He's jus a Rascal

So, some friends and I set out early at 9:00 to go see Dizzee Rascal at Cervantes last Tuesday - we didn't wanna miss anything since there was no opener listed. Figured with me off on Wednesday this was an ideal situation to let loose a little and enjoy a great show. Inside it was kinda sad with maybe about 30 people in the venue. But it was early. And even so, there were probably four times as many people there at 9:00 when he played here in 2005. A sad state, yes, but maybe it was gonna pick up with a lot of late walkup biz.

We had drinks as it crept past 10:00, and then 11:00 rolls around and it's starting to look bad - only 50 or 60 folks total and still nobody on stage. Some DJ comes on starts playing reggae, segues into hip-hop and then starts playing dance stuff that's pretty far from what anybody is there for - but it got our attention, got people on the floor and listening. Around 11:45, an announcer abruptly comes on the PA system and announces that the show's cancelled and the crowd can get refunds at the door. Weird. What happened?

Bartenders and staff are pissed, claiming Dizzee refused to take payment from them in check form while crowd largely seems to assume that Dizzee doesn't want to play to an empty house. So what gives? To me it seems that the responsible thing to do is to go out and play, not to let the business side of things interfere with and punish your audience who did come out to support and who did pay to see you. If Diz didn't want to play to an empty house, he needs to just grow the fuck up - his songs are often about maturing past what his friends from his 'hood are doing. Well, if you really want to be taken seriously as an adult, behave like one. I don't have a lot of respect for the artist who allows that stuff to show through in their gig - yelling at soundmen, stopping songs because the crowd's too loud during the ballad, complaining to the audience about your monitors - that sort of thing is unprofessional and selfish. But to never take the stage when you're actually at the venue already? Really bad behavior. Worse than a no-show even.

Dizzee, if you didn't want to play to a small crowd, if you weren't willing to just come out and do your best even under mediocre circumstances, that's sad. If you used an excuse that you wouldn't take a check, it's also sad. If the contract specified cash or whatever, there shouldn't have been a check waiting for the artist - a contract's a conract - and if so, shame on Cervantes for it. If no such specification was made, it's again on Dizzee and again just sounds lame as can be.

I'm glad that I had good company to hang out with. I'm glad that a DJ at least came on to entertain folks while these sorry negotiations took place backstage. Wish he'd have been more in touch with what the crowd was there for, but it was a shitty gig to be thrown into so I feel for him. But next time Dizzee comes to town - and now it's dawning on me that the last time he came here (and played for the same club owner!) was only after at least two other gigs had been announced and cancelled (though both with some advance notice) - I'm gonna have to think twice about planning a night around it.

Dizzee Steps Up

Dizzee Rascal will be appearing at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom this Tuesday the 22nd, a step up from his appearance a couple years ago at the smaller sister venue Quixote’s. Last time he performed here was on the eve of the April 2005 blizzard that buried the city, but it didn’t start until after his show was over – a good thing, ‘cuz the show rocked (there’s a 14-second Youtube clip from the show, but the sound is so bad it’s not even worth posting). Weather did keep some people away, which was too bad because they missed out on some classic hip-hop. Two MCs and a DJ to keep things moving – it was total old school, post-Run-DMC style, though filtered through Dizzee’s modern sound, taking in drum & bass, UK Garage, Tricky and whatever else he likes to name as precedents to the “grime” he pushes.
Last time here he was riding his sophomore effort Showtime and still laid heavily on his debut Boy in Da Corner. This time he’s touring on the most consistent and mature record of his career (Maths & English - more on that in a moment) and I hope that maturity comes through in the show. He’s always avoided the gangster trap that snares too many young MCs – he wants to write about his hard times but doesn’t want to glorify them. But he goes further than that and enters those same tales within a framework set by songs like “Sittin Here” (from Boy in Da Corner) and the lead track on the new album (“World Outside”); songs that posit an image of him as a thoughtful, reflective, wondering what happens when he ain’t a kid no more and it’s not all fun and games. He knows, too - knows that it’s gonna be serious, knows you can’t go through life messing around like too many of his mates still do. That’s what makes songs like “Suk My Dick” and “Where Da G’s” palatable for me – it’s his way of talking live and direct to part of his audience (and also a way for him to indulge some petulant delights) and make them listen up when he chooses to get all serious. With luck they’ll learn from his wisdom.
And for me I’ll listen across the board because he knows how to make the music work - dense and aggressive on the first album, lighter, catchier tone on the second, and this time around he’s neither hard nor pop exclusively, yet retains qualities of both and blends them in a very engaging way. If his stage presence has matured the way his record making skills have, this ought to be in the running for one of my favorite shows of the year.