ILUVLIVE makes its return for 2012, with an extra special show to kick off the New Year. For this edition, Kano has worked with producer Mikey J and the ILUVLIVE team to bring his recently released EP to life with “Kano & Mikey J Present ‘Not 4 The A List’ EP”. With special guests for the night including Ghetts, Maxsta and Roses Gabor... Courtney Buck headed down there!

Kicking off the evenings proceedings was Lady Jay Diamond on the decks. Despite a few jumpy tracks, Ms Diamond managed to get the crowd warmed up with a mix of Dubstep, grime and R’n’B.

Starting just a little late (It wouldn’t be ILUVLIVE if it started on time!), host Ras Kwame announced the acts for the night and proclaimed that Kano was a “legend of UK rap”. Not quite, but I think people understood what he meant. Moving on, he introduced the first act of the night, Ruby Ann Patterson. Strangely, she wasn’t the last winner of the open mic competition. Regular attendees will know that the show usually begins with the winner of the open mic completion opening the next show.  Still, this singer songwriter was an interesting start to the show. At 19, Ms Patterson appears to have an ample collection of songs under her belt. Her second song, ‘Goodbye’ was particularly interesting. It had a strange, offbeat bridge, which no one seemed to be able to capture the beat to, with lyrics along the lines of “I hope you lose your job”… Interesting.

Next up, Roses Gabor. Dressed in a yellow body suit and fur coat, Roses looked every part the diva. She announced that this was her first performance in a while after spending some time in hospital. She was ready to give her all. Unfortunately, the audience weren’t very responsive to her. She performed ‘Stupid’, her collaboration with Redlight, and her latest song ‘Pharaohs’, which she worked with SBTRKT. Even when she sang part of her song over Faze Miyake’s ‘Take Off’ instrumental, the crowd didn’t really seem to respond very well. Rather unfortunate, really.

Following a 15-minute break, Ghetts was introduced to the stage. Opening with Wiley & “The England 10” track ‘She Likes To’ Ghetts spat his bars with ease, to the enjoyment of the audience. This was quickly followed by his controversial track ‘Who’s On The Panel’. Interesting choice, and admittedly, I noticed a few confused faces amongst the audience. Ghetts quickly pushed onto ‘Artillery’, which, at first was well received by the audience, but it was also as if the audience turned off and stopped responding. He took a moment to inform that crown that after the Eskimo Dance, which was the previous weekend, he would need the crowd to give more energy. Moving onto ‘Red Pill’, taken from his latest mixtape, the DJ Whoo Kidd hosted ‘Momentum EP’ Ghetts was joined by fellow grime legend Mercston. For his finale, the classic ‘Don’t Phone Me’, the set turned into a grime all-stars performance, as he was joined by fellow MC’s Roachie, Little Nasty, and unexpectedly, Kano! A monumental performance and without a doubt, a highlight of the evening.

Around 10.30pm, we got to the headline act. Kano & Mikey J. Starting with the first track from the EP, ‘Random Antics’ Kano set the audience alight with energy. It was clear that the crowd was there to see him. After being joined by Ghetts once again, they went into their duet ‘House Of Pain’. Those familiar with this track will know how good this song is. Performed live, it takes the track to new heights; this was certainly a once in a lifetime moment. For ‘E.T’, Kano was joined by Wretch 32 (to the delight of the audience). Of course, the elusive Wiley wasn’t there to perform his bars and neither was Scorcher. A shame.

For his encore, Kano was rejoined on stage by Ghetts, Marcston, Lil Nasty, Roachie and Lightnin for a freestyle session. Events like this don’t usually happen at ILUVLIVE, so it was fun to see Kano and Ghetts trading off lines attempting to see who could finish each other lines. If you’re wondering, Kano came out victorious!

For the first show of 2012, it was certainly a great way to kick off the New Year. A different show, for sure, but great all the same. The unexplained absence of Maxsta was well covered by strong performances, and, I guess you could say he wasn’t missed. It would, however, have been great to hear what he’s been working on, as we haven’t heard much from him since signing to Just Jam (Jamal Edwards’ record label) last year. Overall, another great evening by the ILUVLIVE team.

The next ILUVLIVE will take place on February 13, with rapper Sincere headlining.

http://www.iluvlive.co.uk

WORDS: Courtney Buck (@BuckTheWorld_)

PHOTOGRAPHY: Adeyinka Adepitan / din of London | Fotografa