Public Enemy – Live Review

Public Enemy
HMV Ritz
07-09-2011

I was going to open this with some horrific cliché about bands who attain the hallowed ‘legendary’ status but I can’t bring myself to do it and I really don’t think it would do this particular group justice. The cultural influence and importance of Public Enemy genuinely cannot be overestimated. As the juggernaut of modern hip-hop and acts such as Jay-Z and Kanye continue to charge forward encompassing and dominating all aspect of media, music and fashion it’s easy to forget the impact Public Enemy had on the fledgling genre back in the early 90’s. One of the first acts signed to pioneering label Def Jam, and never far from controversy, Public Enemy are one of a few groups who managed to successfully capture the atmosphere and effects of politics on a whole generation and use this in a way that also produced tunes which will remain as classics for many years, despite the depth of their meaning potentially being diluted along the way. 21 years after the release of their landmark album ‘Fear of a Black Planet’ each track still sounds as fresh as it did back then and no end of ‘Best of..’ list appearances for the album can attain for this.

Tonight’s performance was billed as a run through of their whole third album from start to finish but instead, and in typical Public Enemy revolutionary style, this was cut down to forty minutes or so of that album and the rest of the set made up from the repartee of heavyweight hip hop classics in their armoury. On stage still looking as fresh and enthusiastic as ever Chuck D belying his 51 years (at one point performing push-ups as a forfeit) along with his long term partner and legendary hype man Flava Flav fulfilling his role superbly. Performing with such energy this show really was breath taking. Tracks such as ‘Don’t Believe the Hype’ and ‘Bring the Noise’ served to galvanise and engross the crowd. There is, however, a certain bizarre irony to a crowd consisting of pretty much 98% white, middle aged men all mimicking Chuck D and Co in the black power salute. Quite what ‘power’ they were fighting is a bit of a mystery to me! Cut these tracks with a mind blowing scratch session from DJ Lord and even a pseudo motivation speech from Flava about the importance of equality and the scourge of separatism this evening was a rare opportunity to witness something truly special.