Living Legends
March 7, Fillmore
By Chris DeMento
Not much to say about Friday night's hip-hop variety show at the Fillmore except that the Legends flat-out rocked it on some Altered Beast shit - that is, once again rising from the underground to save your 18-year-old daughter and all her tank-topped friends.
Grouch met with a warm reception, second only, of course, to Murs, who couldn't get enough of the energy the crowd was giving him. Dude was bouncing around like a male cheerleader on an upskirt high at homecoming, but who could blame him? A Fillmore stuffed with youngsters was clearly about it, throwing up their double L's and rhyming right along to Living Legends songs that have become new underground classics.
It was a grip of MCs sharing the stage together and having at posse cuts and shouting out Hieroglyphics Crew the way they're wont to do. They themselves admitted that the audience's youth made them feel a bit old.
Its practical effect, however, was the rejuvenation of their older material. Say what you want about Murs's energy, but if you ask an old head like me, the highlights of the evening were Grouch-written: "Simple Man" and "You Aint Artsier Than Me" (the latter being an enthusiastic rant against guitar-plucking bohemian dudeshows who revel in the fact of not owning TVs). Remember, pissing on one's caucasian fanbase is a surefire way to sell one's records - something I've never really understood, but which remains as true as Black Thought's famous "coffee-shop chicks and white dudes" lament.
Last week my buddy and I wrote a song for guitar and voice called "Cafe Bohemia California in the Age of the Barefoot, Tubeless Latte." Rise from Your Grave to Save My Daughter! is what we call ourselves.
In a couple weeks I'll cop the Gathering, the Living Legends' April release. It should bear witness to the fact that a hip-hop supergroup can still make good art, if only on the steam that has escaped from the labyrinthine depths below. And even though the below is not as on-the-low as it used to be, there's something to be said for the integrity of guys who stick around the stage after a sold-out show at the Fillmore to sign autographs and give away CDs.
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