Live review: Spank Rock @ The Ruby Lounge

Last week the Baltimore club rap outfit Spank Rock graced the stage of the Ruby Lounge to perform their eagerly awaiting debut live show in Manchester. Finally!

Jayne Robinson

Date published: 16th Dec 2011

Date: 13/12/11

Words: Natalie Davies

Last week the Baltimore club rap outfit Spank Rock graced the stage of the Ruby Lounge to perform their eagerly awaiting debut live show in Manchester. Finally!

After support from rap artists, including local freestyler Blizzard, MC Spank Rock bounded onto the stage donned in grey jog pants sprayed with printed bullet-holes. He was joined by a hype man from Brooklyn whose name was indecipherable (but he was wearing a Bartman t-shirt) and long standing producer XXXChange performing live percussion and synths.

The set mainly showcased material from the new album Everything Is Boring And Everyone Is A Fucking Liar but included old favourites such ‘Rick Rubin’ from the 2006 debut album Yoyoyoyoyo. I was a massive fan back in ’06 and wasn’t familiar with the new album, but the songs were energetic and full of their trademark brazen, wonderfully outspoken lyrics such as ‘I was at the cool shit doing cooler shit’ or ‘shake it ‘til my dick turns racist’. Definitely not for the faint hearted. The crowd however were flung into an absolute frenzy, demanding an encore with loud shouts of ‘one more tune!’.

On the group's return there were further demands from the crowd for them to perform 2006’s underground anthem, ‘Bump’ which was denied on the grounds that ‘Blank isn’t here’... aka Amanda Blank, my all time favourite gutter mouth party femcee. Instead they threw down another classic, ‘Sweet Talk’ which climaxed into a full blown stage invasion with everybody shaking their junk and a few girls shooting come to bed eyes. Rather risqué for a Tuesday night if you ask me.

The performance fell in somewhere between an energetic party rap set and a jackin’ dance. I did leave the venue feeling that as Spank Rock veer away from the traditional ‘band’ set up, the act may have been more effective as a weekend club night booking when everybody is more gelled up and ready to party just that bit harder than they would on a Tuesday night at 10pm.

To Spank Rock’s credit they delivered a top notch and extremely charismatic show with what they were presented with, managing to throw the crowd into a crazed stupor of singing along, dad dancing and members of the crowd sharing pints with MC Spank Rock in between his verses.