Concert Review: Digable Planets

90's Jazz-Hop group Digable Planets are an example of what people refer to when they talk about wanting hip-hop to be like the old school. Back then the focus of groups such as this was on THE MUSIC, something that the mainstream eventually lost focus on. Their blend of Jazz and uplifiting hip-hop was ground breaking at the time and remains still at the forefront of this exciting sub-genre.

They appeal now to hip-hop heads who refuse to buy into today's garbage and are marginalised to small crowds such as the room in Crawdaddy. Brought in by promoters Choice Cuts at 24 euro a ticket, some people may question a price like this for a group who havn't released any new material since the 90's. However like R.A.T.M. these cult bands are very much in demand due to a select audience of avid listeners.

Support act UGO was first to open up the show and while i didn't expect much, i was actually quite impressed with his thought provoking lyrics and ability to hype up the crowd. He even covered a version of the Oasis classic "Champagne Supernova" which worked very well.

Step up Ladybug Mecca, Doodlebug and Butterfly aka Digable Planets. They started with some striaght classics from their debut album "Reachin'", changing the words of 'Pacific' from 'New York is..' to 'Dublin is red hot'. Incrediblly, nearly 20 years after it's release all three members retained their silky smooth flows. The show was interrupted briefly to fix a problem with Ladybug's microphone and then it was back to the music.

Doodlebug encouraged the audience to ignore race, colour and creeds and join forces under one new hip-hop flag. With plenty of cannabis in the air, Digable Planets were in their element feeding off the crowds energy. Performing for a near two hours they broke into much loved material from their second album "Blowout Comb". Even dedicating some songs to the recently passed Guru. They then finished with their trademark record 'Rebirth Of Slick' which got the biggest cheer of the night.

All in all these intimate gigs make for cracking concerts and i would recommend anyone to fork out the money if their looking for a good time. Let's just hope for some new material from the group soon.