Reviewed: House of Pain
Manning Bar, Sydney – Friday 6 May 2011
By Liveguide Writer – Deyvesson
It’s only a couple of songs in and the left side of my body is baptised in beer. By the end of ‘Back From The Dead’ the Sydney fans of the New York Irish hip-hop duo - overwhelmingly made up of large unshaven men - have me well soaked and as I am flying solo for this show, have adopted me into their clan.
Pre-set there was some confused talk at stage front as pedals and keyboards were given their final adjustments, a man near me said something along the lines of “is that a bass guitar AND an electric?” That there was going to be a live backing band was the main draw-card for me as I was excited at the prospect of seeing the HOP boys in action with a man on a kit behind them.
And the band are a highlight. The three piece, on drums, guitars and keys are definitely making the most of the space given to them by the songs. Let’s face it – HOP songs are mostly a backbeat, some sparse riffs, a couple of samples and whole lotta hollering over the top. This backing band manages to turn songs like ‘Danny Boy’ into funk-driven, danceable wonders. ‘House Of Pain (Theme Song)’ got a big response, as did ‘Who’s The Man?’ the title track from the film of the same name which I had totally forgotten existed but then recalled fondly through some teenage weed-soaked hazy memories.
There were a couple of bittersweet moments when they paid tribute to Guru, the Gang Starr rapper who guested on their final album and passed on last year and followed that by playing ‘The Next Episode’ for Tha Dogg Pound’s Nate Dogg who died in March.
In the last third of the set, Danny Boy leaves stage in the capable hands of Everlast who kicks into an electric guitar lead hoe-down which soon segues into Johnny Cash classic, ‘Folsom Prison Blues’. It’s not even into the second verse when I hear a highly irritated voice behind me whine "What the fuck is this shit?" I turn expecting to see another of the gigantic brethren but instead see a very annoyed and bespectacled cardigan-wearer, the kind of concert goer who probably spends any time not whinging, talking over the performers. Everlast is channelling the man in black pretty well for a man his size and demeanour but the lanky critic is now yelling out something about how he “paid to see a hip hop show not country music!”. I started to tell him he was missing out, that Johnny Cash is not just country music, but he wasn't interested, he knew what he was after, and rockin' crooning was not it.
Meanwhile (most) of the rest of the room was into it and welcomed the opening strings of Everlast's solo hit 'Ends' which gave him a good chance to show off his baritone singing voice. This was followed by his other smash, 'What It's Like'. Right about then I was amused to see a lot of the hardcore devotees throwing back beers down the front were now swaying back and fourth arms around shoulders, to a song which in comparison to the earlier rambunctiousness of ‘Top o' the Morning to Ya’ was positively a ballad.
Then came the finale - the song that almost everyone was probably here to see. Danny Boy returned to the stage ready to, you guessed it, ‘Jump Around’. During the opening strains of the song, the whole room seemed to compress and suddenly a quite spacious (albeit slippery) dance floor was packed with everyone who had thus far spent a lot of time up the back drinking, or outside smoking. This was it, I made my way back to the frontline as two of my new friends grabbed an arm each and prepared to get into it. I lasted in the mosh for about eleven seconds then made my escape. And then all too briefly it was over.
The HOP boys and backing band made their way backstage as the truly faithful started lining up by the side door for autographs and pictures. For an act that had their biggest hit twenty years ago, these boys know how to put on a show and their fans still love them for it.
~ Check out Liveguide writer Nils Hay’s recent interview with Danny Boy
For more information on House Of Pain, check out their facebook page here