Public Enemy (with support from DJ Dexter)
Tasmania - Sunday, October 11
by Dean Prenc
It was a month or two ago when I first heard the rumour that Public Enemy
would be coming to play in Hobart. Surely not, I thought, but several
weeks later there I and a car-full of friends (original P.E. heads all!)
were, pulling up outside the activities centre ready for a hefty dose of
the original B-Boys.
Well, not the original B-Boys, but damn near to it. Public Enemy first
broke the international scene in 1987 when their debut album, Yo! Bumrush
the Show, made the world stand up and pay attention to hip-hop at a time
when it was just beginning to gain mainstream recognition (Yo! Bumrush the
Show followed hot on the heels of the Beastie Boys' 1986 debut Licensed To
Ill, as well as Run D.M.C.'s collaboration with Aerosmith on "Walk This
Way".) From that the group have gone on to be one of the most prolific in
the industry, with He Got Game's recent release marking the appearance of
their sixth full length album. With that in mind, take into account that
there's also been several solo works from various members of the group.
Public Enemy hold a special place in that corner of my heart dedicated to
hip-hop. For me and many of my circle of friends, they're the band that we
grew up with. Back in grade eight I was bobbing my head to Fear of a Black
Planet and wearing my P.E. t-shirt, dreaming of the day that I might see
them in concert. Well I didn't have to wait until 1998 to achieve that
particular goal, with this year actually being the third time I've seen
them. What is a surprise is that despite having seen them twice
previously, the experience of October 11 probably ranks as the best show
I've been at. The energy of the band came across clearly to the crowd and
we returned it in spades. The feeling of fun and goodwill in the air was a
refreshing thing, given that so many people have no doubt only ever really
been exposed to that "sells-well 'gangsta' ism" side of hip-hop.
Let's get back to that goodwill thing. This was the first concert I'd been
too where the band made themselves available for signings, with many fans
taking up the opportunity to have dollar bills, LPs, CDs, t-shirts,
bank-statements and boobs (yeah, I saw that happen...) signed by Terminator
X - veteran DJ of the group, or Professor Griff - leader of the S1W's
(HIP-HOP FACT: S1W stands for Security of the 1st World.) It was a shame
that Chuck D or Flavor Flav couldn't make themselves available, but on the
other hand I guess that would have lessened the impact of their appearance
on stage. There was definitely a good vibe in the air and most people were
feeling it (with a few exceptions. For one, the guy in front of me who
started a brawl with a mate of mine - a tip for that guy. If you go to a
concert expect to get pushed around a little. When it happens don't just
smash the nearest guy in the face. The other exception would have been Ms.
Pauline Hanson. I doubt she would have enjoyed herself, but I'll get to
that.)
The evening kicked off in force with DJ Dexter behind the wheels of steel
and what a pleasure it was to see a real turntabilist (for the uninitiated,
"turn-table instrumentalist"!) at work. DJ Dexter is the back-to-back
Australian D.M.C. DJ champion (1997/1998) and it was easy to see why. His
hands whipped back and forth across the fader with Dexter juggling beats,
mixing up tracks and overlaying samples as though he was taking a Sunday
stroll. The coup de grace came when he began playing a piece of classical
music (I recognised the piece, but uncultured as I am I fear I am unable to
identify it by name,) and then dropped an old-school break beat over it.
The crowd went ballistic and Dexter received his fair share of props to be
sure. Rightly so too! Dexter is tipped by DJ Q-bert (arguably the world's
greatest hip-hop DJ,) as the man to win this years world D.M.C. final in
Paris, France.
After a short break, Terminator X and the S1Ws finally appeared on the
stage and while Terminator X laid down some beats the S1Ws swung swords
round, demonstrated kung-fu and the like, effectively fulfilling their role
as the bands "dancers" (for lack of a better word!) Before long Chuck D
strode across the stage and the crowd welcomed him loudly. Without
hesitation the group kicked in to "Welcome to the Terrordome". Chuck was
soon joined by Flavor Flav and the show was well and truly underway. The
band played a wide variety of tracks from across all six of their albums,
often playing shortened versions of tracks presumably to cram as many tunes
as possible into the time they had available. The real treat for me was
that they neglected very few of their classics. "Night of the Living
Bassheads", "Cold Lampin' With Flavour", "Don't Believe the Hype",
"Brother's Gonna Work It Out", "Public Enemy No. 1" and many more all got a
look in!
Besides the music, P.E. also indulged their renowned social conscience,
stopping the show at 9:30 PM to pause for a moment and discuss matters more
serious. It was here that Chuck D recited his already well-known poem,
"The Perils of Pauline", in reference to the former member for Oxley, Ms.
Pauline Hanson. After each line Chuck D had the crowd respond with "GO
AHEAD CHUCK!", Chuck D professing that he'd rather go to hell and vote for
Marilyn Manson than vote for Pauline Hanson. Very amusing! In addition to
this, Chuck D also spoke up to condemn uranium mining in Jabaluka and to
urge people to treat the seas with respect (not to over-fish and so forth.)
The band did stop short of distributing copies of Green Left.
Following the show a large proportion of the crowd relocated to the casino
for the after-party and those that did were in for a real treat, as the
various members of the band mingled with the crowd, engaging anyone who
felt like it in conversation. Besides speaking to DJ Dexter, I also
managed to have a short word to Chuck D who told me that he considered
Tasmania "highly underrated" and that furthermore, he'd be spreading the
word about this place with his peers in the industry. Now that's something
to look forward to! The after-party also saw DJ Dexter perform another
set, with support from local DJ, Adam (whose tag I was unable to catch),
and MC, Bileus Tornts (formerly Decipher,) of Improwise.
All the above said however, there were two things about the evening that
disappointed me. The first was that at least 50% of the show was dedicated
to Public Enemy's more recent releases. At the same time, I suppose this
is understandable and while I personally would have preferred to hear more
of their old songs, I'm sure that a large proportion of the crowd were
happy with the balance the band struck in showcasing their various
releases. The other point that I'd criticise (which is loosely linked to
the fact that they spent a lot of time dwelling on their most recent
releases,) is the hard-sell the band were making with regards to He Got
Game and more specifically, Flavor Flav's forthcoming solo-album (which has
been forthcoming for over 10 years!) I didn't really need Flav telling me
to go out and buy his album when it comes out, etc., etc. and rather than
telling me to do so I would have liked to have seen them perform some more
tunes. After all, they were preaching to the converted.
As I've said several times already, perhaps the most surprising thing about
the entire evening was that a great night was had by all! The crowd was a
real mix and I dare say that the majority of people there were present on
account of curiosity as much as they were to see Public Enemy in concert.
Perhaps the evening won a few converts to hip-hop? For the others, perhaps
now people will see that hip-hop is an art-form all of it's own, from DJing
to MCing. For those that really loved it, I'll see you all again in
December when the Rock Steady Crew hit town!