If cross-breeding drum 'n' bass with hip-hop is the future, then the future is here, now. Following a surprisingly brief performance by opening act Bahamadia (her set clocks in at under 15 minutes) and a blistering DJ set from Reprazent's own DJ Suv, Roni Size and Reprazent take to the stage, one by one, a sonic spaceship crew dutifully manning their stations.
DJs Size, Krust, Die and Suv position themselves behind their nearly identical keyboard/computer hybrid consoles, two in front two in back, flanked by live drums on one side and live bass on the other. A computer voice chants, mantra-like, as the expectancy rises in the room, one word, over and over: "Reprazent."
MC Dynamite appears, and the breakbeats fly. Jungle purists may not be thrilled with the more hip-hop and vocal oriented direction Size has taken lately with Reprazent, but there's no arguing that it makes the music more accessible to a wider audience, and beyond that, more interestingly varied.
The second full-time Reprazent vocalist, Onalee, is brought out last, trading off her R&B stylings for Dynamite's rhymes - and the collective is complete.
The majority of the set consists of new material, from 'System Check' and 'Who Told You' to current single 'Dirty Beats', which receives a surprisingly-altered live treatment, sped up beyond its already frenetic pace, the vocals roughly delivered and rapidly fired.
But the highlight is the deliciously embracing 'Lucky Pressure', featuring Onalee on lead vocals. The track is aired for the second time during the set, as Suv has already given it a spin earlier, but live, it sounds alluringly organic.
It's an interesting contrast, as, for the most part, Onalee's contributions are the low points of the set. While the rest of Reprazent work together like a well-oiled machine, her performance seems stilted, her stage presence amateurish. While she sounds great on record, the singer doesn't seem to know what her place is on stage, amongst this band of futuristic techno-rebels. Not as bad as sticking Tina Turner in front of Atari Teenage
Riot would be, but still off.
Of course, the older material gets an airing as well, including the essential 'Brown Paper Bag', and there's even a treat for the hardcore jungle heads in the house. "This one is for the people who have been listening to drum 'n' bass for a long time," says Dynamite, introducing the "Megamix." It's an extended song collage mixing one hit into another in quick bursts, truly representing the Reprazent DJs in all their guises from solo work to the Full Cycle catalogue. Those in the know revel in the impromptu game of "Name That Tune," while the rest of the crowd just dance their way through the condensed history lesson.
This is Reprazent's third trip to New York performing material from 'In The Mode', and while fans may have been disappointed by the lack of surprise guests at the other shows, no one is going away unhappy tonight. Former Rage Against The Machine man Zack de la Rocha makes his highly rumoured appearance during the encore, for a live take on 'Centre Of The Storm', the song he co-wrote for 'In The Mode'. It's everything you'd expect from the addition of de la Rocha's vitriol to the Reprazent brew, and it's almost a shame they go on to play another song afterwards, without him.
"We're going to bring him to every show from now on," Dynamite jokes, after the team-up. Hey, you know, he is without a band these days...
