MF Doom Live At London's Roundhouse Concert Recap

via the BBC

Unsurprisingly though, his much anticipated slot at London’s Roundhouse (Friday March 5) amongst a lineup promoting Sonar festival was shrouded in as much mystery as his facial appearance.

With numerous stories of impostors and stand-ins circulating, many speculated about whether this would be the sort of showcase for which the Barcelona event has become renowned or purely a charade based on the notion of an incredibly skilled recording artist.

Almost certainly, the figure who appeared for the opening Madvillainy track Meat Grinder was not the same individual who performed the rest of the gig.

Nevertheless, taking the next Doom we were given at his word, it proved to be a stunning exposition of why the New York MC’s lyrical style blends so well with the sort of intricate beats for which producer Madlib (the other half of the Madvillain project) is renowned.

The combination pits throbbing bass and often curious time signatures against a disarmingly direct and darkly comic vocal flow, and it’s an irresistible cocktail, particularly on tracks from last year’s release Born Like This.

Doom’s litany of collaborators, such as Danger Doom with Dangermouse, Wu Tang Clan, Nas, Talib Kweli, De La Soul and his appearance on the Gorillaz track November Has Come, point to his incredible versatility, and hopefully this live outing opens the gates for combinations of that calibre to finally make it to this side of the Atlantic.

It’s hard not to wonder quite who was presented as Doom for the first track, and it’ll be interesting to see whether other crowds tolerate it. Fans at a recent gig in Chicago were disappointed to find the whole set performed by a stand-in, but the Roundhouse crowd seemed willing to forgive the mis-step.

In a sense talk of impostors and speculation about new material (there’s said to be several albums on the way) feels a little academic.

Doom’s managed to occupy such an important – if sometimes understated – place in the development of hip hop in recent times that these first gigs on European soil are merely a catch up on the past decade. Once audiences have got over that, they’ll demand more.

Photos:
Flickr (MF DOOM photos) by Def Danny
Flickr (MF DOOM photos) by encosion (Tim Ferguson)

Also, Def Danny's account of the MF Doom concert on his blog site:
A Tribe Called Next - Who is the masked man? Doom?…

And Lucid Mover account of the show on his blog:
Lucid Mover - DOOM @ Roundhouse

more fan shot video below.









(video courtesy of jordang187, Stevenhoward09 & Pundrick12345)