How future raps took us back to classic vibes and golden era memories
The event took place more than one thousand years in the future, but it was more reminiscent of a golden age than anything else. A time warped lesson in mic skills mixed in a cloud of smoke and the jazz-laden vinyl scratches that welcomed us when we arrived. This was the scene at last Thursday night’s Deltron 3030 show at the Culture Room in Ft. Lauderdale.
The group consisting of Del The Funky Homosapien, Dan The Automator, and Kid Koala were in town promoting the recent release of their new album Event II and for any hip-hop head that grew up in the 90’s and the early 2000’s fond memories get brought up the minute you push play and hear Damon Albarn’s voice as he narrates the first track “State of the Nation,” on the original Deltron 3030 album. It’s one of those things that we’ve had stuck in our heads for all these years, and it didn’t seem like we were the only ones, filtering a diverse crowd of older folks and younger onlookers – it’s always nice seeing the kids out appreciating the classics, it gives us hope for the future.
Kid Koala lead the charge into the night during the welcome reception, otherwise known as the opening act for most people. And for those who aren’t familiar with Koala’s work he definitely put on a show for those in attendance. Not too many times these days can you see a Dj spin real vinyl with three turntables. He absolutely dominated his routine, getting the crowd hyped, yelling out Oohs and Aahs, as he scratched in 90’s hip hop loops, jazz break beat records and 50’s instructional album samples into our slightly inebriated ears. This lead to a full on bird hands play-a-long dance party when he dropped his five year’s old favorite Koala jam, a song he made for the kids show Yo Gabba Gabba – this made the whole crowd happy.
After a solid warm-up it was time for the Main Event; accompanied by a full band the trio of, Deltron 3030, entered the stage guns a blazing opening with that title track off their first album and one of their most popular songs. This lead to overjoyed crowd participation as true adopters of the culture sang every word, and those unversed in the tales of Deltron Zero did their best to keep up.
Undoubtedly, like any reunion tour there’s going to be a fair amount familiarity to every show, and this was the case last Thursday. Not that it was a bad thing, but what newer acts bring in spontaneity and the unknown, older sets lack opting for a more standard uniformed approach. As the night went on Deltron 3030 touched on most of their popular catalog hitting through Mastermind, Virus and Memory Loss staying light on some newer material till the encore when they played “Do You Remember” featuring a makeshift poster-framed photo bombed version of Jamie Cullum. This lead to Deltron 3030 closing the night with the Gorillaz hit “Clint Eastwood.”
For a fan it was a solid night out. And if we’re speaking the truth – Hip Hop has seen better days, and it’s current state has fans reeling, yearning for performances like the one we witnessed. Maybe it’s nostalgia, but cream always rises and we’d still take our heroes Deltron 3030 into battle any day. Even after ten years, some grey hairs and a mainstream audience that might not grasp the concept or are too young to recognize the effort. Well played gentleman…well played.
Writer + Photographer | Ditto Ramirez
Setlist:
- “3030”
- “Things You Can Do”
- “Positive Contact”
- “Stardate”
- “The Return”
- “City Rising from the Ashes”
- “Nobody Can”
- “Mastermind”
- “Melding of the Minds”
- “The Agony”
- “Virus”
- “Memory Loss”
- “Do You Remember”
- “Clint Eastwood”
Encore:
