Here's the story.
I saw the DOOM show on New Years Eve. The location was amazing, downtown LA in an old warehouse. KRS-1 rang in the new year with an amazing set. Pharcyde capped it off with "Passing Me By." I was speechless.
It was better than ideal. I wouldn't have changed a thing.
At about 12:50am KRS-1, Fatlip and everyone else said their goodbyes to make way for the masked wonder.
The stage was cleaned off, and the crowd started yelling for DOOM. We were told that he was getting ready to come on, but the crowd in the VIP to the left of the stage had to clear the area. So we waited for another 10 minutes. Then we waited some more.
At about 12:30 DOOM finally came up on stage with two masked hype men and a guy to stand next to the tape machine. Thinking back on it, his hype men might have been Mass Hysteria, but I can't say for certain--they were masked.
The first thing everyone noticed was that DOOMs mic was turned way down compared to the other mics on stage. It was distracting, the crowd began to boo and dramatically thinned out. Cigarette butts started to fly up on stage as he launched into "One Beer"
"Plotting shows like robberies, in and out 1-2-3, no bodies please"
I mean come on, the guy is the Super Villain, he's a masked culprit who has already told us he's here to destroy rap.
In the middle of his forth or fifth song, he clearly missed a lyric and stopped the track. The hype men, his tape man and DOOM huddled up sidestage and it was announced that DOOM had to leave due to a "medical emergency."
Of course the crowd erupted in boos and cat calls as DOOM started for the stairs, but at the last second he turned around and the track started again-they finished the song.
He had only been on stage for 25 minutes or less at this point. Most people had been waiting since 9pm and had fought through an hour or so of will call, ticket and security lines, it was pretty awful actually. And here comes this guy, who's intentionally lipsyncing to his own songs and sending imposters out in his place.
For everyone out there that heard an accounts of the San Fran, Atlanta and Rock the Bells shows, it was all of that business and more.
Although, I have to say, the more I think about it, the more it makes some sort of ridiculous sense.
He's the masked villain. Dumile created a fictional character that he's brought to life on stage just like he told us on his records. He's a thief and shady dude that's come to destroy rap and hip-hop through his fucked up antics. And people want to call him a phoney and say that he's shitting on his fan base? You don't go to see the Daniel Dumile show, you go to see MF DOOM, you go to see the messed up shit, the meta-fucked theater show that could only be hatched by the one and only.
It's a fucked up idea, but I'm loving it.
Here are some pictures from the show. Let me know if anyone else made the show, or has any DOOM conspiracy theories.
My Trusted MOGs
ummm. wow. damn man. nice review.
i'm so jealous.
My Trusted MOGs
it was such a strange show. to have krs-1 and pharcyde ring in the new year with such energy on one hand, and on the other, this strange theater hosted by a dude with a metal mask.
it was surreal.
My Trusted MOGs
we're putting this post on our home page. and in the gazette.
My Trusted MOGs
Interesting stuff, thanks. Do you reckon you saw the real DOOM or an imposter?
My Trusted MOGs
i'm pretty sure it was dumile, but like i said, the guy wears a mask, so it's really difficult to tell. the imposter he sent out in atlanta was dj wesu, another hefty mc with a scar on his right hand.
i saw doom though.
My Trusted MOGs
That's Kool and all, sounds like he's caring Kool Keith's torch, but you mentioned Pharcyde and Fatlip - is he back with them? If so, that would be worth the price of admission itself.
My Trusted MOGs
Fatlip and Tre' are actually performing the old Pharcyde material together. I don't know about tour dates and such, but they had a show in oregon somewhere this fall and they were just in LA.
Dr. Octogonecologyst is definitely doom-like.
My Trusted MOGs
"meta-fucked theater show" - sounds like any New Year's party in a nutshell, haha. But seriously, people are very demanding of things they think they understand. I'm all for Doom, he's doing some kind of art by simply getting a reaction. Isn't that what it's supposed to be about? Great review, and of course, I'm mildly jealous too.
