I had originally intended to blog about the current climate of good hip hop gigs in Dublin – Aesop Rock, The Cool Kids, Cadence Weapon and Edan – but after The Cool Kids’ show in Crawdaddy the other night, I felt something else required attention. Arriving at Crawdaddy some time around 8.30, I figured I’d already have missed some of the support show, coming from Irish rap crew The Infomatics and Carps, whose music is described as “Punk Rock with a gun to R&B’s head on the Dancefloor.” I was wrong. The schedule seemed to suggest that these two groups would play short sets, and that The Cool Kids would come on at 9.50, to finish at 10.30. As short a set as that would seem, the Chicago duo don’t really have much of a back catalogue – they’ve yet to release their debut album, The Bake Sale.

However, by 9.50 The Infomatics had barely finished their set, and Carps were seen wandering around through the audience. As soon as they kicked off their set with some brash, noisy punk rock, I found myself drifting back outside. Now I’m all for variety and open mindedness, but I really question the sense in billing Carps in the middle of two hip-hop crews. For one thing, my gig-going buddy repeatedly compared them to Fall Out Boy, and, if hip-hop is known for anything it’s its braggadocio. This Canadian pair seemed so caught up in their nation’s own reputation for self-deprecation that they almost seemed to apologise for their presence on stage.

Meanwhile, keeping with hip-hop’s propensity for delay, The Cool Kids finally came on stage some time after 11, they asked the crowd if they had work the following morning. “F*ck work” they encouraged us to chant, “f*ck early!” That’s easy to shout when your job consists of flights and shows, not so much when you’ve to get up and get a bus to sit in front of a desk the next day, bleary eyed from jumping around and throwing your hands in the air the night before. That said, their show, which flew through verses from their debut EP, Totally Flossed Out. Taking their retro themes to the extreme, they referenced early hip-hop heroes from NWA to, err, Kriss Kross, as well as getting the crowd to rap along to the theme from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Mikey Rock got so much into it that he danced old-school style while his partner Chuck got with the beatboxing. All of this was enhanced by the duo’s lyrical flair and wonderful sense of humour. Put simply, it was a great hip-hop performance, as the pair reverently kept with the traditions of the genre while looking to their own future as would-be superstars.

All of this was unfortunately overshadowed by the awful timing and dreadful programming. I left the gig wondering why The Cool Kids haven’t released an album, and why the powers that be at Crawdaddy saw fit to keep the crowd waiting such a long time. Hopefully the same won’t be the case at Cadence Weapon, playing Shock on Friday the 22^nd, or in the Tivoli for Edan on March 16^th.

Aidan Hanratty
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