Gang Starr at the St James

By FEDERICO MONSALVE

So the veteran old-school hip-hop duo Gang Starr stomped onto the St James stage sporting a presence that said nothing more than "So what?"

They were not pretending toughness with the homie-strut type of dismissal or the James Dean detachment but performed with the methodical carelessness of veteran musicians who have developed a technique that works, and are sticking to it.

Forget the failed audience-spirit-raising techniques of De La Soul (who spent their gig trying to get the passive Kiwi audience to leave its inhibitions behind.)

Guru blasting water guns and basking in the attention of their fans managed to bring the roof down without making a disproportionate effort.

They made a good choice by opening with the classics from their LP Full Clip (an album that is more lyrically driven and musically traditional than their new The Ownerz).

The beginning of the show was packed with energy and the support of two guest MCs-cum-instigators worked wonders for the crowd.

Songs like The Militia and Full Clip still hold the deep bass ghetto-blasting energy of olden days.

Although Gang Starr has been around for over 10 years, it was surprising to see a crowd mostly made up of 18- to 23-year-olds.

The baby hip-hoppers seemed as comfortable with the old tunes from No More Mr Nice Guy as they were funking around to Gang's new single, The Skills.

The renowned synergy between DJ Premier and MC Guru was as fresh as it was five years ago, yet it progressively showed signs of tiredness and age.

After the third encore Premier warned Guru loudly, "You sure this one's going to rhyme?" and at close to 1am the last songs didn't.

At points during the show one got the feeling these cats were painting by numbers. There was a subtle feeling of repetition as if they were telling the same jokes they spilled in their European tour, praising the audience as they might have done in Brisbane or even ad-libbing similar rhymes. Fair enough if you are on a long world tour, but if the audience gets a whiff of it perhaps it's time to adjust the repertoire.

Gang Starr has the music formula right, the pants riding to the right knee level, and a reputation that is worth its weight in gold teeth.