Behind Enemy lines

Sunday Herald, The, Apr 20, 2003 by Stephen Phelan

public enemy carling academy, glasgowHHHH "I'm black and I'm proud! I'm ready and hyped plus I'm amped " Coming from Chuck D - the messenger of prophesy, the lyrical terrorist, the hard rhymer, the architect - that line still sounds like a declaration of war. His voice is still the righteous boom of a preacherman in battle dress. But coming from a crowd of overwhelmingly white Scottish kids and ageing hip hop classicists, shouting along to Fight The Power because they have to, because it's one of the greatest songs of all time, it sounds joyous and hilarious at the same time.

All the original instigators of Public Enemy are back together for the first time since 1990, when it looked like they were about to seize all TV and radio stations and stage a coup with noise and rhetoric. It's not their fault that hip hop politics twisted so quickly into designer nihilism, as most other rap crews became more like mercenaries than armies and only took care of their own business. Still, Public Enemy reacted to their own magnificent, explosive failure to bring any real revolution by making stupid statements (Professor Griff's wild anti-semitism), foolish lifestyle choices (Flavor Flav's jailtime) and weak, messy records such as He Got Game and There's A Poison Going On.

So tonight's reunion set could have been something like a novelty act for nostalgia's sake, like that ugly, soulless Sex Pistols comeback. Some of the show is actually a little tedious. A bland new passive inclusiveness blunts their old sense of threat - shouting "F*** this war" isn't too incendiary these days. And a more electic brand of musicianship introduces elements of naffness like squalling guitar heroics, drum solos, and the kind of extended soul workouts that made Prince become boring.

But the new stuff, from forthcoming record Revolverution, sounds loud as a bomb and funky as you like - Son Of A Bush getting beautifully to the point about the President: "He's a bad man, and the son of a bad man". And they play the classics with an awesome show of force - 911 Is A Joke, Fight The Power, Bring The Noise. It doesn't really matter that Public Enemy haven't since made music anywhere near as exciting as those tracks, because nobody else has either.

Flavor Flav, the joker, the juice, and the sparkplug, giddies the kids to the point of riot. A few whities respond to Chuck D's repeated calls for "peace and togetherness" by raising the black power salute, and it's hard not to laugh. Then a wee man wearing a chunky silver chain - he can't be older than 12 - crashes into my back, grinning and screaming the words to Don't Believe The Hype: "Rock the hard jams, treat it like a seminar, teach the bourgeoise, and rock the boulevard." Public Enemy might yet raise an army.