Thinking about it, I’ve been following Dr Syntax’s career for a good stint. I remember listening to Subcultures at the bus stop while I awaited the chav/greb separatist movement that was school, and thinking “I hear this dude. Loud and clear.” There’s something about his gentlemanly delivery combined with vivid concrete imagery that has always kept me interested. In his words, he’s “fresher than the chilly wind while I sit and sizzle in the sun’s rays.” Yeah.
Any road, we walked through an makeshift doorway up to Alley Café – a tie-dye blanket that we all managed to get tangled up in. Good start. It’s the first time I’ve seen Alley Café transformed into a two-floor venue with a gazebo tent pitched in the courtyard, and it works well. It was a freezing cold winter night, but we didn’t do too badly, especially with a heater blasting out the good stuff and getting all huddled up with some scorching tunes.
Sound checks were still cracking off after 9pm, but that just gave us all chance to catch up after the hibernation period. First to take to the stage was the ever-improving Motormouf with an exclusive loop pedal set. He’d spit a beat, then layer the next and the next until he was finally laying down lyrics over the top of everything. Seriously creative – especially some of the higher pitched sounds and voice samples. Who needs Reason, eh?
After dropping Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Shimmy Shimmy Ya, the head nods and shuffles kicked in, all punctuated with Motormouf’s hilarious charisma. This guy, though. At one point, he just had a go on his drink and went “Ahh, water!” Me and my mate burst out laughing - the dude’s just got funny bones. A highlight of his set was War Going on for your Mind which was crazily, fittingly hectic and shoved military-style marching shockwaves down everyone’s tabs. He had a couple of slip-ups during his set, but he worked it into his comedy and, for me, it only reinforced his realness.
Ashmore jumped up for the second half of the set with some seriously quick rapping. The vibe turned a little funkier and I remember thinking he gets better every time I see him. He’s a cheeky chap who’s got great chemistry with Motormouf on stage – you can tell they’re just a couple of mates who’re having a laugh, but they’ve got mad skills to back it.
A quick bar break and the tunes upstairs were going off. Lots of UK and old school hip hop, beautiful people, everyone dancing like good ‘uns. Could definitely have been worse. The last few times I’ve seen Syntax, he’s been accompanied by The Mouse Outfit but, for this evening, the legendary Pete Cannon was on the MPC, Will from The Mouse Outfit was on the drums, and a local lad Matt Wilmot was on the keyboard. A great little set up.
The crowd started churning as everyone wildly skanked along to tunes like Middle Class Problems, Hire Me and Subcultures. Bodies were cramming in to the point that penetration of the mass mob was almost impossible, so we hung at the back like cool kids and watched the chaos ensue. I’ve noticed Syntax has swapped out a few of his old lyrics for new ones on tracks like Subcultures, and although it jars slightly because I’m so used to hearing the original, the changes are understandable - attention to detail game is strong.
Some of Syntax’s newer material takes a more laid back approach, but it didn’t stop everyone from losing their minds. Just when I thought everyone couldn’t be going much more nuts, Pete Cannon only went and jumped on the mic. The atmosphere was awesome – jovial, welcome, funky.
This snippet of an evening was welcomed by the hermits among us who can only be eased back into this whole “going out” thing gently after a couple of months laced by Netflix and mince pies. A much-needed sampling of “getting down like a manic depressive” that’s left me itching for more.
Dr Syntax and friends played at the Alley Cafe on Saturday 31 January
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