On a typically rainy November night, Capitol was the venue for a Love Music Hate Racism event sponsored by Show Racism the Red Card. In light of recent political events, anti-fascist and pro-fascist marches in Glasgow and the recent by election results in Glasgow that placed the BNP ahead of the Liberal Democrats, I thought it pertinent to discover whether music can unite people.
A decent enough crowd had turned up for this one, and first up to kick off the show were Aboiz. Dressed for the weather, four MC's took to the stage performing to a backing track that seemed to owe much to the unsophisticated club style of 50 Cent, probably my least favourite rapper of all time. The rhymes were competent enough, but it seemed they'd put swagger before musicianship. Needs work, guys!
Next up was Sajj, joined by Gideon of Heatflow. Describing himself primarily as a vocalist but also a beatboxer, we were treated to a feast of beatboxing - shall we say a meatbox? - which took in a cover of "I gotta get thru' this" and eventually culminated in pretty much every MC in the room onstage in a free-style melee. This was the sort of thing I'd been hoping to see, as I only very rarely encounter hip-hop in Glasgow. Building to a call and response finale of "Love Music Hate Racism", this really got the crowd going.
It was coming thick and fast now, with Gideon in his guise as Heatflow taking to the stage again to give a rap master class. This guy is good - imagine the word of God fired from an Uzi and you're coming close. The backing beats we're extremely well produced and added to the overall power of his performance. Before long, we once again had him joined on stage, this time by ragga performer MC Stitch'd, who took the energy and ferocity to a new level, while also incorporating a religious message. Interesting, if a tad preachy towards the end.
Finally, having exhausted our roster of MC's, it was Crank's turn. Although these events are obviously meant to bring different scenes and styles together, I found their typical indie rock sound too bland in light of the variety of performers and styles that had went before. Nothing wrong with their sound, but the desire for a cigarette won over after 1 song.
I should also mention that a pint was only £1 all night at the upstairs bar. For some reason, it was more expensive downstairs. Bizarre, but worth making the quick trip upstairs when a thirst needed quenched.
Overall, this was an engaging and interesting event, and leaving with a phone full of new contacts on the hip-hop scene, I'd say it definitely achieved its aims of bringing people together.