My Trusted MOGs
yeah, i was at that show, and i agree with everything snaz says, but the rapper was a rather husky guy, and looked a lot like Dumile. I've heard all the crap about him and this meta-motherfucking rap jazz, but what is the point of intentionally producing a shit live show? I mean, sure it was cool that MF Doom was on the ticket, because I probably wouldnt have gone to the show otherwise, and I saw some good stuff apart from Doom, but c'mon. Are people really going to go to shows with their fingers crossed wondering whether or not the "real" doom is going to show up? Though I think the answer is yes, at least for a little while, how long will it last? So the question isnt who is doom, will he show up, or did he even write this shit on the album. The question is: was the live show worth it? And no it wasnt. We waited in line for 3 times as long as Doom's show was. Sure i get to be a part of this debate, but shit, it was a waste of money and lame show. And im pretty sure it was Dumile! Why didnt he just blow our minds with a turned on mic? I mean, what's the point of a bad live show? When setting the standard for rap: "take it from the dude who wears a mask like a 'tarded helmet"
My Trusted MOGs
by the way, sweet pics, where did you get them?
My Trusted MOGs
I got them from you.
I definitely would have rather seen doom with a tuned up mic at a great live show, but at least we're sitting here talking about it and thinking about what it means to perform as a hip hop artist.
That's more than we can say about most artists right?
Plus, didn't you have fun standing in line at 11:50pm on New Years Eve and then throwing out all your cigarettes?
My Trusted MOGs
Sadly it sounds like Doom doesn't really know what he wants to do on stage, yet. If Doom wants to play with identity, there's plenty of artists he could take a chapter - Kiss is the obvious on, but The Residents seem more fitting to what he is trying to accomplish. The Residents have been putting out music for over 30 years and no one knows the name of even one of it's members. There is obviously a revolving bunch of musicians for different albums, but there have always been at least two main members.
If Doom is putting into question who is writing his rhymes and performing his music, this would seem the most appropriate. I like the sort of Saddam Hussein approach he's taking, where he's sending a double. It's a great idea, it just sounds disappointing in it's implementation.
My Trusted MOGs
I kind of agree, but it's exciting to see someone in hip hop that makes us think critically about the genre, and performance as a whole. He's not just rapping about botched robberies and villainy, he's acting it out.
He's robbing the audience at mic point.
My Trusted MOGs
Good point!
I'm a huge fan of a lot of the Kool Keith-esque extraterrestrial/cerebral type of hip hop that people like Doom are pushing. Hip Hop's gotta have it's psychedelic period, and I think they're doing a good job. Anything, to put the tired themes of hip hops past to bed...
Obviously you could cite the likes of Outkast, Gnarles Barkley, Q-Bert, etc as progenitors of this school of thought, but my question is, why not more?
Plus I think 90% of mainstream hip hop suffers with live performance, so it would be good to see something fresh injected into the format.
My Trusted MOGs
is this fresh? damn, the blue man group's been doing this for years in the "rock active percussion tubular" genre. there is a string of consistency between the two. the blue man group rocks the crap out of family audiences and mf doom blows it on stage in front of huge fans.
frankly, i think its funny and would have preferred him doing what he did over coming out and giving it his all and having it be a mediocre hip hop show. its true that a lot of live performances in this genre really do struggle, so im glad that what i saw was a definite behind-the-scenes intentional bad performance.
its impossible for the cartoon character to manifest himself on stage, and it might be silly of us to have thought Doom would have been there, regardless of whether or not it was dumile. he needs to make a gorillaz-esque movie where he is the star and raps girls' clothes off and money out of people's wallets. the latter he's already doing, but i would like to see it on the silver screen
My Trusted MOGs
thank you.
that's what i'm saying, but how the hell is he going to bring that monster catalogue to life. the guys got a gagillion faces and albums and appearances. i can't keep it straight any more. at least he still uses the stage.
Let the music take control Just don't let the evildoers abuse it and use it to take your soul It's like putting fire to fake gold, it turn colors And get duller than a bake roll with no butter
My Trusted MOGs
Hey man, it's good to see people taking a critical approach to the saga of DOOM, and it really has been a saga. I really think he's is one of the most creative cats in music right now...period. I won't say the fake shows are moral or right...but it's still a fucking ingenious idea. Can't wait to see what he unleashes next...if anyone can turn the hip hop game on its head, its MF DOOM.