LAST Saturday, Galway’s Roisin Dubh was host to one of hip-hop’s founding members, the legendary DJ Grandmaster Flash. Playing a string of old-skool, crowd pleasers, the 54 year old New Yorker’s set did not disappoint.
Having performed at various festivals and venues throughout the country over the years, it was inevitable that the mix-Master Joseph Saddler would make his way west and grace the stage of one of the city’s best music locations. The excitement was building as soon as the curtain was opened to let the eager crowd in. Minutes later, intro act Abandoman burst out on to the floor with what can only be described as one of the most dynamic musical comedy acts around.
The duo is made up of James Hancox and Rob Broderick. Broderick is a hysterical freestyle comedy-rapper and Hancox a talented multi-instrumentalist. The pair creates hilarious comedy sketches at lightning speed with loads of audience interaction which they use as the inspiration for their sharp lyrics.
The sheer skill and on-the-spot lyricism is gobsmackingly good and likely to appeal to even the most disparaging audience members. After about 30 minutes of nonstop hip-hop and laughs the pair had more than fulfilled their duties. The crowd was on a massive high and finally it was time for the main event.
Dressed in a heavy leather jacket and black New York Yankees hat, the master of hip-hop took his rightful place centre stage. Asserting himself behind a mixing deck and laptop marked with a black G, the heaving assembly was putty in his hands before he opened his mouth. If he had played Crystal Swing’s rendition of He Drinks Tequila mixed with God Save the Queen I’m pretty sure we would have whooped. Thankfully he did not.
After getting the audience truly pumped, he kicked off the night with come classics including The Message, a Grandmaster hit and a piece of hip-hop history. From that point on it was non-stop vintage gems from the likes of DMX, Dianna Ross, Snoop Dogg and Snap. The atmosphere was electric in the packed back-room of the Roisin which was made up of old ravers, new hipsters and music lovers in general.
Some hardcore fans may have been disappointed with the low number of Grandmaster originals in the set and the level of actual mixing he didn’t undertake. However, the brilliance of the Grandmaster Flash gig was perhaps that it was not your usual gig, nor was it a simple DJ set. It was a true master of his art playing, mixing and melding the music he loved to a crowd he knew so well.
So although we may not have seen anything new or ground-breaking over the two plus hours that he graced the stage, we did witness one of hip-hop’s most iconic figures do what he does best; read the crowd like a well thumbed book and keep a stream of classics coming out of the speakers. At 54 years of ages, with over 30 years experience under his belt, he has certainly paid his dues to the genre.
After the final beat faded, the satisfied congregation left the Roisin Dubh feeling it was €16 well spent. It seems the Grandmaster himself enjoyed the Galway gig also, as he tweeted the following day “Super shouts To Galway Ireland--It was incredible”.
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