De La rising

Trio sweep into Manchester for stunning International Festival performance

17 July 2009 - As Manchester International Festival draws to a close Mancunians must be reeling from the vast array of weird and wonderful new works that have flooded the city.

From uprooted trees to Bingo halls and Mancunian processions, which is why pausing to revisit a feel good and classic album makes such good sense.

De La Soul swept into The Ritz to recreate their massively influential debut album Three Feet High And Rising complete with a 10 piece band and accompanied on stage by producer Prince Paul.

It was clear from the outset that they had the crowd in the palm of their hands.

The album may have been released 20 years ago, in 1989, but for the fans at the Ritz in Manchester it could have been yesterday.

Many were in their teens when they first discovered the album, now in their 30's time hasn't dampened their enthusiasm for De La Soul’s humour filled and optimistic jazzy hip hop.

The album's initial release brought about the Daisy Age of hip hop and saw them dubbed the hippies of the scene.

But despite their clean image, their inventive and infectious humour saw them gain acclaim from mainstream and underground audiences and artists in the face of gangster rap and lyrics preoccupied with glamour, violence and sex.

"The fact that the three of them  have stayed together so long , it just shows their friendship and camaraderie."  De La Soul fan

Their 10 piece band was tight and gave the Trugoy, Posdnous and Maseo plenty of room for manoeuvre.

Playing together for 20 years has also cemented their friendship and on stage charisma.

As the first artists to introduce interludes and skits into their albums they treated the audience to several sketches, including a cookery segment where Trugoy The Dove and Prince Paul donned aprons and chef's hats and cooked up the essential elements of hip hop.

The trio, who made hip hop mainstream and broadened its appeal on both sides of the Atlantic, proved that Three Feet High And Rising, is indeed still up there for nostalgic fans who swapped their lyrics in the playground and also younger devotees who have traced much of their generation’s music back to De La Soul.

An encore of their collaboration with Gorillaz Feel Good Inc, reminded everyone of just how talented, versatile and relevant they still are.

De La Soul fans hailed the gig a huge success.

"I thought it was amazing and I thought the interaction and the crowd was pretty one off," said one fan.

"The fact that the three of them have stayed together so long, it just shows their friendship and camaraderie," another said. "It was just a fantastic night."

Victoria Baker