The Streets/Lady Sovereign @ Webster Hall: Mike Skinner is the Marathon Man

You know you had a good time at a gig when you leave smelling like brandy, vodka and sweat. That's the rock 'n' roll lifestyle for you.

Mike Skinner made his return to New York tonight, bringing with him pint-sized prodigy Lady Sovereign. Both are some of the most accomplished rappers out of the U.K. Add in Dizzee Rascal (who opened for Skinner in 2004) and you have the heart of the U.K. two-step/garage/grime movement.

We start with Skinner...

Setlist:

• Prangin' Out
• Don't Mug Yourself
• Let's Push Things Forward
• All Goes Out The Window
• Same Old Thing
• It's Too Late
• Could Well Be In
• Too Much Brandy
• When You Wasn't Famous
• Never Went to Church
• Turn the Page
• War of the Sexes
• Has Is Come To This?
• Blinded By the Light
• Weak Becomes Heroes
• Dry Your Eyes
• Encore: Fit But You Know It

As you can see, he relied heavily on his past two albums, ignoring "Two Nations," where he criticizes U.S. culture. It's probably tough to pull off live, but "Fake Streets Hats" is a winner off the new album.

Original Pirate Material is the bible for working-class chavs, detailing the monotony of being stuck, going clubbing every night and not scoring with women. That album is fully ingrained into my brain and come the end of this decade, it should be on a list of 50 or 100 important albums of the decade. Besides its rich lyrics and sense of humor, the original beats are classic -- a prime example of two-step and garage. It also taught Americans some fine British slang terms.

The follow-up, A Grand Don't Come for Free, was a concept album that had a story featuring a bloke loosing his money. It also highlighted his most tender songs like "Dry Your Eyes" and "Could Well Be In," showing that the man has a heart as well.

The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living in an album that Skinner was bound to make sooner or later. It speaks of his life now as a famous recording artist as detailed in the first single, the playful "When You Wasn't Famous," which is about how easy it is to bag the birds, but not famous ones. The current single is his most personal song, "Never Went to Church," which is about his broken relationship with his dad.

The last time I saw Skinner was on the 2004 tour when he stopped at Irving Plaza, so I knew the crowds were going to be hyped and full of football hooligans and little girls clamoring for a piece of him. The Skinner I saw tonight was much more outgoing, loose and energetic, orchestrating the crowd to his liking. He said "Jump," we said "For how long?" He does a great job connecting with the audience. I expected a zealous group and that's what I got and I had no problem being shoved about, all in good spirits. It was probably the only time I remember seeing a whole crowd at Webster Hall jump at the same time. Good job, peops.

As with  the 2004 show, he bestowed many shots of brandy and vodka to the front rows for "Too Much Brandy". I got a nice shot of brandy myself. Last time, he gave up cups. This time, he just poured directly into people's mouths. The pictures below tell the story. Make your own jokes.

To be honest, I think Skinner is a fine rapper. What makes a good one is a distinctive voice and you can spot his a mile away. That strength shows on the album, although live, it depends. Webster Hall is not conducive to hearing vocals so you just have go with the music. I have a bootleg from a festival performance and it sounds a tad better than tonight. It's also the fact that he has a thick British accent which works as advantage on the album, just my American ears are not tuned to it. Plus, being in the front is actually not the best place to hear anything. He was bantering to people and I didn't catch half the things he was saying. In any event, I don't think the lack of vocal quality deterred anyone from having a good time.

At the end, he took his shirt off to show the progress he's making on his planned marathon run in November. He then got personal with the crowd and leaped into the center.

These are the most homo-erotic pictures I've ever taken. I feel like Robert Mapplethorpe. This doesn't help my standing with the ladies. And Laura Modern Age doesn't help either.

I'm not going to sugar coat this, but Lady Sovereign was horrible and it's not her fault. I've seen her at Webster Hall before and it was below par as well. It's been a conspiracy theory of mine that sound people deliberately not make opening acts sound good as to not take away from the main act. Even before she came out, the DJ was spinning what sounded like nonsense. All you can hear was bass. When I left the room to use the toilet, I can still hear nothing but bass. It sounded like a car with a loud sound system and the doors close. You hear a lot of buzz and windows shaking. That's what it sounded like her whole short set.

