The garage duo of Oxide & Neutrino put a lot into this performance but the most action was to be found outside.
With metal detectors, sniffer dogs and police in bullet proof vests there was more security than Heathrow for this gig.
Yet inside it was a soft as a premium class pillow. The average crowd age was GCSE level and despite gun signs and lots of posturing it was as dangerous as CBBC.
The irony is Oxide & Neutrino's affiliation to the So Solid Crew have given them a false sense of perilousness when in reality they're pop idol meets hip hop.
MJ Cole warmed the crowd up with a DJ set and a smile so brilliant he could do the next Crest ad and then Oxide & Neutrino hit the stage at nine thirty, perfectly on time.
They were preceded by four beefcakes in see through uniforms showing off their pecs and pumping their groins.
This was off key as more than half the crowd were teenage boys dripping with testosterone and fake gold. The last thing they wanted in their face was a male crotch.
Neutrino has good stage presence but the duo's cinematic videos, which played behind them, were even more interesting to watch. While Neutrino looks good live he looks even better on film and he hasn't quite worked out how to communicate with his audience when he's not MCing.
But credit to the 20 year old, his rhyming flow can't be faulted and he is undoubtedly one of the best MCs on the circuit today. Oxide, who remains statuesque behind the decks, is developing his gaunt Tim Westwood look well.
The duo rattled through old material from their debut album Execute including Only wanna know U cos ure famous and Execute itself. They also played tunes from their upcoming album which featured lots of gunshots.
Then Oxide gave a ten minute DJ solo, the modern day equivalent of a drum break.
The real bonus was that this was as much a So Solid as an Oxide & Neutrino gig. Crew leader Megaman (looking like Apollo Creed in dodgy Afro and cap), Lisa Maffia, Romeo, the Twins and Face all came up on stage, wielding champagne bottles and lip syncing. Yes even these hardcore rhymers are falling back on Geri Halliwell tactics.
The So Solid members were particularly welcome on 'No Good 4 Me', one of the duo's biggest hits that heavily features Megman and the chiselled Romeo, who received the biggest screams of adulation from the female contingent.
Musically it was a strange mixture of the live and the pre-recorded. With a drummer and keyboard player there was a half a band. The rest were on tape.
Judging by crowd reactions it wasn't a success. The Ocean was half full and half asleep.
In effect So Solid have worked out a way to do a live concert by stealth in a time when few venues will take the risk of putting them on.
Most recently Trinity College in Dublin cancelled the south London group from their May ball, the latest in a long line of rejections. The trick is simply to arrange an Oxide and Neutrino gig and then let the rest turn up. Good for them, great value for us.
