Live Review: Xzibit, The Funkoars

The Funkoars, three MCs and a DJ, get people jumping and their hands in the air, a crowd favourite being The Hangover, as it seems most people here really want to wake up tomorrow feeling terrible. The crowd really responds well when the Funkoars pull out a sampler and a drum machine. It isn't the most intricate performance, but it is definitely entertaining. They then drop the instrumental part of Roots Manuva's Witness The Fitness before bringing Briggasaurus up to join them. He adds a great amount of energy to the stage and their attempts at crowd participation seem to go a lot better. However, their best efforts to hype the crowd up are no match for merely saying “Xzibit”.

Xzibit, along with Demrick and DJ Invisible, gives a proper showing of West Coast hip hop. As Invisible drops the first tune, everyone sitting down at the back of the venue gets on their feet and rushes to the front, cheering until Xzibit and Demrick take the stage. For the first few songs X's mic is quieter than Demricks, but it is fixed before long, not that it seems anyone really cares, with people jumping for State Of Hip Hop Vs Xzibit. His energy really transfers well, and you can tell he is then feeding off that; a great performer, and always with a smile on his face – even when he's rapping about something pretty serious he just seems like the happiest guy at the party.

Paparazzi gets people's lighters in the air, followed by Thank You, which keeps the positive vibes flowing. Near the end of the night Demrick gets on the mic and performs some of his upcoming releases, which sound amazing. After which X gets someone from the audience up on stage to rap with him. This may not have gone perfectly, but the crowd thinks it's great. The skits he performs are genuinely amusing and they just get the crowd interacting the whole time. As The Funkoars put it, this is how hip hop is supposed to sound.