Foreign Legion Headline @ Whelans (March 26th)

There are three things in life that everyone should know. One: You will die, live it up. Two: If you have enough unprotected sex something bad will happen eventually, wrap it up. Three: If you ever see iCon the Mic King and Foreign Legion on the same bill it will result in a savage show, so show the fuck up.

Any regulars at Dublin hiphop gigs will know how difficult it can be for the first act to get the crowd hyped. We’re a chilled out lot without a few drinks, nobody wants to put their hands in the air because there is a pint in that hand, and God forbid, it might spill. Most acts tend to find getting a crowd to bounce in Dublin before 10PM about as easy as getting a rave going in a convent wearing nothing but one of those “I’m a virgin – this an old shirt” tops. iCon the mic king is better than most acts.

In my book, anyone with the name Michael (Mike) King was born to rap. iCon is that man. The Philadelphia native got the crowd moving way earlier than usual. The highlight of his twenty minute set was his trademark “Blind Object” freestyle. After pulling a blindfold over his eyes he took items the crowd had passed up to Marc Stretch of Foreign Legion identified them with his fingers and rapped about them continuously for the length of a track, everything from shoes to iPods and fire extinguishers to tampons. Impressive doesn’t begin to explain it.

As he departed the stage he told the crowd he wasn’t here to sell merchandise just “to make some friends… but buy me a drink if you want”. Unsurprisingly there were people looking for his disc longer after he’d sold out of them and I didn’t see him without at least two drinks in his hand for the rest of the night either.

Rob Kelly was next up, backed by DJ Mo-K. In all honesty I’m not a big fan of Robs style but when he gets it right the Wexford man can really rock a crowd.

It was interesting to see Kell try some new things with his live act, although he did spilt the crowd down the middle and do the “party over here” thing again, which by now is a little stale. I’m being picky though because all in all, Rob rocked it. He started with a piece over the instrumental for “Don’t stop believing” by Journey, which looks like it could develop into a crowd pleasing opener. The set continued with a mix of older recognisable material and some unheard new tracks which sound very promising. “Dropkicked” is still as good a track as anyone’s got to finish a set off. Kelly maintained the vibe iCon started and paved the way for Foreign Legion.

Foreign Legion are fresh. There is no debating that. They’re fresh and if you don’t like it, listen to Nickleback.

The chemistry Marc Stretch and Prozack Turner have on stage is not something that can be created artificially, DJ Flip always adds to the fun as well.

If you took random men between 20 and 40 and tried to make them look as different to each other as possible you couldn’t make them more polar opposite than Stretch and Prozack already do, yet, on-stage they behave like brothers.

Stretch is a huge black guy, about 6’5”. Prozack is a small white guy, about 5’6”. Stretch wore baggy jeans and a dark t-shirt. Prozack wore skinny jeans, a bright green “Duck Tales” t-shirt and a belt with a huge gleaming buckle.

When Prozack stepped behind Stretch, he disappeared. As small as Prozack may be, he dominates the stage, his energy is almost tangible and every song gets 100%.

Stretch is more laidback, the perfect partner to ‘Zacks manic presence. ‘Zack performs his verses with the intensity of lunatic with road rage who has been sitting in traffic all day. Stretch is more controlled, he makes life look easy, when he raps, something makes you watch, although you get the impression he wouldn’t care if you watched him or the wall, he’s seems that horizontal.

By the time Foreign Legion got to their last track nobody cared if their hands were holding pints or who the pints were spilling on. All three performers interacted with the crowd to create an intimate atmosphere that I haven’t experienced at a hiphop gig in Ireland previously.

ProZack was noticeably emotional when he asked the crowd to give it everything for the one remaining track in memory of T-Murder, a friend and musician who died recently. When the track finished all the nights acts headed down to Eammon Dorans for the after-party and to top a quality night off, they freestyled on stage for a solid hour.

Amazingly iCon repeated his blindfolded antics even though he could just about speak fluidly off-stage, the Guinness had taken its toll but not on his freestyling. I think he’ll remember his first appearance in Ireland. He’ll certainly remember the hangover.



www.myspace.com/iconthemicking

www.myspace.com/robkelly

www.myspace.com/foreignlegion