Thursday, May 3, 2018

Mc Lars, Koo Koo Kangaroo, Figure 0.9. Live at The Asylum review (2/5/18)


Figure 0.9 might have been an odd booking for this show. In contrast to the upbeat wholesomeness that was to come from the upcoming American Mc's, Figure 0.9 gave the crowd an in depth look into the darkness of his own psyche, spitting furious bars about his mental health over dark grime flavoured beats, he was joined on stage by friend and ex-bandmate Zero for 'reflecting' and unveiled some new tunes one of which he introduced as being bluntly about death, the other being a cover of an Xxxtentacion song which was as short and sweet as the original. Dan introduced many of the songs with a straight forward bluntness referencing the recent suicide of his ex girlfriend and finishing with a cover of Placebo's follow the cops back home with the tale of his own attempted suicide. Ultimately Dan may use live performance as an outlet for his emotions, but he's coming more into his own as a solo performer, becoming more confident in his own spotlight with each performance. 7.6/10
I was a little disappointed that Your Alibi had pulled out, as I wanted to see what the ex Smart Casual* bandmates had been up too. Koo Koo Kangaroo were quick to step in with an extra long set. Koo Koo Kangaroo are sort of a rap group, stand up comedy duo, and exorcise program wrapped into one. Koo Koo Kangaroo started a party, bringing gold lame backdrops, caps and bum bags and tried their best to get the audience to take part in their gleefully silly dance routines. They seemed very proud of the fact that unlike most American bands they could say Birmingham without saying the 'Ham' and the gaps between songs were filled with banter as they sought to stop the war between brummies and yam yams. They eventually won over the sections of the crowd who weren't already fans, by splitting the crowd in two and getting punters too sing along and shout along to 'the coolest person' into their mics. After our 'Ninja training' Koo Koo Kamgaroo encouraged use to use our ninja skills to go out and fight crime or start crime as "some cities don't have enough crime". The only touch of cynicism Ko Koo have can be heard in the two songs they closed with 'cat party' and 'dancing with my cat' which features the chorus of 'dancing with my cat, cos I have no more friends left' to which everybody was encouraged to dance with their own imaginary cats. 8/10

If you were unaware MC Lars is basically a cross between MC Serch and Dave Gorman, rapping in his black Addidas tracksuit, with a gold chain and game console round his neck, and his music videos and beats playing off his laptop. MC Lars is a pioneer of 'nerd rap' and his subject matter ranges from whole songs based around classic literature, such as Moby Dick, Huckleberry Finn, and the works of Willam Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe. The latter of which he bought out his very own gangster raven for. Seeing MC Lars live is a reminder that comic MC's maybe don't get the credit they deserve as being able to deliver solid bars while also being actually funny is a trick few can pull off.  As if to remind us to not take things to seriously he finished each song with the same big grin and thumbs up. When not paying tribute to classic literature he told the story of the time he formed the fictional emo band 'hearts that hurt' and asked the crowd to scream 'DIE' in their best emo voices, to which he replied that it was 'Taking Back Sunday, but I need more Thrice'. Unfortunately Iggy Pop wasn't around to sing the chorus of the passenger for it's sample on 'Download this song' so we had to make do. Other highlights include the freestyle where he rapped about the items people had been carrying in their pockets and the shows grand finale where me and a handful of punters danced around on stage behind him in a vain effort to prove that ska music is not dead. Fun times. 8/10


Links
https://figure09.bandcamp.com/album/casket-based-on-a-true-story
http://kookookangaroo.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/horrisrecords

*Birmingham pop-punk band who shined bright but briefly

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