ZENTASTIC!!!
On Saturday March 20th 2004 I had the pleasure in attending the
ninjatune "greatest hits" tour in support of the new doubledisk and DVD. The
show consisted of five acts, starting with New York's Blockhead who was
given the daunting task of waking the hibernating Canadians from their
slumber to boogie down to some fat asss hiphop beats. Though the crowd was
slow to respond to one of the newest ninjas, eventually he was able to shake
the lethargy off the audience and get a great groove on. My friend Adam was
duely impressed and after the show, bought his cd to play for his hiphop
loving crew, stating that 'Blockhead is exactly the kind of hiphop we need'.
Meaning, music for the love of music, not the love of money. Seamlessly
taking over for Blockhead was Halifax dj Sixtoo and his cohort in beats,
P-love, who I got to chat with briefly before the show. This was the second
time I had seen the newest Canadian on the ninja roster, first being last
April opening for Tobin at the Trash in Guelph. This night, he blew me away,
composing a freestyle hiphop set that was jamtacular, rhyming over beats and
noise supplied by the ever amazing P-love, and beats and jams that were so
spaced out even Mr. Spock would have loved them. Thanks to Blockhead warming
the audience up, the Sixtoo show grabbed them by the ass and forced them to
dance.....but still some were not moving. Before you could refresh your
drink though, Bonobo had arrived with his infectious groovy mellow dance
meltdown that had everyone dancing their feet to the bone. My previously
mentioned friend Adam had stated that he was a watcher, not a dancer to the
rest of us before the show and that he generally just loved to watch the
artists at work. Well, Bonobo had changed his mind somewhere, as he joined
the rest of us and gave Bonobo's tunes the moves they deserved. After
working the audience up into a froth, the mighty Kid Koala took over, again
seamlessly and rocked our socks off with his superhuman ability to make
beautiful, beautiful music from his instruments, turntables. What can be
said of Canada's greatest musical assest that hasnt already been said? Kid
koala is damn amazing, this was my third time seeing him, my girl Holly's
fourth, and each time he stuns us with the dexterity he shows on the old lp
player. The highlights included P-love joining him to perform Skanky Panky
(from his new album, "Some of my best friends are DJs") on five turntables
and his awe inspiring rendition of "Moonriver". But the night wasnt over
yet, still to come was the brilliant Amon Tobin. The darkest beats, the best
noise and the most dancing of the night. I had never previously heard
"marine Machines" with so much bass reverberating through my system, two
days later and I can still feel it. The are few words that can accurately
describe that amazing sound he creates, and at this time I am at a loss for
them. If there was only one DJ in the world I could listen to for the rest
of my days, it would be Tobin, and thats saying alot. Ironically, if there
was only one record label I could listen to for the rest of my life, hands
down......NINJATUNE. By far the best damn label on the freakin' planet. My
only two complaints of the night were that the ticket prices went up to $30
at the door (which didnt bother me much, it just ment one less ninja cd to
bring home) and that it couldnt last the rest of my life.
5 out of 5
ninjatune "greatest hits" tour in support of the new doubledisk and DVD. The
show consisted of five acts, starting with New York's Blockhead who was
given the daunting task of waking the hibernating Canadians from their
slumber to boogie down to some fat asss hiphop beats. Though the crowd was
slow to respond to one of the newest ninjas, eventually he was able to shake
the lethargy off the audience and get a great groove on. My friend Adam was
duely impressed and after the show, bought his cd to play for his hiphop
loving crew, stating that 'Blockhead is exactly the kind of hiphop we need'.
Meaning, music for the love of music, not the love of money. Seamlessly
taking over for Blockhead was Halifax dj Sixtoo and his cohort in beats,
P-love, who I got to chat with briefly before the show. This was the second
time I had seen the newest Canadian on the ninja roster, first being last
April opening for Tobin at the Trash in Guelph. This night, he blew me away,
composing a freestyle hiphop set that was jamtacular, rhyming over beats and
noise supplied by the ever amazing P-love, and beats and jams that were so
spaced out even Mr. Spock would have loved them. Thanks to Blockhead warming
the audience up, the Sixtoo show grabbed them by the ass and forced them to
dance.....but still some were not moving. Before you could refresh your
drink though, Bonobo had arrived with his infectious groovy mellow dance
meltdown that had everyone dancing their feet to the bone. My previously
mentioned friend Adam had stated that he was a watcher, not a dancer to the
rest of us before the show and that he generally just loved to watch the
artists at work. Well, Bonobo had changed his mind somewhere, as he joined
the rest of us and gave Bonobo's tunes the moves they deserved. After
working the audience up into a froth, the mighty Kid Koala took over, again
seamlessly and rocked our socks off with his superhuman ability to make
beautiful, beautiful music from his instruments, turntables. What can be
said of Canada's greatest musical assest that hasnt already been said? Kid
koala is damn amazing, this was my third time seeing him, my girl Holly's
fourth, and each time he stuns us with the dexterity he shows on the old lp
player. The highlights included P-love joining him to perform Skanky Panky
(from his new album, "Some of my best friends are DJs") on five turntables
and his awe inspiring rendition of "Moonriver". But the night wasnt over
yet, still to come was the brilliant Amon Tobin. The darkest beats, the best
noise and the most dancing of the night. I had never previously heard
"marine Machines" with so much bass reverberating through my system, two
days later and I can still feel it. The are few words that can accurately
describe that amazing sound he creates, and at this time I am at a loss for
them. If there was only one DJ in the world I could listen to for the rest
of my days, it would be Tobin, and thats saying alot. Ironically, if there
was only one record label I could listen to for the rest of my life, hands
down......NINJATUNE. By far the best damn label on the freakin' planet. My
only two complaints of the night were that the ticket prices went up to $30
at the door (which didnt bother me much, it just ment one less ninja cd to
bring home) and that it couldnt last the rest of my life.
5 out of 5