Masters had the ballroom hopping

DE LA SOUL, Manchester International Festival

A RAINY Manchester was transported back into the Daisy Age when iconic group De La Soul performed on Friday as part of the final days of the Manchester International Festival (MIF) which ended yesterday.

The Ritz ballroom was transformed for the night.

Out went the hen dos and in came a mixture of hard-core, hip-hop heads raising the roof and taking it back to 1989.

De La Soul were performing two nights of their only full-scale UK show celebrating 20 years of their era-defining album “3 Feet High and Rising” as part of the festival line-up.

The original three-piece Pasemaster Mase, Posdnous and Trugoy were joined by legendary producer and DJ Prince Paul as well as a 10-piece band The Rhythm All Stars.

The trio have always been the friendly face of hip-hop and Friday night was no exception.

They were chatting with the crowds, performing comedy sketches in chef whites and getting enthusiastic fans to wave their hands in the air and sing along. By all accounts, Thursday’s gig had seen a half-hearted audience and it seemed Friday night’s sell-out crowd were with the band from the very beginning.

Classics like “Jenifa” and “Potholes in my Lawn” had the sprung dance floor rocking while “Ring, Ring, Ring and Me” and “Myself and I” had us all singing our hearts out.

Surprise guest appearances completed the night with hip-hop MC and artist Mos Def treating the audience to a couple of tracks including “Umi Says”.

But the roof was raised when Damon Albarn, whose connections with MIF date back two years to the premier of the opera “Monkey: Journey to the West”, ran on stage to join the crew for a storming rendition of the Gorillaz tune “Feel Good Inc”, on which De La Soul collaborated.

The gig winds down with Pasemaster Mase acknowledging the band’s debt to Run DMC and dedicating a song to their peer band’s murdered DJ, Jam-Master Jay, as well as a heartfelt appeal to support UK hip hop.

Time may have passed and the group may be older and wiser, but they are keen to reassure us that De La Soul will never split up, and that can only be a good thing.