Scroobius Pip saunters on stage dressed as a lizard and I’m instantly uneasy about how this gig will go. His support act, B-Dolan, had just been unexpectedly incredible. But now Pip, performing solo without the support of the famed Dan Le Sac, is alone, infront of a baying crowd dressed as if he just came from entertaining a child’s party. Yet as soon as the mask dropped off and the hard hitting beats of his first song, “Introdiction” kicked in, I knew that my fears were about to be alleviated.
The performance was part of a UK wide tour to promote his solo album Distraction Pieces and Pip stressed at the gig that while he was not splitting with Dan Le Sac (they are recording a new album together in 2012), he would not be playing any of their songs. This was a sensible decision as the electronic beats of the past would not have fitted with his new sound, which relied heavily on guitar riffs and thumping drums, supplied by his fantastic band.
The pacing of the gig was almost perfect, Pip rapped ferociously to extremely rapid songs such as “Try Dying” and “Domestic Silence”, while in the middle slowed it down and indulged the audience in some thought provoking spoken word with “Broken Promise” being followed by the mesmerising “1000 Words” from his first solo album No Commercial Breaks. Pip’s quick wit and intelligent lyrics still reign supreme throughout all his creative output, being most apparent in “Death of the Journalist”, which had the audience straining to hear every word.
This new sound is definitely a whole new direction for Pip, but as shown at Fibbers, he can definitely pull it off. As Pip even remarked during the show, it was definitely a hip hop gig. A unique and incredible hip hop gig. A gig so good even his own mum turned up. I mean, where else are you going to get the rapper’s mum in the audience?