Absorb Vs Sequel @ The Sage

So I arrive at the Sage, one of the most elegant buildings of the North, built with acoustics in mind (but probably not copious amounts of synth bass). From the outside the Sage emotes antiquated, yet serene classical tones. Indeed the majority of people milling about the venue are older (40 or so) and dressed to fit a smart casual description. Then, out of the corner of my eye, in a room full of shiny shoes and collars, I spied a hoody. It was at that point I expected conventional logic would have to be disregarded, as two contrasting stereotypes of music patrons were about to be united in one sophisticated venue. The Sage itself was masquerading as a grimy nightclub; though a nightclub that had a timetable for performances and intervals (during which you could purchase cake and a beverage – perhaps the most bourgeois of all gig refreshments).

The first act took to the stage. Absorb Vs Sequel. An outfit unbeknown to me prior to viewing, but by the end of there set my body ebbed to flows of bass. Mr Absorb can be eloquently described as an edgier Mike Skinner (of Streets fame) though his voice is more akin to that of Hadouken!’s James Smith. Absorb accompanies music producer Sequel exceptionally. Absorb didn’t even soak up the atmosphere like his porous name might suggest; rather it seems he gave himself a verbal wringing: his mouth streaming with complex word plays and rhyme schemes. With a clear grounding in grime, the lyrics Absorb spat initially seemed at odds with the older gentlemen of the crowd, but by the end they we’re essentially skanking: testament to how infectious the duo’s combined work is. Absorb vs. Sequel are clearly an act at the very forefront of the progressive movement emanating from ‘Dub-step’. They prefer the term ‘No-Step’. This is slightly confusing as I clearly remember catching contagious beats. Though, in fairness to the duo, the beats do take a slight backseat to the ‘phat’ bass sounds of Sequel, and the intricate rhymes of Absorb. This all said, a personal highlight of their set was Sequel’s entrancing demonstration of how a drum-machine should be played. Seemingly effortlessly his hands did the work of a brigade drummers. Simply put, any fans of bass heavy music, music that shakes you to your very core, must see this band. A refreshing change from an almost standardised presentation of rap music (the DJ and MC combination) Absorb Vs. Sequel bring artistic integrity to a genre hindered by a distinct lack of performance musicians. With the benefit of hindsight, and all the evening’s performers considered, Absorb Vs Sequel simply outshone the rest of the billed performers.

Verbal Terrorists could easily have been misconstrued as socialist students on a gap year; a gap year during which they opted to put an education in Politics to use in the world of rap. Critically speaking, the Terrorist’s voices did not lend themselves to rapping particularly well. Yet, what they lacked in tone they made up for with passion, energy, and conviction of argument. Nevertheless, there was a distinct irony accompanying the verbal terrorist’s calls for an anti-capitalist ‘revolution’ at the Sage: a venue that unfortunately seemed to price out the broader proletariat. A bigger travesty of the evening seemed to be the distinct lack of punters. It appears the night had been poorly marketed, the consequence being an absence of grimes’ now extensive and growing natural fan base. That or Geordies just don’t like rap. Any such insinuated erroneous statement however was to be undermined by the evening’s next act.

Rick Fury and his somewhat merry collective provided a colloquial mood if nothing else. The South Shields rapper and his friends where hugely entertaining, though perhaps not in the way they where hoping. When a group of Geordie men take to dancing around a stage to up-tempo beats, whilst wearing tracksuits, holding up an Irish flag and rapping about Catholicism, one can only laugh. They do however win my award for best rhyme of the night, something about being “an indoor rapper, doing cyber drive bys”, whilst using various pieces of computing hardware as weaponry. Excellent. Well done there…

Before the night was even young it was time for the headline act: Skepta. Skepta is obviously a talent, but also an obvious ego. His rhymes were solid, but his attitude seemed off. Unlike the other performers Skepta seemed to use the underwhelming crowd size as an excuse to slack off. He didn’t perform for long; in fact a large part of his set was freestyle from the earlier performers he invited back on stage. When he did perform it was good, and he seemed at ease with a Mic in his hand. Though he fell victim to the area of performance art where Absorb Vs Sequel triumphed. Skepta was just a man with a microphone accompanied by an older bloke with turntables. True, it is all you need, and if you value rapping over music it is probably sufficient. Yet, Absorb Vs Sequel just provided so much more. Skepta’s songs are of good quality, but he left an empty feeling, part of me felt devoid of satisfaction. Perhaps I expected too much of him, or perhaps he truthfully just wasn’t as good as he claimed to be (on numerous occasions Skepta reminded the crowd of his continual narcissistic battle with rapping peer Wiley). Over all my personal interest in bands and musicians placed Absorb Vs Sequel on a pedestal none of the evenings other performers could reach. Which is Sad on the part of Skepta in particular, as I now rate some of his recorded music quite highly.