Eyedea & Abilities Return!
Posted Tuesday, October 23, 2007 @ 02:07 in Music by Jimmy2Times.
for a Minneapolis show after a 3 year hiatus.
Much to the delite of many an indie rap fan, the two are now
scheduling a tour and have started work on new material.
Until then, the Midwest gets treated to a small run of spot
dates which started at the High Noon Saloon in Madison,
Wisconsin last Thursday.
The Line up included Madison favorites
The Crest, frequent E&A
largely made up of college students, were locked in place early in the
evening, eyes fixed on opener Concentr8. Dropping sci-fi raps over his
own production, Con got everyone ready for lyrical beat box monster
Carnage, who wowed the people with his combination of beatbox
looping and lighting fast lyrics. Up next was the Crest, who have been
the flagship group of the Madison hip hop scene for a number of years.
They kept it extra gully on this particular night, with MC Jack
Cracker rapping on crutches, not letting a bar fight induced injury
hold 'em back.
Shortly after the Crest exited the stage, Eyedea and Abilities emerged
from the nearby green room. Judging from the crowd's reaction,
it became overwhelmingly clear that their return had indeed been long-
awaited. The two proceeded to play a set that consisted of fan favorites
off of their debut "First Born,"and from their most recent work "E&A,"
as well as a few new songs from a forthcoming effort. After the
introduction, the relentless bass of "Man vs. Ape" came through the
speakers and it was as though they were picking up right where they
left off. Eyedea roamed the stage with intensity, but also spent alot
of time close to the turntables. The level of MC/DJ camaraderie
E&A have always exhibited gives the group a degree of solidarity
that even Guru and Premier in their prime would be proud of, and
it was very refreshing and entertaining to see them doing their
thing again. Abilities was straight murdering the scratches all night,
cutting up Alice in Chains guitar solos, M.O.P. vocals and executing
some of the sharpest stabs seen in a hot minute. Its always been
my feeling that Abilities hasn't really gotten the turntablist props
he is due, but between his work with Eyedea and his own solo sets,
it won't be long before those props are evenly distributed.
Following Abilities' sick scratch routines, Eyedea called friends and
Face Candy collaborators Carnage and Kristoff Krane (of the band
Abzorbr) on stage for a freestyle session. Carnage handled the beat
box, while Eyedea and Kristoff displayed their unique form of
freestyling which builds on a combination of hip hop and free jazz
principles.
As the set wrapped up, two of E&A's most popular songs,
"Now" and "Glass" had yet to be heard. When the group left the
stage, there was clear concern in the eyes of the crowd, and an
equally clear excitement when they returned moments later.
"This is our club banger," Eyedea jokingly announced as the
opening guitar sample from glass began playing. After "Glass,"
a drum break intro of "Now" came on and a huge cheer went
up once Abilities started cutting up the "yeah" Outkast sample,
it was a wrap. They ended with a crazy wah-scratch solo by
Abilities which left everyone in the venue asking "how does
he do that?"
DIRECT LINK TO ARTICLE: http://www.urb.com/permalink/1729/Eyedea-&-Abilities-Return!