The latest in news from the cultural universe
Just For Culture
  • Home
  • Art & Literature
  • Music
  • Day & Nightlife
  • Film & TV
  • About Us & Contact

Live Review: Stanley Odd - Electric Fields Festival, 1 September 2018

6/9/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
A Scottish rapper on the main stage of a three-day festival with the audience singing the words back to the lead man on the stage. Electric Fields was a day to remember for hip-hop sextet Stanley Odd and front man and lyricist Dave Hook.

We had wondered in the lead up to the event whether a Stanley Odd gig might have been better in one of the larger tents rather than on the open air main stage. It’s far from unheard of for a main stage gig to be defined mostly by escaping sound and the dwarfing of the act by the sheer size of the stage, but credit to Electric Fields for their sound system and, even more so to Stanley Odd for working the stage and keeping the energy high throughout. They lost nothing to the stage and made it work for them.

The setlist from the hip hop group blended political word play and biting satire with catchy hooks, female vocals, original synth and bass loops that meant you’d have to have been the most stubborn of festival goer to stand yourself still.
Hook’s rapping style brings serious comment, surreal imagery and laugh out loud punch lines in equal measures, all with a braw Scottish edge. ‘Who Am I?’, ‘To Be This Good Takes Stages’, and closer ‘It’s All Gone to Fuck’, a surprisingly upbeat song, are highlights. The crowd sings the titular hook back to Stanley Odd with festival buoyancy for the latter, and an Electric Fields-themed freestyle halfway through the set is met particularly fondly as well.

We found the energy of the whole group on stage electric and incredibly affable. You could see how much the band were enjoying themselves on stage, none more so than Hook, bounding from one side of the stage to the next with a grin on his face, commanding the audience through vocal callbacks and hand waving along the way. One of the biggest cheers though came when Hook went superspeed on his rap rhymes, which was also probably the only time in the set that we couldn’t quite understand what he was actually saying.

There’s no doubt the Scottish hip hop and rap scene are booming right now. Just to use examples from Electric Fields, Edinburgh trio Young Fathers have grown into regular festival headliners with their experimental blend of widely-acclaimed hip hop and Loki the Scottish Rapper / Darren McGarvey, as well as winning the Orwell Prize for his book Poverty Safari, which was followed by an acclaimed live run at the Edinburgh Fringe, pulled such a crowd at the Neu! Reekie! tent that some people simply weren’t able to get in to see it.

It looks like Scottish hip hop is in a good place right now, and in this showcase from Stanley Odd, you’ve got a performance that proves it’s right at home on a festival main stage too. Stanley Odd and Hook were possibly one of the most comfortable in the open air that we saw all festival - and the audience enjoyed it just as much as the men and women on stage.
4/5

Stuart Kenny

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Music

    Bringing you the latest music news, features and opinions from the JFC mind

    Archives

    May 2021
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    June 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    June 2013

    Categories

    All
    2013
    2014
    2015
    Abandon Ship
    Aberdeen
    Album
    Alex Metric
    Alternative
    Austin Carlile
    Band
    Becky Hill
    Beyonce
    Biffy
    Biffy Clyro
    Blackened Sky
    Blog
    Bono
    Broken Social Scene
    Calvin Harris
    Camden
    Charlie Simpson
    Chart
    Chris Martin
    CHVRCHES
    Clyro
    Coldplay
    Dance
    Dangermouse
    D&B
    Deadmau5
    Decade
    Drum And Bass
    Dublin
    EDM
    Ella Eyre
    Exclusive
    Festival
    Full Crate
    Gecko
    Genre
    Ghost Stories
    Giorgio Moroder
    Girl Friend
    Glasgow
    God Level
    Gorgon City
    Gwyneth Paltrow
    Handguns
    Heart To Heart
    Hit The Lights
    House
    Hudson Mohawke
    If I Go
    Indie
    Infinity Land
    Innovative
    Interview
    In The Lonely Hour
    Ireland
    ITunes
    Jesse Glynne
    Jess Glynne
    JproD
    Jurassic 5
    Kanye-west
    Kilmainham
    Kings
    King-tuts
    King-tuts020c7650de
    Knife Party
    Latest
    Liquid Room
    Little Matador
    Little Mix
    Live
    Live Review
    Living Without You
    London
    McBusted
    Mentirosa
    Metric
    MK
    Monarchy
    Money On My Mind
    Motion
    Music
    Myspace
    Neck Deep
    New
    New Music
    News
    New Wave
    Of Mice & Men
    Oliver $
    Oliver Heldens
    Online
    Only Revelations
    OPM
    Opposites
    Overdrive
    Paloma Faith
    Paul Epworth
    PAWS
    Pendulum
    Pop
    Pop Punk
    Pop-Punk
    Punk-Rock
    Puzzle
    Rating
    Reasons
    Remi
    Remix
    Review
    Ric Ocasek
    Rivers Cuomo
    Rob Swire
    Rock
    Royal Hospital
    Rudimental
    Ryan Tedder
    Sam Smith
    Scotland
    Scottish
    Simon Neil
    Single
    Singles
    Slam Dunk
    Sleep Deprived
    Social Network
    Songs Of Innocence
    Soul
    Synthpop
    Technology
    The 1975
    The Pierces
    The Story So Far
    The Xcerts
    Tour
    Twin Atlantic
    U2
    Video
    Wah Wah Hut
    We Are The In Crowd
    Website
    Weezer
    Xcerts
    Yeezus
    Youth Culture Forever

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.