The venue for this had to be hastily rearranged from The Grand Ol’ Opry due to Covid issues – yes the damnable virus is still with us, but the artists, staff, security and everyone at the Fairfield did a tremendous job in making this great event happen…
The venue is great, seating and a decent sound system which coped with all the orchestral and heavy beat noises thrown at it tonight, though that was also down to great sound engineering, perfected during the last of the soundchecks, which BM, having arrived early, sat in upon.
Once things had been stabilised the gig commenced just before 8pm – the audience looked a bit sparse, maybe due to venue shift and ongoing Covid cancellations (this has been quite a feature of gigs recently) with Steg and collaborators taking the stage with the Glasgow Barons (12 or 13 in number, including strings, woodwind, guitars and keyboards) at the front of the room…
Another “Plan B” situation was that Dave Hook aka Solareye had also got Covid (get well soon man!) so his parts were either filled in by others, or played from recordings, just another everyday problem for your average hiphop producer, and Steg handled this very well indeed…
So the first half, with The Glasgow Barons, was a run through of the ‘Live Today’ album – the Barons were if anything more confident in their backing than at the last gig at Drygate… they played for their lives tonight, combining with Steg’s beats, and all due credit to conductor MacAllinden – this isn’t some pimped up Hacienda Classical, it is a genuine collaboration from people who respect each other’s musical heritage and skillset.
And of course the vocalists, good god Steg can spot talent in a way that no one else operating in this field in Scotland has done, or is currently doing… And yes, the subject matter here is pretty bleak, but hearing Empress spit out her lyrics, dead on the beat, is just something to behold, and then some… A series of firecracker flows, along with a killer chorus, along with Steg’s horror movie-esque backing and the Barons’ opening out the soundscape in this great space… And tonight during ‘My Destiny’ BM considered recent events, people fighting for their lives, and the words took on a slightly different meaning…
Further tracks included the intense vocals of The Freestyle Master, speaking about round 2 of a toxic relationship – a very brave and vulnerable reading from this veteran of Scottish hiphop, respect due..
The young team also put in an appearance, with CCTV both in fantastic form, giving wisdom beyond their years…incredible talent just straight on it – “Always Fucking Up” is about rites of passage and trying to do the right thing, despite everything being set against…
Every track on this album is great – so BM will move to another CCTV track, ‘Scars’ where the wordplay is pure class – to live and die in Glasgow in 2022 – ‘Real Life’ indeed, with the Barons providing some great guitar here…
The final track is emotional – ‘Funeral For a Friend’ mixes grief (and such a good string solo riff) with the reality of whether the deceased was actually a saint or not (they probably weren’t) – it was a shame that Solareye was not hear to deliver this in person, as he has some of the best lines…. So evocative, so insightful, so moving… Like BM said, this night was not a barrel of laughs, but well worth it
So phew, we are only halfway through… the orchestra are cleared and the stage now set for a rendition of Steg G’s latest album ‘Surface Pressure’, released last week. Just beats and vocalists now…
Track 1 (feat Solareye) was patched but we got straight into track 2, featuring Jam from CCTV, referencing COP, pollution and the struggle to understand and react to environmental catastrophe while struggling with everyday life. This is the main theme of the album, with subsequent vocalist also strong on black humour in the face of global doom…
Female vocalist Sweet Rogue tackles themes of no future, and the price of fuel – a furious performance by another Steg G discovery…respect due…
Freestyle Master gives his own take the theme with a great female vocal sample, and references to ‘November Rain’, a valedictory and again quietly furious track, so fucking catchy as well… Further global doom is the subject of Conscious Route’s raps, a natural rapper and a great stage presence, with another catchy chorus – if this was 2002 rather than 2022 he could be on TOTP, or does anyone even reading this even remember those days….
Respek Ba’s vision is even bleaker, but the way he delivers it is compelling – a truly scalding critique of current times, and again incredibly catchy, with Steg’s backing track bubbling away like a controlled machine gun…
Further tracks are played, to the audience’s delight (it feels like a very inclusive space here), Nova sings with autotune effects and gives us a soulful rendition of the track ‘Hope and Despair’ – a masterclass in how to collaborate, Steg’s beats complement her vocals perfectly – in BM’s opinion this may her best work yet…
Another new vocalist to BM’s ears, Johnny Cypher, references addiction, and his low level wordplay is compelling and again matches with the beats – keeping it very real, “struggling to fight my vices” before fighting the climate crisis – and some political references as well – this is dense and requires further listening, and again a measure of the sort of people Steg has found for this project.
The last couple of tracks do not let up, with Jaylee from CCTV rapping for his life on ‘Road to Salvation’, then Empress signing off with ‘The Final Curtain’, a spookily backed track which voices regrets about how mankind has royally fucked things up – “this beautiful world is so small”… “A ruined ecosystem…” There isn’t anything further to say, and the mood is resigned, not exactly optimistic – could this be Scotland’s first Gothic Hiphop record?
Whatever it is – both sets tonight were glorious, musically excellent, challenging in some ways but never ever dull, or pretentious – so much respect to Steg G, The Barons and all the guest vocalists – the audience was going pretty nuts by the end and BM is aware how much work went into it – a solid achievement which will be talked about for quite some time to come…