On the evidence of Monday night’s performance, hip hop veterans Arrested Development had lost none of the early passion and power which enabled them to sell four million copies of their landmark debut album 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days In The Life Of.....
In fact watching the Afrocentric trailblazers at the Concorde 2 made you remember what you liked about hip hop in the first place.
The first (and so far, only) hip hop act to scoop a coveted Grammy award, the band were as far as you could get from the gangsta aesthetic hip hop became bound to, with their blend of soulful, colourful hip hop and social comment.
Since splitting in 1996 after lacklustre sales, then reforming in 2000, Arrested Development have been a working, touring machine - no longer at the forefront of the fickle music industry but nonetheless producing a constant stream of new material.
Their triumphant Brighton performance, both musically and visually exciting, saw old favourites such as Revolution, Tennessee and Mr Wendal mixed with newer material - they released their 10th album in 2012.
Speech, flanked by vocal powerhouse Tasha Larae and the mesmerising dancer Montsho Eshe, belted out an incredibly tight set which saw audience participation at an all time high.
An encore treating us, inevitably, to a stirring rendition of People Everyday, practically lifted the roof off.
Suddenly a Monday night gig felt like a brilliant idea. Magical.
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