Live Review: Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip @ The Cockpit, Leeds

“Dan Le Sac, Scroobius Pip! Fixing hip-hop as best we can!” A bold statement or genuine belief?

Last night the bearded saviour of UK hip-hop took the stage at The Cockpit in Leeds and put on a blistering performance that puts many, more popular artists to shame.

The bunker-like “pit” was indeed the perfect venue with around 500 fans crammed in to see the duo performing tracks from both their debut album “Angles” and latest release “The Logic of Chance”. The room erupted to opening track “The Beat That My Heart Skipped” and barely let up until the duo bowed out with the “pre-planned” encore of “Letter from God”.

The ‘Pip’s crowd interaction is second to none with witty banter and (in jest) crowd provaction – “I support Millwall” which was met with a 500 strong chant of York-shire!

Whilst for me the strength of the duo’s music lies within Scroobius’s lyrical observations and genuinely thought provoking lyrics on tracks such as “Angles” (performed complete with costume changes!) and the beautifully haunting “The Magicians Assistant” the contribution of Dan Le Sac should not be overlooked.

The backing tracks, which whilst good on an i-pod or stereo sound INCREDIBLE live. You not only hear the beats put you feel them adding a completely new experience to each track.

Highlights of the evening included storming renditions of “Snob” (surely the next single), “Back From Hell”, “The Beat” and “Stake A Claim” (before which Scroobius declared he wanted to be the first president of the UK – I’d vote for him!) and “Thou Shalt Always Kill”.

Of the two support bands B. Dolan was the highlight with a mix of comedy, hip-hop and daring do (he attempted to jump over a prone audience member!) that was an excellent precursor to the evening’s headliners.

The first support band, Sound of Rum, opened with an interesting poem before being blighted by a poor sound set-up to the lead singers mic. I’m intrigued to see what they sound like on CD so will be checking them out in the not too distant future.

All in all it was a fantastic night out and already a genuine contender for gig of the year. If you’ve not heard anything by Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, or you’re disillusioned by the state of UK hip-hop, I urge you to follow the links below and purchase both “Angles” and “The Logic of Chance”. You will not be disappointed!