Scary Canary on a Wednesday night. It is like a Koh Phangan full moon party in the middle of Sydney’s CBD minus the sand, water and some dude with dredlocks fire twirling. Trashy tourists, trashy music all getting trashy on toxic cocktails served in little buckets with big straws.
Don’t ask how we ended up here at 3 in the morning after Mr Merriweather’s show. But I guess this is how I paid Daniel back for showing me some of the slightly more classy parties that you can find in New York on a weeknight while I was in his town.
From Melbourne originally now living in Harlem for several years, Daniel put on a couple of shows while returning to Australia for a little while. Instead of an over rehearsed show that an artist reproduces in every city, Daniel’s performance at Tone felt more like he was playing to us in the living room of a New York apartment in the wee hours of the morning after the clubs had closed.
Working his way through a bottle of Jameson, Daniel played his songs acoustically, and talked to us openly and honestly in between each track. He spoke about the vices that have inspired some of his songs, joked about making very little progress on the new album, his opinions on the London riots, Amy Winehouse and other friends and fellow artists that have passed away.
While I think some were expecting something more uptempo, instead we experienced a very intimate, at times very somber show, which really showcased his amazing voice as he sung with such feeling and depth.
It is funny when the hip hop show descends into a not so private party on stage, which u had the misfortune of witnessing. A bunch of girls dancing badly with old men. Hurry up and end it please, so that we can all go home.
All and all though, it was a good show. On a Thursday evening at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney, the Wu-Tang formed together like Voltron, they just happened to be missing an arm and a leg. Though even with Rza, Meth and ODB absent, the Wu is still a force to be reckoned with. Ghostface alone has the force of 100 emcees when he explodes on the microphone. Plus it’s hard to go wrong with classic tracks for days.
Young Dirty Bastard though? I am just not sure. I understand he is carrying on the legacy, but it just seems a little funny making a career impersonating your father.
Janini Panini
STOLEN RECORDS 