Going it alone: Scroobius Pip on his solo poetry tour
Artist: Scroobius Pip
Date: 5.12.12
Venue: 53 Degrees, Preston
Score: 5/5
Scroobius Pip is better known as one half of the hip hop duo dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip, but he is currently going it alone, after his 2011 release of his Distraction Pieces album and his current spoken word tour of the UK.
Accompanied by the piercing poems of Kate Tempest and the life commentary of Polarbear, Scroobius Pip spent his fifth night of the tour in Preston.
Spoken word is an art form that has not reached the general masses and continues to struggle to pull in crowds based solely on its own merit.
Although often found at festivals, it seems spoken word’s fanbase is simply not large enough to warrant a fully designated venue and in recent years, art has found it’s home on internet video sites, such as Youtube and Vimeo.
Because of this, Pip’s attempt at a fully fledged tour of spoken word was something of a risk, but it ultimately paid off, after selling out over half of his venues.
For the 100 or so that turned out, Preston’s 53 Degrees provided a room at just the right size to offer both comfort and atmosphere.
The night began with Polarbear’s poems of his current life, his childhood and his home city, Birmingham. Polarbear kept the crowd entertained with his clever lines and accessible lyrics.
He then passed the mic on to Miss tempest who took the crowd into more abstract worlds in order to rage about the problems of society and life. Kate’s deliverance, mixed with her cultural knowledge and awareness has become something of a trademark of hers and her almost song life flow has become instantly recognisable.
Although Kate’s poems are hard hitting and serious, her softer, more personal side came out as she interacted with the crowd in between performances. This juxtaposition of light heartedness and raw anger was set the overall tone of the night - something which Pip would developed.
Polarbear and Kate took turns in telling stories and poems, before passing the mic on to Pip, who spat his beloved macabre imagination into the crowd.
Covering the topics of spousal abuse, teenage suicide and the collapse of society, Pip delivered spoken word versions of some of his solo work and his his tracks with dan le sac.
However, despite the sinister tones of his performances, Pip entertained the crowd with both planned jokes and skillful ad lib, which provided a great juxtaposition of tone to the set. Pip had the crowd laughing so much, it was as if it was half spoken word gig, half stand up.
With a modest sized venue and a smaller crowd, the gig felt very relaxed and personal, with the acts drifting in and out of the crowd when not on stage.
Pip finished the night as he began - at a small makeshift merch store, selling CDs and books with homemade price labels.
It was a firm reminder that spoken word is still an art form that has yet to be adopted by the mainstream and doesn’t provide the glitz and glamour that music often does.
However, its sub-culture status is what keeps it so honest and raw and attracts loyal fans up and down the country.
Did you attend the gig? Let us know what you thought of it by commenting below or tweeting us @femalefirst_UK
Female First
James Mellan @jamesmellan1
Tagged in Tours