Gig review of Roots Manuva + MIA

Roots Manuva @ LMUSU

It's a sub-zero crowd when MIA turns up which is an absolute shame as she drops beats and rhythms more precise than an army precession. The Connie from Blue Peter look alike has a sort of presence that is rare in female artists. Taking tracks from her album due in July, although fresh on the scene MIA definitely shows great potential with tracks such as Galang and Pull up the people she shows her ability to create heavy rhymes with a heavy political emphasis on current day politics. It's just a shame that the crowd are so dead and it's completely disrespectful when people start shouting abuse at a fresh artist who obviously shows the rare talent that she poses.

At least the crowd turn from a Baltic wasteland to sub Saharan desert when Roots Manuva turn up on stage, dropping tracks fresh from his new Awfully Deep album, Mr Manuva shows why he has been the premier top dog in the UK urban field and with the support of a flawless backing band, Roots Manuva are on fire tonight.

When they drop classic tracks from Run Come Save me such as Dreamy days and Dub Style the crowd go mental with people left right and centre poggoing like there no tomorrow; the crowd are singing along the backing vocals and it's clear form the expression on the face from the band and the man himself that this has been a pretty rare experience.

When the Banana Clan walk off stage the crowd know they're gonna get the encore that everyone is waiting for; it's another couple of tense moment and the Manuva drop straight into the encore with a brand new track, the bass is pounding and the crowd gets restless... then they drop Witness and the crowd are ecstatic, they stop and the crowd are bewildered, then Mr Manuva just laughs just to see the amusement on the sea of peoples faces, then straight back into an extended version of the track. The songs finishes on a scratching high and the crowd are left wanting more. It was truly an honour to experience such quality in music tonight, truly a gig that will has been drilled into the back of peoples mind for a long time coming.

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