Following on from my interview with Ghostpoet at Reading’s Sub 89, I went back to the venue to watch the show. After an interview which quite frankly humbled me, I really couldn’t wait to hear him play.
I would say supporting, but I was told Ghostpoet doesn’t subscribe to the concept of ‘support’. So ‘performing first’ was Sound of Rum. I didn’t get much of a chance to see her set, but from what I did hear, my God. That girl has some lungs on her. She just has this ability to keep going and going, spitting out line after line of witty rap.
Next up was Dan Le Sac, with a couple of friends to help him out. Cards on the table: I really hadn’t listened to Dan Le Sac much before, but I immediately regretted it. With some psychedelic, mental beats he dropped his first track, which was the only one I was familiar with. I couldn’t even tell you what the name of the track is but it got his fans moving alright.
What really amazed me was the fact he managed to sing over all of his tracks whilst mixing on his decks. I’m not a DJ but it seemed like it involved quite a lot of concentration. Joining him on stage first was B. Dolan. At about 6′ 4″ and built like a brick shit-house, I didn’t know what to expect out of this American rapper.
Despite his intense face, his rap was an anecdotal song about family problems, ‘the best song I wrote all summer’. And I see why. Never have I fist pumped to lyrics like ‘Sad stories are my family business’ before, but the guy gets crowds going with his accessible, empathetic lines. If you like rap music, or even if you don’t, I cannot recommend going to see him in his own right enough.
Another of Dan’s on-stage guests was Joshua Idehen, of Benin City. Rapping lyrics that bordered on spoken word, he preached poetry from an iPad, all the while backed by Dan’s beats. He joked and asked the audience if we wanted a poem or a joke, and was surprised when 
we said we’d like a proper poem. While Dan and crew cleared the stage to make way for Ghostpoet, he improvised a spoken word piece on the spot about how he would change the world if he were God for a day. I don’t remember what he said, but I do remember feeling uplifted and inspired, and clapping pretty hard. Gotta love them word-smiths.
Finally Ghostpoet was up, and wandered on stage casually, glass of red wine in hand and donning trademark pork pie hat. Sub89 is quite a small venue, so it was quite an intimate gig. I wasn’t quite close enough to touch Ghostpoet, but close enough to know the girl in front of me had washed her hair with Herbal Essences. Like I said, intimate gig.
As good fans, the crowd had brought along some mini rolls, throwing them to Ghostpoet (which got a bit ridiculous later, causing him to re-start ace track ‘Finished I Ain’t'). He was spot-on with his delivery, and it was easy to find the stories in his songs, following narratives from start to end. ‘Garden Path’ went down a treat, and it was good to see Ghostpoet as a musician too, albeit using a synth and MacBook.
Everyone knew the words to my favourite tracks, ‘Survive It’ and ‘Us Against Whatever’, jumping in time with the drums and swaying their hands. Ghostpoet also unveiled new track, ‘Hampton South’, which has a bloody good bassline (new album, GP?).
When it was time to call it a night, the opening beats and cymbals of ‘Cash and Carry Me Home’ sounded out and the crowd. went. bananas. There was a good feeling that I haven’t felt at a gig in a long time; everyone singing the lyrics in unison, bunched up with their neighbours, bass resonating the air in my lungs. With accessible lyrics and catchy beats, it’s not hard to see why Ghostpoet was nominated for a Mercury Prize.
Ghostpoet and band got so into the music at the end, and so did we, I didn’t want it to end. But by the time it did, the red wine Ghostpoet brought on stage had spilled all over the floor from the bass alone.
Review by Shaun Mooney. Photography by Rush Shah.