She stopped during a song because her eardrum was blown out from the feedback on the monitors. She had no choice but to continue on, but you can see she was deaf and not on her game. It's a shame because she is a unique voice in the UK music scene.

Comments

[Lysha]

Hey,

I'm not sure if I saw you but maybe you saw me... I was probably the only big Black girl at Webster Hall last night and I was standing directly in front of Mike in the front row... thats a great shot you got of him giving a shot to the girl that was standing next to me. My friend was trying to take the picture of him giving me a shot but it didnt come out clearly... I'm wondering if maybe you got the shot...

[Geoffrey Sinclair]

British music sucks! In the 80s British pop acts dominated US and global music charts now you have to invent cartoon bands with washed up rappers to compete with JayZ and Eminem. Lets face it, the hip hop world in the US took the UK A&R guys by surprise, and now they know that they cannot compete because the UK hip hop scene is illegitimate. Grime is unintelligible rubbish, far removed from the polished bling of an evolved MTV rap generation. Music producers in the UK dropped the ball big time and should be ashamed. The UK also produces sub-par wannabe soul acts, how can I prove this? Easy, no R&B, Soul or Hip Hop act from Britain can break the US, thats the real testing ground against the best! What Lemar, Beverly Knight? Nigga please, compared to Beyonce, Rihanna and the Pusycat Dolls British R&B acts look like they were produced in my drunk (and sometimes inappropriate) Uncle's basement. The music industry in the UK has loads of money and support but relies on its past to get them by, without one decent act to come out of the UK recently and break big in US markets with the exception of Coldplay and thats because the American public are not too bright and probably mistook them for U2. Forget European markets those simpleton hicks want boy bands, which the UK has been only too happy to supply thanks to idiots like Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell. They want an 80s pop song sung by a tone-deaf French/Dutch/Belgian woman with a dance beat and those illiterates are delirious. The UK music magazines, all 500 million of them have presided over the decline of British popular music, you should all be taken out to Compton and shot!

[Yann Rodrigue]

I won't argue a lot cause I don't have as much time to waste as you do but... Don't you think it's a question of taste, whether you like or you don't. If you don't like something it doesn't mean it is of less quality. You got some growing-up to do... you should start as soon as you can.

[james fond]

you know you acting like you dont know

british music sucks .....it seems to be only the yanks who think the yanks are cool ? while the rest of the world laughs behind your backs and waits for you drop more bombs and less decent songs .....anyone can put a fake diamond necklace on and drink £200 bottles of champagne but only the americans make a habit of it .. europe and britain know the score , so you can keep your jock music and fake gangstar rap .... muzic is the answer .

[dani]

Lady Sovereign is the shit! dont knock her assholes

[hardy]

now.... to the ignorant person that is the yank every yank is ignorant they all think there savin the world but enough of that..... one word for u floetry . i think i rest my case , klashnekoff, plan b , jehst u never heard of the real hip hop artists of the uk so dont comment i hate commercial american bubble gum rap i listen to cunninlynguists , def jux, people under the stairs and rhymesayers shit like that so stfuu know nuttin about uk music

I live in the U.S..and im a .. "Yank".. and I love Lady sov. and i personally think that its true about what thier saying.. because.. hip hop now.. some music .. here sucks wayy beyond what u think of her.. haha

well, lady sovereign is an acquired taste...and i have yet to acquire it. but im also a southerner, and i listen to screw, but most people in the US don't. so i believe it's personal preference. i believe if one must really talk about what sucks and what doesn't, you must break it up into different categories...different regions. such as who do you believe is the best west coast rapper, or east coast rapper, or midwest rapper, and of course, southern rapper. or who do you believe is the best socially conscious (i hate this term), freestyler, lyricist, and etc. and with all that said, British rap doesn't speak to me,the lyrics or the beats.

but i must admit, i CANNOT judge her on a few songs we've heard. but i do believe that she sounds like she is more pop than hip hop or rap (but i still cant judge off one song)

[liebe]

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