Throwback Thursday: Akala - 'Dat Boy' and Thieves Banquet Tour

So yesterday I went to see King Akalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala (aka Akala) and his support act and newly dreaded up Sir Josh Oshoshoshoshoshoshoshoshoshoshoshosho (aka Josh Osho) at Nottingham's Rock Citytytytytytytytytytytytyty (yeah, I'll stop now) as part of Akala's Thieves Banquet Tour.

In the humble setting of one of the smaller halls of Rock City, Josh took the stage on a oSHO ting...okay, maybe not quite in such a fashion but I didn't want to waste a good punchline so yeah...
He actually made his way on to the stage by squeezing between me and my friend (who I had dragged along) at the front of the crowd (obviously I, Miss eager beaver, was right at the front), turning to say sorry (like a proper cute little gentleman) as he pulled his guitar past us. With what was probably a smaller crowd then the other venues of the tour, he handled it like a true professional and managed to win over the somewhat, rowdier less engaged members of the crowd, using just the sultry sounds from his lips, symphonies constructed by just the six strings on his guitar and a dose or two of satire. I actually do think this is as a credit to Osho's skills as an artisst and performer considering he: 

1. was the support act
2. was an act that who's vibe was much more calmer than the one much of the crowd came to see (which isn't a bad thing for me but perhaps is for others) 
3. sang songs that were pretty much unknown to those that aren't big Osho fans (sadly there was no 'Redemption Days') which you'd think would make it harder as a crowd member to connect but the pure conviction and soul he saaaaaaaaaaangs with in his performance took care of that.

Now, I must say I am convinced that Akala morphed into a fly earlier that day and followed me around to eavesdrop on the tunes that had been pumping through my headphones and then put them all on the setlist (which he changes for every night of the tour) because it consisted of 90% of my top Akala songs. Although even if the set list wasn't full of many of my favourites I would have left the gig on the exact same vibe: empowered. 

If you already rate Akala, seeing him live is a whole new level. Sitting in front of YouTube watching his Fire In The Booths and being blown away by the outstanding flow, character and most significantly content, is a feeling magnified 100 times when the man himself is right in front of you and a crowd revved up with passion for his words surrounds you. It definitely brings an additional impact to what you get when you listen through your headphones as you journey over to your friends house. Speaking of such journeys, during some of my own, I sometimes used question why Akala uses the instrumentals he does. Why did I question them? Because I always felt they were slightly more rock-like than you'd expect from a Hip-Hop artist (although Hip Hop is really about the words) and could be a bit more epic and add energy to what he was saying. I put the reasoning down to the fact that the choice of instrumentals was probably a method to enable his message to spread to a wider audience, ensure you focus on the words more rather than an overpowering instrumental and helped portray his frustration and insubordination through a more angry rocky beat. Upon seeing him live, I identified another reason: the percussion provided plenty more power. The nature of Akala's music is really meant to be performed live - as a teacher, his lessons have even more capacity when given to you in person. Live music always multiplies the vibe, but in Akala's music the vibe explodes and it's residue sinks into you and I think the thrashy, energetic instrumentals (performed with the help of Cassell The Beatmaker) played a considerably decent part in this. 

I couldn't pin down my favourite performance but the most fun were definitely 'Pompous Pete' and 'The Thieves Banquet' where the enertainment factor was contributed to on multiple levels including Akala's acting skills. Now I thought I'd present you with a video of the night but sadly upon re-watching it my dodgy filming skills and the fact cameras couldn't capture the energy bouncing around the room that night. But oh well, in honour of Throwback Thrusday I bring you 'Dat Boy Akala' from the 'A Little Deeper' mixtape he release with sister Ms Dynamitee-hee which was one of his earlier pieces that evidenced his high level MC-ing capabilities as well as his concious lyricism.

Even if this video doesn't quite put across the levels of energy that I have tried to explain in this post, please please please get down to an Akala show in the near future because it is definitely worth it.