The rain gushed down flooding the streets of Kings Cross. It was not a night to be out. Inside the Scala a small damp crowd greeted the arrival on stage of Busdriver, the first stop on tonight’s Treacherous Four Fantastic tour, a collection of Stateside MCs of a leftfield turn. He wasn’t long into his idiosyncratic flow when the venue filled up – standing room only. Busdriver’s brief and bizarre album ‘Cosmic Cleavage’ is a tricky one to get your head around. It’s funny, weird and inventive but also coldly produced so it’s hard to find any connection. But on stage his frantic arrhythmic beat poetry suddenly makes sense. He’s an engaging presence, swaying about the stage, stepping behind the DJ booth to unveil another track of off-kilter beats and twisted hooks, and back on the mic to deliver a volley of staccato words. He’s like Gil Scott Heron on an eightball (not too hard to imagine I suppose!) and just as sharp and witty.

Unlike Rob Sonic whose listless delivery combined with plodding beats from DJ Fred One left spaces in the crowd once more. The slow, grinding Crunk sound didn’t find much support among the crowd and Sonic’s support MC, Creature tried to enliven proceedings by shouting a lot. As a last resort Sonic used the fail-safe “make noise if you hate George Bush” routine. It worked though the response was muted. It died completely a moment later when he tried “make noise if you’re with me”. If the Crunk scene is going to replicate its success in the US over here, it will need better ambassadors.

Fred One remained behind the decks to play with former Anti-Pop Consortium MC Beans, and suitably raised his game for the superior rapper. Beans wrapped up in a dashing scarf looks like the kind of cool bohemian kid that someone like Busdriver aspires to be, though it comes with a dash of smugness as well. But what’s he’s not got to feel self-satisfied about. Beans is a dazzling word-player and skilled rhymer and shows it all off in an excellent set that mostly covers his solo work though he does throw in APC’s ‘Nude Paper’. He freestyles through ‘Structure Tone’, gets arms waving for recent single ‘Down by Law’ and flows a cappella on ‘Databreaker’, counting the beats out in the head. Backed by a succession of downtempo, rumbling beats Beans brings funk where there is none and grooves where it all seems flat. Most of the crowd seem to be here to see him, and none appear disappointed.

Mike Ladd’s Majesticons vs. Infesticons series and recent solo album ‘Nostalgialator’ are the work of a man who likes to combine his intelligence with a mischievous sense of fun. This is very much in evidence for his set, the final quarter in the Treacherous Four pie. Backed by a live drummer and organ player, Ladd wanders from decks to the mic and back again while unleashing a riotous brand of electro funk. ‘Housewives at Play’ gets the dance floor moving in time for the sing-a-long anthem of ‘Hero Theme’ which Ladd concludes with a brilliantly reckless stage dive. The best moments comes from the Majesticons ‘Beauty Party’ album like ‘Helicopter Party’ and the hilarious ‘Majest West Party’ which sees MC Creature return to the stage with a less shouty output. Later on they are both joined by Busdriver and the trio bring the show to a storming conclusion.

words: Colm Larkin
photos: Zoe Haseman

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