Tramlines loves a classic hip hop artist. This year, The Pharcyde are in town. We sent Charles Gray donw to see if they lived up to their billing.
The Pharcyde
Devonshire Green, Friday
Following on from the likes of Jurassic 5, Public Enemy and De La Soul gracing the stages of Sheffield, LA mavericks The Pharcyde managed to overcome some severe sound issues to provide Tramlines with its annual dosage of classic US hip hop.
The pioneering four-piece were represented by just two of its members in Imani and Bootie Brown; a depletion that was made even starker through the absence of sound coming from Imani’s mic. After a sea of glances flooded towards the sound desk throughout the first four songs of the set, the penny finally dropped and the mic was turned on to what will likely go down as the most ironic cheer of the weekend.
But technical issues aside, the duo managed to stir the crowd into a frenzy through the barrage of songs from their genre-defining debut album Bizarre Ride II as well as tracks such as the J Dilla-produced Runnin’. Bootie Brown’s verse in Gorillaz’ over the filthy beat of Dirty Harry sent the crowd into raptures before the irrepressible Passin’ Me By brought a rapturous show to a close. Sound job lads.
For a full rundown of what’s on at Tramlines this weekend head here. For a full list of the official fringe events head here.
