklin, this tribute included Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopez, J Dilla and Phife Dawg in a lovely acknowledgement of their influence.
Naturally, names like Biggie, Prodigy (or Mobb Depp), Old Dirty Bastard, Nate Dogg and Tupac had their names mentioned and songs played.
Mapping It Out
Of course, any discussion of hip hop’s origins cannot miss out the geography integral to this genre. However, Flash chose to focus on one of the main sources of musical innovation, neatly introduced with the classic Alicia Keys and Jay Z song, ‘Empire State of Mind’.
Grandmaster Flash took the audience on a journey through the various states of the Big Apple. From Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn to Harlem, Staten Island and Long Island, he travelled through these areas, playing some of the best-loved tunes of their famous musical residents.
Although Flash has his roots in a comparatively low-tech era, he is happy to embrace the advances of today.
Riffing with members of the audience, he projected the laughing crowd on screen. As was his priority all evening, he encouraged all to get their arms up and keep moving. The usually formal environment of Town Hall was instead filled with carefree dancing.
Bringing The Evening To A Close
Interspersed with his fun and insightful commentary, he played his final set of songs. Continually jesting with the audience, the entirety of the Town Hall audience was on their feet and dancing along.
Any show from Grandmaster Flash would be amiss without the classic Furious Five track ‘The Message’.
Still, he offered a personal touch in other ways even mentioning his parents. He was open to giving his memories on his “number one love song”, The Temptation’s ‘My Girl’, encouraging all to sing along with full enthusiasm.
After returning to Franklin and her iconic ‘Respect’, disco fever reigned. The entirety of the room boogied without hesitation to Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean, Flash’s White Lines, Run DMC’s ‘It’s Tricky’, Salt-N-Pepa’s ‘Push It’ and MC Hammer’s ‘Can’t Touch This’ to name a few.
Nonetheless, all his years of experience was most clearly shown in his choice of closing song. He brought a memorable and joyous evening to an explosive end with House of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’.
The amazing evening may have whizzed by with Grandmaster Flash’s hour and a half on the stage seeming to go by in the blink of an eye.
In contrast, memories of a night with one of music’s greatest pioneers will stay in the mind for a long time to come.