I’m going to see Public Enemy tonight courtesy of my brother. I couldn’t be more excited. I mean, I could but it’d irritate everyone by being all jumpy and constantly shouting ‘I’m Louder Than a Bomb’ and asking the bass just exactly how low it may feel its able to go. I’ve wanted to see the PE, Chuck D, Terminator X and most importantly Flava Flav shouting ‘Yeeeeeaaahhhh Bwwooooooy’ live since about 1992. There is a small chance after this week of pretty excellent music gigs this will be the one that causes me to explode or at least embarrass myself over the next week by holding my first in the air at random and demanding we fight the powers that be. It’d be like a hip hop political tourettes. I may shout swear words but they will always be followed by a member of parliament or government that I’ll be swearing at. In fact I like that idea anyway. Lets all suddenly become afflicted by that. Now. I like to think that PE’s general message is as important now as it was back in the early 90’s. Its about opposing an oppressive government, fighting for equal rights and er, wondering why she, er watches er channel zero. Ok, so maybe not the last one.
I will now spend the rest of the day in the tiny conundrum of what to wear for the gig. Its a very girl thing to do and rarely do such things ever bother me, but over the years my appropriate clothes for hip hop gigs have been worn away and give to charity shops in place of the more sensible clothes from Gap and UniGlo as I embrace old age with open but slighty achy arms. Gone are the days I’d wear my over baggy Tribal jeans, Air Max trainers, hoodie and cap with graff emblazoned on the front. Instead I’ve got several shirts and cardies in a series of bland colours so they always match. While I imagine a large portion of Public Enemy’s fanbase has also got older, I can’t help but feel rocking up tonight pumping my fist in the air whilst wearing a polo shirt and cashmere sweater is really going to be appropriate. Don’t get me wrong, I still have some hella cool stuff. A tshirt with a robot on it – I mean, when will robots not be cool? (The Matrix and future possibilities of AI taking over notwithstanding) I’ve also still got a breakdancing longsleeve tshirt that has fire based graffiti all down the sleeves and, er, I’ve got some socks with the A-Team on. I’ve just read that back and I wonder if should hand tonight’s ticket over to someone else while I retire in my slippers by the fire and listen to someone bland play guitar.
Or, as it has been said by rap singers* many times, hip hop is a ‘state of mind’ and I’d like to think that my years of listening to it, once spray painting the inside of a tunnel near our university, knowing an incredibly small amount of breakdancing moves and knowing all the lyrics to the Pharcyde Labcabincalifornia album mean I qualify for watching the X scratch some wax. See, I said a DJ type phrase. Maybe I might also hear Chuck D drop some rhymes. I’m totally there people. Totally there. Maybe just maybe I’ll see Flava Flav do some shouty things like a cool shouty man. Sigh. Its gone. I fully expect to get to the door and be asked to leave in seconds….
Couple of other things:
– Thanks to Messer Chris Cox, I watched the entire disc 1 of Modern Family last night. What a brilliant sitcom. Every episode actually made me laugh with its characters amazing nuances and awkward moments. If you haven’t seen it, I’d recommend it asap.
– Read this: http://is.gd/h1Gye via @RachelvsPublic and @shepy on Twitter. You should esp follow Rachel as her blog is ace.
– I didn’t leave the house once yesterday. Its called playing the game ‘House Arrest’. I pretended I was under house arrest for 24 hours and I wasn’t allowed to go outside. I won. Its a great game. The only way you can make it better is to have a friend constantly patrol the front door and occasionally aim a gun at the windows if it looks like you might open them. None of my friends wanted to do this.
* This is a knowing nod to a Stewart Lee gag. If you didn’t get it, you’re an idiot. Even though it makes it look like I’m an idiot. So there.
