*****

THE postmodern prophet Saul Williams fused reflective poetry, pumped-up party-starting, political debate and conspiracy theories with a dizzying mish-mash of projected images and texts, over a throbbing, thumping bass.

His latest concept album Martyr Loser King is based on the character of a computer hacker in Burundi wanted by the FBI.

This dizzying spectacle seemed pieced together from fractured misunderstandings. Tracks like Horn Of The Clock Bike were a startlingly punk experience performed live, with scratchy punk vocals howling, “I am your master!” before he collapsed to the floor.

Clambering nimbly up a speaker stack, Williams looked down upon his assembled congregation below, preaching steadily and rhythmically as heads nodded along in wonder, electrified.

He hopped down into the crowd, chanting the incantatory The Bear/Coltan As Cotton: “Hack into celebrity! Hack into the cultural development of taste!”

Pausing before delivering a poem about motherhood and the moon, Williams acknowledged that his DJ didn’t know what to do with himself while poetry was in progress. “Charades?” came a helpful audience suggestion, causing Williams to crack up and giggle with surprise at the mental image.

This incredible, almost overwhelming, performance combined dance, rap, consciousness-raising and tributes to influences ranging from musicians to freedom fighters to MP Jo Cox.