It’s not often these days that people dress up for gigs unless they are going to see Kiss.
So imagine my surprise at finding a large portion of the sellout crowd dressed in shiny shell suits, Burberry caps, sun visors and cheap, chunky bling in order to pay homage to their 'chav' heroes, Goldie Lookin' Chain. SkinnyMan It was left to SkinnyMan and DJ Flip to warm up the audience. Having a straight hip-hop act supporting GLC when all of the crowd are in on a joke was a strange choice and he was always going to struggle with the partisan audience. However, he fared better than I initially thought he would. Running through his critically acclaimed album, Council Estate Of Mind, he made many new fans and impressed his old ones with his grimy UK hip-hop style.
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He looked slightly lost on the big UEA stage, but he should feel more at home at the Waterfront when he returns on 3 February 2005 with Blade. Goldie Lookin' Chain GLC's rise to fame over the summer has been meteoric: they played at virtually all of the festivals to mass hysteria and rave reviews. Then again, with names like Adam Hussain, Mr Love Eggs and DCI Burnside, it would be hard for people not to sit up and take notice. This, their biggest tour to date, has all but completely sold out. When they bounded out on stage decked out in all manner of nylon leisure wear, it was hard not to picture them as hyperactive kids who'd guzzled too much cheap squash. Surprisingly the GLC have no DJ and rely on backing tapes. They swore their way through the hour-long set which gave the impression of being at an adults only radio road show. Despite all of that, the Newport novelties - with their comic arm waving and their oft-repeated catchphrase "Safe as f***" - had the crowd chuckling and jumping up and down. Sing-along Their pastiches of various songs including 21 Ounces (To Blow) meant even those who hadn't dressed up like they were going to spend their weekend hanging around a shopping precinct were sucked into getting involved by singing along. The highlights were Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do, You Knows I Loves You and a roof-raising version of Your Mother's Got A Penis - just to hear around 1,000 people singing the latter was a surreal moment. This wasn't the greatest gig ever, but certainly not the worst either. It remains to be seen if The Wurzels of this millennium can keep up the momentum, but whatever happens the GLC will do it with a smile on their faces - you knows it! GLC played at the UEA on Wednesday 6 October 2004.
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